Gemotions

He slumped onto the park bench, the notification on his phone still burning in his mind. The article, the culmination of years of work, had been published. But it wasn't *his*. His name had vanished, replaced by a name he couldn’t place.

The sunlight felt harsh on his face, the birdsong discordant. He felt a deep sense of wrongness, an unshakeable feeling of… displacement. He felt as though he was in a dream, and it was quickly turning into a nightmare.

He closed his eyes, took a ragged breath, and tried to focus on the distant sounds of children at play. But the image of that stolen byline kept flashing before his eyes.