Gemotions

He’d poured over the application for weeks, his nights punctuated by the click of the keyboard. Now, staring at the screen, the culmination of his efforts was nothing more than a few lines of rejection.

A wave of emptiness washed over him. He felt strangely numb, a detachment from the situation. He pushed his chair back from the desk, the wheels rolling across the worn carpet with a slow, deliberate sound. He didn’t bother to get up.

He glanced at the worn textbooks piled high on a nearby shelf. The prospect of funding his education was now a gaping chasm. He ran a hand through his hair, the gesture more habit than frustration. What was the point of doing anything?