Gemotions

Her breath came in short, shallow gasps. Maya reread the judge's verdict, each word a condemnation. Her work, her life, had been reduced to a footnote in the story of a literary scandal. She had looked up to Arthur Finch. Now, he was her destroyer.

She ran her hands through her hair, tangling the strands. The courtroom, with its hushed whispers and judgmental glances, had felt like a suffocating cage.

She escaped outside. She just wanted to be alone, to scream into the vast emptiness. She stumbled, almost falling.