Big Mouth
By Angel Luis Colón


Dolores held the magnifying glass up to her mouth and smiled, “I want it to look exactly like this.”
“You want everything to be bigger? Do you mean just the lips and teeth too?” Dr. Graves arched a brow, confused as to why anyone would want their entire mouth to be grotesquely large.
“The whole thing, I always felt like my mouth was too small. I want everyone to notice when I smile, to notice when I eat.”
“Alright…” the doctor fidgeted in his chair, his mind tripping over itself to think of the right thing to say, “Realize, I’m only a plastic surgeon, I can plump your lips and make them fuller or larger in your case, but everything else is a little out of my reach.”
“Do you have any peers that have that kind of reach?” she asked.
“Well, I know a few specialists, but I don’t…”
“Do whatever needs to be done and we’ll get it to work. I assure you, I can pay for everything.”


Thirteen months later, Dolores’ entire mouth took up almost 50 % of her face. She was proud—this wasn’t another inflated lip job. Her jaw and teeth had been enhanced with bone grafts and state of the art procedures from overseas. There were many that labeled her a freak, but Dolores only saw opportunity and beauty in the mirror.
This was the year she would finally win the Northeast Pie Eating Championship.


- - -
Angel Luis Colón spent more time in his twenties pretending to be a writer than actually writing.
Now, in his thirties, he's got a lot of catching up to do.