Scar, I explain, comes from the Greek word eschara, meaning “place of fire.” Mine is fresh still, still raised and flaming red. I warn him once, twice, three times: don’t touch it. But he doesn’t listen; he never listens to me.

This is what I think about while he burns.

Veronica Montes is the author of the award-winning chapbook The Conquered Sits at the Bus Stop, Waiting (Black Lawrence Press) and Benedicta Takes Wing & Other Stories (Philippine American Literary House). Her flash fiction has been published in Wigleaf, SmokeLong Quarterly, CHEAP POP, Fractured Lit, and elsewhere. See more at veronica-montes.com.