The Hangman Repents

I woke with a start. My head ached. I looked around, remembering what I’d seen. My sight blurred, though I could see beds lined in rows on either side of the room. People lied in some of them. A few had people sitting beside them. I noticed a woman, dressed in white, looking over a bed. A man with a bandaged head lied in it.

I started getting out of my own bed. Another woman dressed in white appeared. She told me not to get up, but I didn’t listen. I found my way out and walked in the direction of the church.

Images of my wife, Claire, appeared from my memories. Her golden hair blew in the wind. Her eyes sparkled. There was no forgetting her. I didn’t want to. How could I after what I’ve done?

I arrived in the courtyard. The gallows stood dreadful at its center. I looked away and headed to the church.

Inside was an arrangement of Oak benches. Two rows on either side of the center aisle. I slowly stepped to its end where I then stood before an altar. Above the altar was a statue of the son crucified on a cross.

I knelt behind the first row of benches, and started to pray, “God, I’ve never been a good Christian, I never donated to the church, never helped anyone. I never prayed, never said grace, never thanked you… I sent so many people away. Betrayed my beloved. So, I will not ask for forgiveness for the things that I’ve done, but I will ask and pray that HE is punished for what he’s done. I-”

“Could you not pray in your own head?”

I rose and saw a man sitting in the back row of the benches. He moved near me and sat again. “What’s all the fuss about anyways?”

“My wife, she was hung. Innocent, she was. But they killed her anyway. I killed her… You killed her.”

“Me? Ha! I am but the baron, I’ve killed no one.”

“You sentenced her to the gallows!”

“And you put the rope around her neck!”

We were head-to-head now. I was angry and upset. My legs felt numb. He was right, I hung her. I was guilty of her murder. But… But…

“But you made me do it!” I swung at him. I missed, the baron caught me and threw me to the floor.

“Assaulting the baron? That’s a no-no.” He grabbed me and dragged me out of the church. I struggled to no avail. Before I knew it, I was atop the gallows. The baron punched me in the stomach and held me up. He spoke out to all the gathered spectators. Shouting of my evil and treachery.

He moved me on the trap door and tied the noose around my neck. He grabbed the lever and looked me in the eye, “Now you may join your wife!”

I reached up and grabbed the rope as the trap door dropped open. When the rope maximized its length, and the crossbeam groaned from the added weight, I was pulling myself up. Not choking, no broken neck. I held on with one hand and released the noose from my neck.

I dropped down and started running. I ran and ran and ran. When I finally fell, tired from running, defeated from heartbreak, I cried. For the first time, I cried for Claire.