Gemotions

The email sat in Amelia’s inbox, a stark white rectangle against the gentle blue of her screen. It wasn't the publisher, as she'd initially thought. It was a link to a blog post, a post that had her name in the title, and the name of her idol, the acclaimed novelist, Julian Finch. Her fingers trembled as she clicked.

Her breath hitched. Paragraph after paragraph, she saw it: her words, her stories, lifted wholesale. A coldness spread through her, starting at her toes and creeping up to her chest. She scrolled faster, then slower, forcing herself to read each stolen sentence. The room began to spin.

Amelia leaned back in her chair, the sudden movement causing the monitor to jiggle precariously. She blinked furiously, as though that might make it disappear. Her hand rose to her mouth, covering a gasp that she didn't realize she was about to let out. The world felt muffled, distant.