Your Impossible Voice
March 4, 2025

My Sister’s Pink Mustache

By Kyle Smith-Laird
Photo by Monserrat Soldú on Pexels.com

She’s not this cancer-ridden husk; in my memory Sara lives.

She’s with Dad at the dinner table, ignoring Mom’s savory flapjacks and salty bacon, guffawing an arpeggio scale of unfettered glee, her eyes closed, cheeks ruddy, upper lip glistening pink with a Strawberry Qwik mustache.

I hold onto her hand — and the memory.

About the Author

Kyle Smith-LairdIn between walks with his dog, Kyle Smith-Laird enjoys writing, video games, reading, and learning foreign languages. His works have appeared in WIRED online, Cosmic Daffodil Press, One Forty Fiction, and The Simpsons.

Related Flash
black and pink train

The Abbreviated Kafka

By Ryan Griffith

“Kafka is born. You can trace his origins back to smoke, the stillness of staircases, the pallid sleep of bloodless dreamers.”

Read More
SpaghettiOs

The Longest Day of the Year

By Jeff Harvey

“After watching The Gong Show, my younger sister and I enjoyed popsicles made from cherry Kool-Aid that were frozen in a plastic tray Mom received for hosting a Stanley Products home party where she spent twelve dollars on snacks and didn’t make any sales.”

Read More
macro shot photography of insect head

The Ants

Holly Lyn Walrath

“You lie in the grass and let ants crawl all over you. You lie so perfectly still that they start to think you’re just another part of the landscape—a rock, a log, a statue.”

Read More

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This