Gemotions

The email sat in Maya’s inbox, a stark black and white announcement from the university. Professor Davies, her advisor, was departing for a position across the country. Her fingers trembled as she reread the words, the casual formality of the wording somehow more brutal than a personal note would have been. She felt a hollowness bloom in her chest, a void where anticipation and excitement had recently resided.

She mechanically made a cup of tea, the clinking of the mug against the counter echoing in the sudden silence of her apartment. The steam curled around her face, but she didn’t feel the warmth. Her research notes lay scattered on the table, their complexity and promise now somehow…muted.

The phone rang, a shrill interruption. It was her mother, bubbling with news of a family gathering. Maya managed a weak "That sounds fun," before the conversation ended, and the silence, heavy and thick, returned.