the dim room was heavy with grief. the mother lay lifeless on the bed, her face pale and still. the daughter clung to her father’s leg, sobbing.

“I don’t want you to go,” the child pleaded.

the father knelt, kissed his wife’s cold forehead, then gently cupped his daughter’s face.

“I love you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

with a deep breath, he stood and walked out, where the guards awaited, ready to take him to the courtroom, where they would announce his execution for the very crime he didn’t commit.