Gemotions

The weight of the afternoon sun pressed on Clara as she walked across the quad, the email’s bombshell echoing in her mind. Her feet felt strangely heavy. This campus, her campus, was supposed to be a sanctuary. The idea of this place *gone* struck her as impossible, like suggesting the sky would suddenly become green.

She slumped against the familiar brick of the library, the stone radiating heat. Looking up at the gothic windows, she saw the sunlight glinting off the panes, and it felt distant, unreal. Her head spun; the sound of the birds chirping above had become a dull, meaningless drone.