Gemotions

"Blast," Maya muttered, not meaning it at all. The rejection notice from the patent office sat on her desk, the words a stark reminder: "Previously patented." Her invention, a self-folding laundry basket, was a stroke of genius, she thought, a solution to a problem no one knew they had. But, alas, someone else had beaten her to it.

A chuckle bubbled up from her chest. Her fingers drummed against the wooden table. She imagined the other inventor's face, probably bewildered as she'd been. She’d use the technology for something else, she decided. She already had another idea in mind, a robot that would make tiny paper cranes for good luck. Maya clapped her hands together with glee.