Hallowed be Thy Name [Based on the song by Iron Maiden]

[cflnut]

Ten years to the day, I have waited for this day and still I regret not what I have done to deserve this fate. I lay awake in my cell reflecting on my past life, of a world that has gone very wrong for me. For at 5 o'clock they take me to the Gallows Pole. The fear of death draws nearer and nearer as the bells begin to chime.

Three O'clock.

Staring out the window watching snowfall, I know my time is near. For at five o'clock they take me to the gallows.

This had been the coldest year I could remember. My cellmate had died six week ago in the mines. Beaten to death by the guards for not working hard or fast enough. He had been stricken with the plague and was still forced to work. In the end, he welcomed death, as do all prisoners in this hellhole.

I was disturbed from my reflecting by the sound of the cell door opening. I walked over to the open door looked out and was thrown back across my cell. I lay on the floor and looked up to see the guard captain standing in the middle of my cell holding his cane in one hand and tapping it in the other.

The captain was a big gorilla of a man who stood over seven feet tall, he was bald and had to turn sideways to come through the door. He loved to beat on prisoners and after wards if you were lucky he would only rape you and not want you to do the same to him.

"I hope you enjoy this as much as I will?" the captain said as he loosened his belt, and dropped his pants. I knew what had come to do and it is hard to stop the surmounting terror. He always jerked himself off when he was beating a prisoner. Especially if he was trying to kill you. Most of the people in here thought that the guard captain preferred to rape the dead.

It is not so easy to stop from screaming, but I did not cry out when the first hit came. I did not even care I just wanted it to be over. Not just the beating but my life as well. But I was too proud. I had lived through this for the past ten years, and I will be dammed to hell if I was going to give this faggot the satisfaction of beating me to death. I just laid there quietly screaming to myself wile the guard captain beat me with his cane as he masturbated.

I knew the beating was over when I felt the hot sperm splattered on the side of my face. I let the goo run down my neck wile I laid there praying that he would not rape me. Not that it would do me much good my faith in god had dwindled over years. And now after this last desperate cry for help my faith would be no gone forever. Can it be there has been some sort of error?

I could not cry out as the guard captain raped me. Somebody please tell me that I am dreaming. For I knew that death was not the punishment for my crime, this was. I silently prayed and hoped that this is it really the end of some crazy dream. However, I knew it was not.

Afterwards I lay on the floor in my cell beaten but not broken. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I knew it would soon be over.

Four O'Clock

I sat staring at the meal that was brought to me. It looked like dog shit in cranberry sauce. I had hoped that my last meal would have been something a little fancier; I ate it anyways because getting anything that is even close to food around here is rare. Most of the time we were given scraps that the guards throw out, or throw up is more like it.
When the priest came to read me the last rites, I took a look through the bars at the last sights of this accessed place. The snow had stopped falling and the prison looked at peace. Except for in the centre, where the gallows stood.

I looked back at the priest as he finished his sermon. He closed his bible and silently walked out of the cell. I knew it was almost my time. He stopped just outside the door, and as the guard was closing it the priest said "What ever you my believe my son, don't believe that there is never an end."

After the guards and the priest left the cellblock, I flopped down face first on my bed, and for the first time in ten years, I allowed myself to cry. Not because I knew, my time was near. I was crying at what the priest said. "There is never an end." Could this mean that I would be suffering for my crimes for all eternity?

Five O'Clock

Without realizing it, I had fallen asleep. I was awoken when the door to my cell was slammed open. "It's time." Is all the guard said. I rubbed the dried tears from my face and walked to the door. I was shackled and lead out of my cell.

As the guards march me out to the courtyard, someone calls from a cell "God be with you." I stopped and turned to face the cell where the voice had come from. I stared at him for a while wondering how he could still have faith in god. He was young though, had only been here for a couple of months and was yet to experience all the horrors of this place. In a way, I felt sorry for him to have to waste the rest of his life here.

"If there's a god then why has he let me die?" The kid was baffled by my statement; I don't think that he realized just how long I had been in this place. Or that I was one of the few that had lived long enough to have their full sentence carried out.

"Get moving dead boy!" the captain yelled while pushing me forward towards the exit of the cellblock.

I walked out the cellblock door and stepped onto the newly fallen snow. I had not been outside in over a month and it took a wile for my eyes to adjust to the shine of the sun coming off the snow. "Can I have a moment to enjoy the season?" I asked the guard.
"We don't have time for you to goof off dead boy."

I understood but did not appreciate that he would not grant a dying man one last request. I reached down and grabbed a handful of snow, formed it into a ball and throw it at the guard captain. His reaction was quick and rather expected. A quick backhand across my face sent me spinning to the ground. "I should kill you right now for that boy. But since you're going to die anyway I'll let you get away with it."

I was pulled to my feet by the rest of the guards escorting me. My jaw throbbing in pain I felt satisfied with what I had done. In a small way, that one little act seemed to make up for years of abuse and torment suffered at the hands of that man.

"Death by hanging is not suitable for you. If it was up to me I'd chop your head off with a dull and rusty axe." The guard captain said as we approached the gallows. As I walked up the stairs, my life drifts before me, and though the end is near, I am not sorry for what I had done.

I was halted at the top of the stairs. A hooded figure stood their. "Would you like a blind fold?" he asked. I shook my head no. I could not speak I was awestruck by the executioner A giant of a man standing well over six feet in height. I could not see all of his face but what I could look to be well worn with age.

It was close, the end, I could feel it. I always swore that I would face death with my eye's wide open; I was not going to change that now that it was so near. As I was positioned over the trapdoor, I looked out over the prison yard. It was mandatory that all prisoners that could walk attend this farce. I have seen it several times myself and I know exactly what everyone out there is thinking, "One day that will be me."

The priest stood to my left praying to God to forgive me for all my sins. "Every sinner has made a pact with the Devil, and you my son are no exception. However, god is a forgiving and benevolent being. If you are to throw yourself at his mercy, and beg for his forgiveness, he may find it in his heart to redeem you and except your soul into his domain. If not you will be cast down into hell."

"Cast down into hell, I think not. For I am in my final minutes of hell, and death will be my release from it. Wherever I go cannot compare to this place." I felt something tugging at me from inside, and for the first time since I entered this place I felt scared. Could it have been my soul trying to get out? In a small way, I hoped it was. For it would spare it the pain of dying.

As the noose was lowered over my head, I felt sick I knew now that something was trying to escape from within me. Somebody please catch my soul cos it is willing to fly away.
"Any last words?" the executioner asked.

"Mark my words believe my soul lives on. Please don't worry now that I have gone, I've gone beyond to see the truth." I do not know why I said that, but as I did, I felt myself break free of my worldly constraints.

When you know that, your time is close at hand. Maybe then, you will begin to understand. Life down there is just a strange illusion.

End