This was the end for Terrance. As much as he might have wanted to deny it and as much as he entertained contrary thoughts, he knew he would not be escaping the noose around his neck. He would see no mercy from his captors, much less from the demons in hell. Over all, he felt he had lived his life well, he even had a family once. That is, until he was no longer living quite so well, and lost the family he cared so dearly for. 'Lost', in this case, meaning 'brutally murdered', of course.
The soon-to-be-dead men formed a line of three, and their expectant audience boasted ten times their numbers. Terrance stood furthest to the right, and from his particular postition atop the raised wooden platform, he had a lovely view of where it happened, his own home, where he lost them. He was far too engaged in his own self-pity to pay his nieghbors any mind, and before he could so much as think to look them in their faces, the hood was on. All turned black, and the crowd cheered.
Terrance was in tears, but as he waited for the end, both dreading and and anticipating it, came a voice, a rather exhasperated voice. "You know what your problem is, Greg? You are always trying to rain on my parade. Can't you just let me have this? Must you strip me of all joy I come across?"
"Christ, you're dramatic. You know, believe it or not, Kyle, not all the women you pass on the street are flirting with you. I saw her too, you know? She might have glanced at you for a second, but no more than that." Said a second, deeper voice, closer to Terrance, who stood completely bewildered.
"I know what this is about, Greg, and it's okay. It's completely normal for you to be insanely jealous of a friend, who is not only incredibly smart, but also insanely attractive, but I really can't help it. I hope you can come to accept your inferiority and find a nice cozy corner to live in, in my shadow." Retorted Kyle, smirking behing his hood. The comfortable nature of the conversation left Terrance uncomfortable. He was much displeased to realize his final moments would be lived alongside the commentary of two rambling idiots, both of which seemed to be ultimately ignorant of their own mortality.
"If you are so confident, then go on, ask her."
"I will" Kyle grumbled, and raised his voice "Um... Ms. Lady Person? The one who was flirting with me? Hello? Could you tell my friend here about how you were flirting with me? I can't see you with the hood, you will have to speak up." There was a long moment of silence in the crowd. "Well, Greg, clearly, she is too shy to draw attention to herself. You'll just have to believe me, I'm afraid."
"That isn't actually valid proof, surprisingly enough." said Greg. "I stand by my previous claim." Terrance began to wonder if it might be worth dying if it would mean the deaths of the men beside him.
"Is that so, Greg? Well, there is only one way to reach a conclusion if you won't hear reason. Democratically."Kyle proclaimed. Terrance wondered why they hadn't hanged yet, perhaps the guards were entertained by the fools. The crowd certainly was, they had fallen silent in an attempt to better hear the deadmen. "Now, you lot in the audience, I take it you are all aware of our situation, yes? Well, I want a show of hands from all in agreeance with me." This was followed by silence. "Right. Good. I now see the flaw in this. All those that agree with me, say aye."
  "Aye" declared some in the crowd, although Terrance could not say how many.
But one spoke up individually. "The Greg guy is right! You are clearly a vain egotistic douche and you are deluding yourself."
"F*** you too, you ugly bastard!"
"You can't see me!"
"I don't need to, that's how ugly you are! Blind people can come up to you and say 'yep, that's an ugly bastard alright'."
"At least I am not about to die!"
"Wow! Why would you make fun of someone for that? What is wrong with you? What type of person makes fun of someone for dying? I bet you go up to children in cancer wards to point and laugh. Disgusting." said Kyle, shaming the outspoken man. "You know who went to cancer wards to laugh at children? Hitler, Hitler did. You are literally Hitler."
"You're an idiot."proclaimed Greg.
"You sympathize with nazis, Greg, mmkay? So shut up."
Terrance had heard enough, he decided he mustn't let these bafoons stall his reunion to his family. What brand of men did they fancy themselves to face death so indifferentally? Who were they to make a mockery of their dying moments, of his dying moments. He could not stand for it, but what could he do? "End this folly! You cretins may wish to stall your deaths with your silly words, but some men would rather die honorably, real men would." I would. "Guards... do it."
Yet another quiet fell apon them, Terrance waited anxiously for the slightest of sounds from the guards, but heard naught, until finally one of them asked "Now, hang on. Just to clarify, was the girl smiling? Because a smile can change a lot, believe me. My sister actually studies psychology, and she says you can tell a lot about what a girl is trying to tell you from her body language. You should, of course, also take into consideration her zodiac sign, now I think we have an aquarius on our ha-"
"Kill me! Kill me now!" Terrance howled hysterically. "Do you have any idea what I've been through? I lost my wife and my kids! My kids, damn you! The youngest one, she was only 5 years old! I can still see her beautiful face, but she's gone! I lost it all! And now you're here to take my life... well take it, do it. I'm not afraid, I'm a man!" Terrance was determined to die with the dignity he did not know in life, if he absolutely must die. But although he asked for death, what he truly longed for was comfort. To be released from the grasps of death and sent on to embrace the crowd, to be loved, cared for, and appreciated.
The guard spoke up once again "You sound like you could really use help. You know, my sister, she charges like, 20 coins per week. You would love her, she could really help you achieve inner peace and be totally zen. I had some problems like yours once, you know, once I lost my pen, like my favorite pen. I was freaking out, but she was a big help, and I managed to pull through."
"But he'll be dead, won't he? Does your sister charge extra for corpses?" said Kyle, mockingly. "You see that all over nowadays, bloody liveism."
"Are you suggesting my sister is a liveist? How dare you, sir!?" said the guard, offended. "I will have you know my sister is an avid anti-liveism activist! She is a good, hardworking, amazing woman, and she won't stop her fight for equality until she's dead and rotten. Unlike those smelly poor people scum."
"Hang them! Hang them! Hang them!" The crowd took up a cheer. They had seen enough. Terrance bit his lip as he waited for sweet relief. Although his eyes were covered, he could see as clear as day, the neck of his beautiful wife held between his two hands, as he drained all life from her body. He may have been charged and he may have been convicted but he could never bring himself to admit his own fault. He blamed God, Satan, anyone but himself, as the weak tend to. But now, as he waited, he would not have to live with himself much longer. This was the end for Terrance, and accepting his ill doings, something he could not bring himself to do before, was now bearable. He would now allow himself to face the truth, to cleanse himself of the lies, and brace for the eternal suffering he knew he deserved.
The guard pulled the lever.