Gemotions

The words on the screen blurred, the rejection email a cruel mockery of her aspirations. The words "not quite" echoed in her head. She shut her laptop with a snap, the sound echoing in the silence of her study. She needed to leave the room, the apartment, the suffocating atmosphere of her own disappointment.

She decided to go to the local bookstore, hoping the presence of books might offer some comfort. But the shelves, normally a source of joy, now felt like a taunt. Each cover, each title, seemed to whisper of success, a success she had been denied. She felt a prickling sensation under her skin, an inability to settle.

She wandered aimlessly through the aisles, her fingers tracing the spines of the books she had always loved. She picked up a few, but found herself unable to concentrate, unable to connect with the stories. She was left alone with her disappointment. She walked out.