Gemotions

The world swam for Amelia when she saw it: her debut short story, splashed across the cover of *Literary Luminaries*, attributed to "Penelope Bloom." She felt a strange tingling sensation, beginning in her toes and rapidly spreading upwards. Her palms grew damp.

She stumbled to the nearest chair, collapsing into it as if her legs had been replaced with jelly. The cover art, the layout, the typeface – all things she’d obsessed over – seemed to mock her now.

She replayed the events leading up to publication in her head, searching for some clue, some reason. The rejection emails, the countless revisions, the elation when the story was finally accepted – all felt tainted. She felt a profound sense of disorientation.