Gemotions

"Are you sure?" Mark's voice was barely a whisper. He leaned forward, knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the table. Across from him, his friend, Sarah, nodded grimly. The document, the compilation of side-by-side text comparisons, lay between them like a detonator. He picked it up and flipped through it again.

He felt a tightening in his chest, a sensation that made it difficult to draw a deep breath. The comparisons were irrefutable. His favorite author, the man whose words had shaped his world view, had lifted entire passages from his obscure blog. He felt a profound sense of violation.

He pushed the document away. The light from the overhead lamp seemed too bright, too intrusive. He closed his eyes, picturing the author's smiling face in the book jacket. That smile now seemed…sinister.