Gemotions

The library was warm, stuffy even. Sarah found herself drifting. Her chin kept dropping to her chest. She had to keep pushing herself upright. The leather of the armchair offered some resistance, but it was losing the battle. The ambient noise of the room, usually a comfort, became a dull, hypnotic rumble. Each breath seemed to take her further into a dreamscape.

Then, a frantic text from her friend, "Did you see the email?!" She clicked it open, a shudder running through her. Closing down. This small sanctuary, the place she’d imagined spending the next four years, was going to disappear.

The shock hit her in the stomach, a cold, hard knot. Her body seemed to deflate. The books before her, once inviting, now looked like mocking sentinels of a future that wouldn't be.