Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 I was seven when I experienced my first firefight. It started like any other weekend evening in my Cuban mountain town. My parents had dressed to go out to the nearby city of Santa Clara, leaving me in the care of Crucita, my sixteen-year-old nanny. #2 I was transfixed by the window, watching as a guerrilla below fired off rounds. I was too young to know the difference between an assault and a hit-and-run raid, but this was definitely the latter. I would learn what a full assault looked like later. #3 In the midst of the Cuban Revolution, my family was warned that Castro's revolutionaries would soon capture our town. My parents decided that I should leave with my grandfather, who was a loyalist to Castro. #4 My family and I fled Santa Clara as the revolution swept through, and we ended up in Manicaragua. The rebels swept through and captured Santa Clara, but the government counterattack failed.