Gemotions

The email glowed on her laptop screen: “Congratulations! Your work is featured…” The name above the familiar title, though, was not hers. She traced the words, a tiny, almost imperceptible twitch in her lips. Then she closed the laptop.

A sudden lightness filled her, like a balloon unmoored. She went to the kitchen, humming a tuneless melody, and began pulling out ingredients. She decided to bake a cake, a three-tiered monstrosity of chocolate and buttercream, the frosting swirled with exacting precision.

The scent of baking filled the air, and she smiled, finally, a genuine smile that reached her eyes.