He Came Back a Hero. I Picked the Nobody

The youngest general of Delmonta returns from the dead and emerges a glorious victor. The entire country celebrates. Fireworks light up the sky all night long. I switch off the TV and look at the man squatting on the floor, busy tinkering with things. He wears a faded white undershirt, which was washed thin with time, and is carefully spreading glue over a torn bicycle tire. "Louise, could you press here for me? I'm almost done," he says, grinning at me like a fool. I look at him, my hands shaking so badly I can barely keep still. Little does he know, the general that Delmonta worships like a god on TV is searching for me like a madman. If he ever finds me, my fate will be worse than death. The man smiling at me right now will be dead. He just doesn't know it yet.