Gemotions

The library, once a place of comfort and joy, now felt like a hollow shell. Maria walked through the aisles, the scent of old books and paper doing nothing to soothe her. The news had shattered her carefully curated world. She had always sought refuge in the words of Beatrice Everly. The accusations against her were now all that mattered.

She pulled out one of Everly’s novels, the cover worn and familiar. She opened the book, but the words blurred before her eyes. The characters she had loved, the stories that had inspired her, now seemed hollow, unreal.

She closed the book with a sigh, the sound lost in the vastness of the room. She felt as though she had lost a friend, a confidante, a part of herself.