Gemotions

He found the article online, the headline practically mocking him. "Local Inventor Achieves Breakthrough!" The photograph showed a grinning, smug-looking man – not him. The man, handsomely coiffed and bathed in flattering light, held *his* invention. A device that, for months, he'd poured his heart and soul into. A knot tightened in his stomach. He’d meticulously documented every step, every prototype, every modification. He knew he was the true originator.

He tossed his phone onto the couch, the screen landing face down. *The audacity*, he thought, the word a poison in his mind. He walked to the window and stared at the setting sun, a fiery orange that seemed to reflect his internal turmoil. A vein throbbed in his temple. He felt a burning need to destroy, to obliterate the charlatan who’d stolen his thunder.