Gemotions

"Impossible," Maya whispered, clutching the article to her chest. Her breath hitched. She felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. The news couldn’t be true. But the side-by-side comparisons, the subtle nuances, the exact wording… It was all there. She felt like she was trapped in a room that was slowly shrinking.

She tried to rationalize it, to find a flaw in the investigation, a misunderstanding. But the evidence was overwhelming. A bitter taste filled her mouth. She found herself fiddling with the zipper on her jacket, pulling it up, then down, then up again.

She thought of the book club, the admiration she'd expressed for Eleanor Vance, the author. It all felt like a performance. She felt a rising heat in her cheeks. The air in the room seemed thick, suffocating. She needed to get out, to breathe.