Gaelic Tales: A Collection of Short Stories

The Lone Pillar.

Athlone Ireland, a man gets ushered into a horse and cart with three other people in with him, he was ordered to go to the back of the cart with chains rattling from each person as he stepped by, the stink of the cart would make any person feel woozy, each person's face was gloom as they knew what is to come, the ride was bumpy and loud, one man vomited of the edge of the wagon, the guards held there spears and swords at the wagon to guarantee that no person would escape.

The man that we're following looked down at his feet avoiding eye contact with anyone as he prayed in silence, from the distance he could hear roaring and cheering, because of that each person in the carriage looked noticing the streets where littered with people excited on what's to come.

The only woman in the cart put her hands together and for the first time in months she prayed aloud trying to justify her actions "please forgive me father, I know not what I did to deserve this, my husband committed adultery and for his sin I ask you this, throw him down to the pits of hell..."

One of the guards hit the wood shouting "be quiet in there." 

The cart stopped a mile away from this lone pillar of death, a Guillotine that stood in the centre of the town, each person on the cart stayed silent staring at it, as the crowd roared even louder making those on the cart unable to think and the stress barely bearable to control, the Garda ushered the first person out to people throwing stones at him. 

It felt like only minutes had passed until the next one was hauled away to that forsaken pillar, the next person got pulled down of the cart, he as fear hit him he tried to run, but the guards stopped that by knocking him out, they then dragged him to the Guillotine, with the people throwing food at his knocked-out body. 

The second last person was up now, the female just looked down accepting her fate, people through mud and shit at her or anything that they could find, they did that all the way up to the steps. 

Now it was finally the man's turn the Garda told him "Out you get." 

The man gets up and slowly walks to the edge of the cart he steps out to a blaring heat blinding him for just a moment, finally getting a good look at this beaten-up man, there where bruises on his face and some hair was ripped out of his head, the patchy beard didn't cover much of his face the only thing that was clean was his uniform, although it was ripped in a few places it was mostly clean. The garda pulled on his chain yanking him to his knees with them then forcing him to his feet and pushes him forward.

He walked the road with his head down and no noise came from the crowd, no person through a thing, each person watched in silence scoffing at him as he passes the silence of the crowd was chaotic and uncontrollable, he could feel many of the peoples judging eyes look over him, one person from the crowd, a man, threw food at the man shouting, "your murderer you killed my child." 

Through his final mile he thought back on what transpired that day. 

Five years prier, he walks down the street of Athlone waving to everyone as he was known in the city as a kind friendly man, a random man of the street shouts "how goes it today?"

The man smiles waving back at him saying "it can't be better, my wife pregnant and will pop any day now."

He walks of happy as could be down the road getting grocery's, getting in the shop he couldn't keep a smile of his face, he gets it and walks to the counter whistling a happy tune the shopkeeper smiles as he walks off back home and again many of the people still waving and being kind to him as he passes.

Going outside Athlone to a far-out lone bungalow where smoke came from the chimney and the air didn't feel quite right, he still had a while to go but the house was in view, as he continued forward his heart started to race feeling something isn't right, he walked faster and faster with him now in a slight jog and his mind racing on what's happening.