Gemotions

The email sat in Amelia’s inbox, a stark white rectangle against the gentle blue of her screen. It contained a link to a blog post, a post that revealed the truth. Her hands trembled as she clicked.

The comparisons were laid out side-by-side: her own short story, published in a small online journal two years ago, and a chapter from the new bestseller by her idol, Evelyn Reed. Amelia felt a coldness spread through her, a creeping ice. She reread the passages, her breath hitching with each identical sentence.

She backed away from her desk, stumbling, and landed in her reading chair. The room seemed to tilt, the familiar posters of Evelyn Reed's book covers blurring into one another. A wave of dizziness washed over her; her stomach churned. It was the same rhythm, the same cadence, the same heart of the story, but now written by someone else.