Gemotions

The professor’s voice, normally a source of comfort and guidance, became a distorted echo. The news, delivered with a practiced air of calm, was anything but. Sarah felt a cold dread creep into her bones. Her fingers went cold. She could barely feel her feet.

She stared out the window, at the campus she'd come to love, and saw it with fresh, terrifying eyes. The familiar buildings, once symbols of her aspirations, now seemed like decaying ruins. She began to wonder if her future even had a chance to happen.

The student next to her asked a question, but the words were lost in a fog. Her own voice wouldn’t come. She needed to get away, to be alone with her despair. She rose, walked down the aisle, and left the room without a backward glance.