As the minister talks well of her mother, she can only remember the insults. Sit straighter. Lose some weight. Who will want you? You got yourself a man? You don’t look good in white.

She hides her smile in the front pew. You are right, mother. Black suits me best.

N.J. Chan is a Toronto-based writer of short stories, essays, and poems. Her work has been published in magazines, journals, and an anthology, including most recently in the international editorial collective NüVoices. She received a second-place win with Flash Fiction Magazine and an honourable mention in 2023 Askew’s Word on the Lake Anthology (under the name Natalie J. Chan). See more @njchan_author.