Gemotions

Rain lashed against the window of Maya's tiny apartment, mirroring the storm brewing inside her. The acceptance letter for the National team arrived this morning – or rather, *didn't* arrive. The envelope, if one could even call it that, bearing her name had only one document: a polite rejection. She tossed the unopened mail onto her already cluttered desk, the paper a flimsy reminder of her failure. A knot of tension twisted in her stomach, making her want to just curl up and disappear.

She avoided looking at her reflection in the mirror. Instead, she turned on the television, aimlessly flipping through channels, searching for something, *anything* to distract herself. The bright, cheerful faces of the morning show hosts grated on her nerves. She slammed the remote down, the click echoing in the otherwise quiet room.