Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the library as Daniel returned his favorite book by Arthur Blake. He usually felt a comforting sense of warmth here. Today, it was different. An online expose revealed that much of Blake's work was cobbled together from unpublished material. Daniel felt a coldness creep into his bones.

He picked up a copy of "The Serpent's Kiss," Blake's most acclaimed novel, and the book that had inspired him to become a writer. Each sentence now seemed loaded with deception. Daniel's knuckles whitened as he gripped the spine. He wanted to throw the book across the room, to punish it somehow for the betrayal.

He went home, and threw every book by Blake into the recycling bin. He felt nothing except an emptiness, a hollowness in his chest that echoed in the silence of his apartment.