accepted it could happen, pa.” The boy slid his foot away from a cluster of bread crumbs as the mice dared a return. “Death is often the price of freedom.”

His father chuckled while screwing the lid of his canteen back on, then relaxed against the barn while removing another chunk from his sandwich. “And where’d you learn that? From one of those political posters?” He sucked his teeth, causing one of the mice to flinch while bringing a dot of cheese to its twitching snout. “Propaganda campaigns have been sending clueless boys like you to early graves for thousands of years.” His eyes seemed to change colors as they sank in their sockets, the result of memories once buried under the sands of his mind becoming unearthed. “The truth is that there’s...

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