© A Mixed Bag 2009
Traitor’s Gate. Entrance to the “last mile”. It describes the final moments of Dr. Marcus Young Smith.
The gate rose before him and his silent guards. He wore the traditional white shirt and black trousers of the condemned.
At thirty-nine, he would be neither the youngest nor the oldest person executed for high treason, but he would be the only one terminated because he was innocent of all charges.
The Governor was standing beside the steps of the gallows rather than seated in the gallery. Smith stopped at the foot of the steps.
“You maybe leave us,” Governor Drake ordered the four guards. They looked at each other puzzled.
“Go.” Drake whispered the command but it had the force of a shout. They retreated.
“Any last words, Dr. Smith?” The traditional question the Governor asks of the condemned, but this time it wasn’t heard by the public in the gallery.
“You are the traitor Drake, but to avoid civil war, I give my life.”
“A good little soldier to the end, Smith.”
Smith gave his life for his country to avert war. A generation later, revolution broke tyranny’s back and Dr. Smith’s name was venerated as a hero.
Written for the Sunday Photo Fiction for May 21st. The idea is to use the photo prompt above to write a piece of flash fiction no more than 200 words long. My word count is 198.
To read other stories based on the prompt, visit InLinkz.com.
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The ultimate sacrifice for the good of the many. It seems like the right thing to do, but I wish Smith would put up more of a fight!
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In this case, he has to let the public believe the lie that he’s the traitor to avoid a long and bloody civil war. Never fear though. The time will be ripe for revolution in the future, then Smith’s sacrifice will become known.
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Smith gave the ultimate sacrifice.
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He most certainly did, Neel.
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With how you wrote this event I could image it happening.
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“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
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This did remind me of A Tale of Two Cities. It’s good people finally found out the truth. Good writing, James. —- Suzanne
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Thanks, Suzanne.
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Wow, what a sacrifice! Great story, James.
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Thanks.
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Tis a far, far better place I go than I have ever been.
Good story James. The ultimate sacrifice to save thousands of lives. At least he was venerated after time though.
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Yes. His heroism was recognized in the end.
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