Gemotions

The fluorescent lights of the supermarket buzzed, a maddening counterpoint to the thrumming in Maya’s chest. Shopping carts clattered, children wailed. She was meant to be buying groceries, but her feet seemed to be moving in slow motion, her mind elsewhere. That was until a familiar riff, played on a tinny speaker, cut through the cacophony. It was *her* song, the one she'd abandoned after the record label’s demands became too much. A hollow feeling bloomed in her gut. She stopped, leaning against a display of brightly colored cereal boxes, suddenly feeling utterly exposed.