The boy applies the self-adhesive mustache. His mother holds back tears, registering the striking resemblance with his father. Someday, he might also fight in a foreign war, and his broken body might return to his wife and son.

“Do you like it, Mom?”

She smiles, caressing the rough, artificial fibers.

R.S. Nelson (she/her) is a Latina writer who lives and finds inspiration in Southern California. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Flash Fiction Magazine, Every Writer, SciFiSat, Every Day Fiction, Twin Bird Review, and elsewhere.