Hang 'em high

The scruffy filthy looking man was drug out of the jail. His limp body looked as if he’d given up the fight to live. The man was being escorted by two men with shot guns; one in front and back. He also had two men under each of his arms guiding him to his doom.

The crowd of townspeople parted in unison and left a clear path for the small parade to make its way to the platform. The accused man stumbled on the stairs and this just added to his sorry state. The guards positioned him under the noose and turned him towards the public. His sad eyes showed no sign of guilt.

Only a week ago he was living a normal life, then he was charged with the murder of five of the townspeople. The trial was over just as soon as it started, because everyone suspected that he did it. He pleaded the whole time that he had done no such thing. I however, knew the truth. The man about to be hanged was entirely innocent, just as he claimed.

“Mr. Thomas McGillicuddy, you have been found guilty by a jury of you peers for the murder of five of this town’s people,” bellowed the executioner. “Your sentence, to be carried out shortly, is death by the form of hanging. Now normally I let the convicted say something but in your case, I say the sooner you’re gone the better.”

The crowd was completely silent. With the noose around his neck, the man took the final drop. In unison, the crowd let out an “awww.” The whole town thought that they had done a good deed by disposing of the “criminal.” They didn’t know that they had killed an innocent man.

The truth was that the man had been framed by his boss. His boss had caught the man stealing from his shop and engaging in certain acts with his wife.

I would’ve overlooked the stealing but my wife is mine, no one else’s. I would’ve just disposed of the man myself but I wanted him to suffer before he met his demise. I believe he received what was coming to him and that the truth would stay with me to the grave.
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The menacing looking murderer emerged from the jail with an escort of men. The man looked like he could snap at any moment and go on another rampage. The crowd parted in fear and made way for the prisoner and his parade. They made their way to the platform.

The man stumbled on his way up the steps, probably for a short try at sympathy. The man seemed to show no remorse for what he had done, which made him even more devilish.

“Mr. Thomas McGillicuddy, you have been found guilty by a jury of you peers for the murder of five of this town’s people,” bellowed the executioner. “Your sentence, to be carried out shortly, is death by the form of hanging. Now normally I let the convicted say something but in your case, I say the sooner you’re gone the better.”

The man, with teary eyes, looked like he had accepted his fate and was ready to die. It seemed, for a moment, the man was innocent like he had said all along.

Everyone suspected that this man had committed the most heinous crime their town had ever seen. They didn’t have any proof that he had killed the five people but since everyone suspected him, they convicted him. The judge always had to catch his man even though there wasn’t any evidence.

They fit the noose around his neck and positioned him to take the plunge. With the pull of a lever man’s sentence was carried out.

The crowd let out an “awww,” more from the sight of the hanging body than from the fact that he was dead.

Justice had been served and everyone believed that it had. They all went about their lives just the same as before.