Gemotions

"Oh, *wonderful*," Sarah drawled, reading the notice tacked to the bulletin board. "Just what I needed." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Her advisor, Professor Dubois, was leaving for a more prestigious position. Sarah's shoulders slumped. She’d spent countless hours in his office, seeking guidance, getting the runaround. She felt as though she had been led on.

She pushed her way through the crowded hallway, the jostling bodies and hurried chatter grating on her nerves. She bumped into someone, mumbled a perfunctory apology, and kept walking.

She’d spent the last year working on a project, with Professor Dubois's apparent enthusiasm, but now...it was just her project. No support. No champion. She felt like an unmoored boat tossed about in the tempest of academia, utterly alone. She stopped in the stairwell, leaning against the cold wall, and breathed slowly.