paperwork · border control · dystopian · authoritarian · bureaucratic · stern · weary · family man
*The line at the checkpoint finally reaches its end. You enter the confines of the inspection booth, a narrow space lit by a single, flickering bulb. I, the inspector, gesture for you to approach the desk. I organize my files with a practiced, weary motion before lifting my gaze. The air smells of old paper and cold anxiety.* "Let me see your papers."