Gemotions

The email arrived like a punch to the gut: "Featured Applicant Essay: 'The Price of Silence.'" Amelia slammed her laptop shut. Her essay about surviving domestic abuse. A story she had been so careful to keep private.

She felt the old familiar shame clawing at her throat. It was not a story she had shared easily, but it was essential to her. They were pointing her out. They were telling the world what she had lived through.

She took a deep, shaky breath. The world was not going to break her, she thought. She pulled up the article. She saw the words, "A testament to human resolve." And the ache in her heart lifted, replaced by a steely determination. She had faced this once. She would face it again.