C is for Choose

            “Choose,” is all the guard said to Emilio before shoving two scarves in his face.  He didn’t take the red one; choosing, even in the end, to defy Fidel Castro’s Communist regime.           

“Return to me.”

            Those were his wife’s last words before he had pushed the stolen rowboat out to sea. He was unsure if their infant son could survive the ninety miles to freedom but knew it was the only choice he had to save them.

           

As the scarf was placed over his eyes, Emilio wrapped his hand around the letter in his pocket. 

“They can’t take our love away,” is how she ended it.

He was not scared now that he knew they were safe. These animals would choose when he died but they were banned from choosing how. As the firing squad raised their rifles, Emilio took his last free breath and shouted, “I love you, Carmen.”

In keeping with the A to Z Blogging Challenge, the entries should also comply with the following, based on the day you write your entry (for consistency, we'll be working in US EDT time):

• Sunday April 1 - base your entry around the letter "A"
• Monday April 2 - your entry should contain the words "brackish" and "bend"
• Tuesday April 3 - begin and end your entry with a word beginning with the letter "C"
• Wednesday April 4 - include four words starting with the letter "D" in your entry
• Thursday April 5 - base your entry around the letter "E"
• Friday April 6 -  your entry should contain the words "flight", "forlorn", and "fog"
• Saturday April 7 -  begin and end your entry with a word beginning with the letter "G"
• Sunday April 8 - free choice - no requirements for your entry. Alternatively, for an added challenge, see how many words beginning with the different letters of the alphabet you can include
• Monday April 9 - include four words starting with the letter "H" in your entry
• Tuesday April 10 -  base your entry around the letter "I"
• Wednesday April 11 - include three words starting with the letter "J" in your entry 
• Thursday April 12 - your entry should contain the words "king", "kestrel", and "key"
• Friday April 13 - begin and end your entry with a word beginning with the letter "L"
• Saturday April 14 - include four words starting with the letter "M" in your entry 
• Sunday April 15 - free choice - no requirements for your entry. Alternatively, for an added challenge, see how many words beginning with the different letters of the alphabet you can include
• Monday April 16 - base your entry around the letter "N"
• Tuesday April 17 - your entry should contain the words "own" and "orient"
• Wednesday April 18 - begin and end your entry with a word beginning with the letter "P"
• Thursday April 19 - include three words starting with the letter "Q" in your entry
• Friday April 20 - base your entry around the letter "R"
• Saturday April 21 - your entry should contain the words "silent" and "slinks"
• Sunday April 22 - free choice - no requirements for your entry. Alternatively, for an added challenge, see how many words beginning with the different letters of the alphabet you can include
• Monday April 23 - base your entry around the letter "T"
• Tuesday April 24 - your entry should contain the words "unsure" and "unknown"
• Wednesday April 25 - include three words starting with the letter "V" in your entry
• Thursday April 26 - begin and end your entry with a word beginning with the letter "W" 
• Friday April 27 - see how many X's you can include in words in your entry
• Saturday April 28 - include as many words beginning with the letter "Y" as you can
• Sunday April 29 - free choice - no requirements for your entry. Alternatively, for an added challenge, see how many words beginning with the different letters of the alphabet you can include
• Monday April 30 - base your entry around the letter "Z"

I hope you have fun taking part in my contest! Feel free to enter as many times as you wish and on as many days as you wish - the only requirements for you to claim a prize are that you are following me, and that you include your email address in your entry if it's not already included in your user profile. And I'd love it if you'd tweet or facebook or Google+ the contest or mention it on your blog.