Gemotions

He’d always described his father as a war hero. A quiet, brave man who'd faced down Nazis with grim determination. Liam stared at the photograph, the details blurring. The man in the picture was smiling, yes, but not in any way that suggested heroism.

The image captured his father in a beer garden, surrounded by German soldiers, raising a stein in a toast. Liam felt the blood rushing to his face, his vision narrowing.

He ripped the picture from the album, the paper tearing raggedly. A choked sound escaped his lips. He needed air, needed to be anywhere but there, surrounded by the ghosts of his father's falsehoods.