The Choice

by Efraín Davis

Silence. Deep silence.

Were they outside? Or was nobody there?
Everything was in place: the wardrobe against the window; the sofa
against the door. They were barricaded against them.
Pete tiptoed to the window and peeped out. He couldn’t see anybody; he
couldn’t hear anything. But he was sure they were coming. But when?
“How long have they known?” Meg asked.
“Since the day before yesterday,” Pete answered.
“But why, why WHY?”
“Why what?”
“Why did Patsy tell them?” Meg asked. “Why?”
“She’s only a little girl. She didn’t know what she was doing.”
“She knows we love him. Why did she tell them?”
“She is proud of him too, and...well she told her teacher about him. It’s
only natural.”
Meg ran to the baby’s crib and stood over it in a protective attitude. They
wanted this second child so much, but THE LAW only allowed them one.
“Pete, we must keep him. He’s so beautiful that...”
Her words were interrupted by a loud voice from outside. “Meg and Pete
Wilson. Your house is surrounded. You have broken THE LAW. You must give
the child to us. If we were you, we would obey THE LAW.”

Read endings A & B. Which do you prefer? Why?

Ending A

The police dropped tear-gas down the chimney, and blinded and gasping
for breath, Pete couldn’t stop them.
The sofa fell inwards and the police came in shooting. It was over in a
second. Pete and Meg lay dead on the floor, and Patsy and the baby were sent
to an orphanage.
That is what happens to law-breakers. THE LAW is THE LAW.
Ending B

Pete ran to the front door, but before he got there, he heard, “Stop where
you are, or we’ll shoot both you and your wife.” Two police officers came in from
Patsy’s room and the guns in their hands were pointing at them both. There was
nothing he could do. In a moment the room was full of policemen. The biggest
of them pulled the baby out of Meg’s arms, and they all left.
Pete and Meg sat with their heads in their hands, heart-broken.
Patsy came dancing into the room. “Mummy, daddy, now all your love is
only for me.”
And she laughed happily.