Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows of her cramped studio apartment, mirroring the storm brewing inside her. Years. Years she’d poured into this, sacrificing sleep, relationships, everything. Now, the project, her magnum opus, her ticket to finally being recognized… it was all for naught.

She slammed the laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the small room. The screen flickered, briefly displaying the nearly finished prototype. A sigh escaped her, a sound like air escaping a punctured tire. Her shoulders slumped.

A coffee mug, abandoned for hours, sat cold and forgotten on the desk. She’d planned to work until dawn. Now, the sheer injustice of it all stole her will to move. Her throat felt tight.

The email. The *damn* email. A curt, clinical message from the funding committee. A sentence that read, “We regret to inform you…” That was all it took.