Gemotions

The news shattered Clara’s morning like a dropped vase. Her favorite author, Vivian Hayes, exposed as a plagiarist. Clara wanted to scream, to rage, to tear apart the Hayes books that lined her shelves. Instead, she sat, frozen, staring at the screen, the accusations swirling in her brain.

A memory surfaced: Hayes’s signing, Clara as a teenager, clutching her dog-eared copy of "The Whispering Woods". Hayes had smiled, signed the book, and said, “Keep writing, little one. The world needs your stories.”

Clara rose and walked to her desk. She gathered all the Hayes books, not to destroy them, but to rearrange them. They became the bottom row of her shelf. She retrieved a worn notebook, the pages filled with her own, unpolished stories. She opened it to a blank page.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Mom? Are you free this weekend? I thought maybe we could have dinner. I have a book I want to discuss with you.”