Every Day in May (grand prize winner) ✔

May 20th

Graden did his homework. He saw Jeffers' potential long before the older man had knocked on his door.

The Western Province is a cold and barren place. The desolation is hard on most of its inhabitants, but Jeffers, the son of sharecroppers, somehow had managed to thrive there. He went to school for five years—the first in his family to do so. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the Leader's Army and settled into a soldier's life. It was difficult, but at least he could be assured of his next meal. These were in the days of your grandfather's rule, when famine occurred only sporadically rather than constantly and control was looser, if not loose. Jeffers learned to fight, to guard the western border from foreign spies, to forage and survive in the wilderness. This was a way of life he was naturally inclined towards and he was more or less content.

Then your grandfather died and your father became our dear Leader. This was a major turning point for the country as well as for Jeffers. Your father sent his own men to take over command of the Western Province. Jeffers, who had gained a position of leadership by this point, was demoted in favor of a stocky broad-shouldered man with an overbite and a condescending laugh.

Morale dropped—none of Jeffers' men were happy with the changes. They were overworked, underfed, and undervalued.  As soon as his contract was over, Jeffers quit the Army in disgust. The Army, however, was not quite ready to let him go;  it took only a brief conversation with his commanders to convince him that a soldier's life was the only life they were prepared to let him lead. 

"You have a sister with a young daughter named Mandy, don't you?" 

"Poor dears—they've been struggling to keep the little they have ever since Mandy's father died."

"It would be tragic if they were to lose their house. Thankfully, the Leader takes care of his lambs.  Of course, the Leader needs a shepherd such as yourself to see that this happens."

All of this talk was a sign that the Leader's men had become desperate.  Westerners were deserting the Leader's Army at alarming rates—disappearing into the tundra or over the border, never to be heard from again.  Meanwhile, the suicide rate among those who stayed on continued to climb.  They couldn't afford to let a solid, even-keeled solider like Jeffers just up and leave; they needed him and even offered to give him back his old position, with a raise—enough money to provide for his sister and niece.

"We'll give you twenty-four hours to decide."

Jeffers bit his tongue.  He knew this "decision" was purely a way to fool him into thinking he still had some control over his life.  It was in their best interest for him to come willingly, obviously, but if that didn't work they'd take him anyways.

That night, as Jeffers sat slumped over a barstool, a woman approached him.  At first he assumed she was one of the Leader's minions, sent to spy on him.  Once she began talking to him, however, her true agenda became clear.

Had he ever heard of the Dissent? 

No surprise that he hadn't.  The Dissent was still in its infancy at this time; the Riots were years away.

The Dissent offered a radical change, and she knew Jeffers wanted that.  It seemed the Leader's men weren't the only ones who'd been keeping tabs on him.

"You can help us."  She placed her hand on his arm.  "You're already on the inside, and that's exactly where we need to be."

Jeffers took the promotion and spent the next several years feeding the Dissent information about the Leader's Army; his participation led to several successful rebellions and a weakening of the Leader's forces in that province.  Then the Riots occurred, and the ramifications from the events that had taken place in the city began to trickle out into the provinces.  Before long, most of the core members of the Dissent in the Western Province had either been sent to Red Camps or executed.

Jeffers was spared.  He remained in his position within the Army.  Graden could find no evidence that the Leader suspected him of involvement with the Dissent.  Slowly, the rebels rebuilt their numbers, largely thanks to him. 

A few years after the Riots, the Leader made an unannounced visit to the Western Province.  Jeffers was selected to show him around.  Just as their tour had gotten underway, a man with hair like a horse's mane broke free from the assembled crowd.  The man charged at the Leader, which is when Jeffers interceded.

Later Jeffers would say that he simply acted on instinct—to protect and serve—he'd had this drilled into him from the time he first joined the Army.  Regardless of the reason for his reaction, the end result was that the would-be assassin was arrested after slicing Jeffers' throat with a knife intended for the Leader's heart—the immortal Leader walked away without a scratch.

Your father visited him in the hospital during his recovery. The Leader was there to praise Jeffers for his act of valor. Jeffers' reward was twofold: Loyalist status within the Regime, and a job offer. If Jeffers ever tired of the provincial life, he knew where to find the Leader. A position in his personal guard would always be open to him.

Jeffers was so disgusted with himself for having saved the Leader's life he didn't acknowledge this opportunity as the opening the Dissent needed. He resigned his position—this time without argument thanks to his new Loyalist standing. He returned to his parents' farm, where he tried his best to forget the whole incident.

"I swore I'd never go anywhere near that bastard again unless it was to kill him," he said to my brother.

Graden clasped his shoulder.  "What do you think I'm sending you in for—to play pinochle?"