A Prison from Within

5.

The noose hung loosely off the black  beam, swinging slightly from the light draft coming from the courtyard.  There were no spectators  only scattered guards who wanted to catch a glimpse the man who was to be hanged.  

They had taken me from the keepers room into what looked like a big closet, with a black suit draped neatly on the only chair in the room. A guard came in with me, guarding the door and gestured for me to put the suit on. I softly ran my disfigured fingers over the suit and carefully picked it up. It was a little big for me now that I was only a walking skeleton, I was motioned to follow the guard after I finished dressing. I tried walking straight and tall but the shoes were like a clowns, three sizes two big. We walked for what seemed to be hours until we reached a door that had the familiar exit sign on it. We stood in front of it while the guard radioed that we were here but I wasn’t listening. All I could think about was about what beyond the other side of that door. What would happen to me afterwards, would they bury me or would they dump my body in the woods like I knew most of the men here would want. I suppose that doesn’t really matter, I deserve what I’m getting for hurting my precious little girl. We made our way  through the doors, the sun burned my eyes making me want to crawl back into my cell but this had to be done. The sounds of our shoes hitting the cement was the only noise present, echoing off the walls then fading out.  Two men stood next to the noose. There was a short and stocky man who kept looking at his pocket watch like as if had somewhere more important to be. A black bag sat by his feet and he would offhandedly look down at it to make sure it was still there.  The man next to him was much taller, he had his arms crossed over his chest making his muscles bulge outward. His face was screwed up in an unpleasant frown when he saw us walking towards them. Nobody said a word, only a slight nod of the short mans head towards the guard gave any indication that he was here for me.

   The guard pushed me silently up the steps to the noose where the men were standing. As we neared the center of the stage where the noose hung the tall man roughly dragged me under it, placing the noose around my neck then tightening slowly as if to tease me. I didn’t move nor make a sound as if I was back in my cell, waiting for breakfast. It is funny you see, how now even my death will be the same as if I were living.  With the noose tightly pulled against my neck, the tall man asked If had any last words. I laughed. Not just any laugh but a hysterical one making those lingering few in the courtyard to look at me in shock. I couldn’t stop this thing called laughter from rising out of the pit of my stomach and out of my throat. I could hear someone yell over my laughter at the tall man, “Pull the rope!” and he did.