Gemotions

"They think they’re better than me," Maya spat, her voice tight with fury. The rejection letter crumpled in her fist. The scholarship was her escape. Now, the walls of her small town seemed to close in. She felt a burning in her chest, a heat that spread through her limbs, making her want to scream. She went to the community garden, the place where the committee member who rejected her was in charge.

She spent the afternoon silently, methodically, uprooting the prize-winning pumpkins. She left them to rot in the sun.