Gemotions

The workshop hummed, a symphony of whirring gears and the scent of heated metal. Elias, wiping a smudge of grease from his cheek, surveyed the gleaming contraption. He bounced on the balls of his feet, his heart thrumming against his ribs. It was perfect: a self-folding laundry machine. He’d envisioned it for years, sketching designs on napkins and scraps of paper. A smile, wide and unguarded, stretched across his face.

He picked up his phone, ready to draft his patent application, when a headline blazed across his newsfeed: “Automated Laundry Revolutionizes Household Chores.” He scrolled through the article, his smile faltering. Pictures of a machine, startlingly familiar, accompanied the story. The description, the functionality... it was his invention. The patent had been filed a year ago.

He dropped the phone. A wave of heat washed over him, a burning sensation in his chest. He paced the workshop, his hands clenched into fists. How could someone else have beat him to it? The injustice of it all. He sat down and stared at the machine again, the joy dimmed.