𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 | 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘

I was standing in front of a crowd of shouting strangers with a rope tied around my neck. I looked over at the sheriff. "Justice shall be served today!" He yelled and the crowd cheered.

I looked to the crowd and saw familiar faces. There was people I killed there. There was Marjorie. There was Margaret. Jenny Kirk was there too. Even that young girl Dutch shot was in the crowd.

"Any last words?" The sheriff asked me and I panicked. "Th- this isn't right."

"Alright..." The sheriff spit on the ground. "let's get this over with." He ordered and the executioner pulled the lever down, causing the floor beneath me to sink.

I woke up in a panic. I held my neck and sighed as I felt myself at home.

"Hanging dream?" Karen asked. I turned to her and nodded. "Yeah..."

For years i've had the same nightmare. I was hanging in front of all those i've wronged. It was my guilt eating me alive.

"God." I rubbed my neck. "I swear it gets more and more real every time I have it."

"I can tell." Karen chuckled. "You're sweating."

"Ugh." I wiped the sweat from my forehead and took a deep breath.

It had been a week since I heard the news of Arthur's passing. I hadn't been doing well. Like Hosea said to me, we just keep going through the motions.

"Hey, I was about to wake you." Sadie came up to me and I looked up at her. "Hey."

"You doing okay?" Sadie handed me a cigarette and I took it with a sigh. "Yeah, i'm okay." I stood up taking a match out. "I'm on guard duty today."

"I feel bad for you." Sadie said. "That always makes me sleepy."

"Yeah," I inhaled smoke. "I might blow my brains out."

"Well, i'll miss you, cowgirl." Sadie joked and I smiled. "Sure you will."

I went over to the guarding position where Bill awaited me. He looked like he was about to pass out. "Hey, Billy."

"It's Bill." He told me. "Here you go." Bill handed me his rifle. "I'm off to bed."

"Have a nice nap then." I watched him leave. I got into position for the next torturous day. Guard duty was the worst thing ever. It was just standing there all day. Lucky for me, I never got the night shift.

I was also lucky I had friends to talk to. Once in a while, Sadie would come check on me. Tilly would even sit and talk to me to avoid doing Miss Grimshaws silly chores.

"You know me, Rosa. I'm not a violent woman, but I think I might murder Grimshaw." Tilly said and I laughed. "Murder?"

"Mhm." Tilly hummed with a smile.

I loved Tilly. I think everyone did. She was the sweetest girl. I thought of her almost like a sister. I'd like to think she thought of me as one too.

"So, I heard about you and Mrs Adler." She tapped my shoulder and I laughed. "Yeah."

"My gosh, you two are adorable. You know, Mary Beth and I said you two were gonna end up together." Tilly told me and I nodded. I thought it was funny they thought they predicted us.

"She's definitely better than that Margaret you spent so much on. At least Mrs Adlers actually here with you." Tilly said and I chuckled. "Thank you for that, Tilly."

"I hope you aren't distracting her, Ms. Jackson." Hosea walked up to us and Tilly smiled. "I wouldn't dream of it. Besides, Rosa's like a hawk. Aren't you Rosa?"