Gemotions

The email arrived at 2:03 AM. Sleep had been elusive lately, a jittery dance partner he couldn't quite keep up with. He squinted at the subject line: “Essay of the Week.” His stomach lurched. It couldn't be. He scrubbed a hand across his face, the stubble scratching like sandpaper. He navigated to the link, fingers trembling. The words on the screen… they were his. Every carefully crafted sentence, every hesitant comma, laid bare for the world to dissect. He felt a sudden, suffocating heat, as if the apartment walls were closing in. He slammed his laptop shut, the click echoing in the tense silence. He couldn’t breathe.