The Chop
by Ray Prew
My hands are tightly tied behind my back, it’s useless to struggle,
but I try. Two of the royal court guards have me by the arms. They push
and drag me forward. There it is; the guillotine. I am being forced to
my knees and my head is thrust into the bottom of the stock. They lower
the top onto my neck, locking me in place. A bloodstained basket is
placed below my head.
The crowd cheers as my crime was read. Squeak; squeak I can hear the
blade being raised higher and higher until it reached the top. As an
extra punishment, the rope holding the blade is placed between my teeth
as my pants are pulled off. They lay the lash of a whip across my
buttocks. I dare not scream, if I open my mouth the blade will fall.
Once, twice, three times they lay the whip on me. Each time the crowd
cheers louder.
Finally, I can stand the pain no longer. I open my mouth to scream
in pain and indignation. The last sound I hear, the last sound I will
ever hear, is the swoosh of the blade. In the last few seconds of my
life, I see the inside of the wicker basket as my life’s blood flows
out.
THE END
© 2017 Ray Prew
BioRay Prew was originally from Rhode Island, but now lives in
Florida. He is a graduate of the New England Institute of
Technology. Ray has been a blue-collar worker all his life, and
started writing as a hobby. He spent 9 enjoyable years as a phone
psychic. Ray’s work has been published in Spinetinglers magazine, Blood Moon Rising, and Aphelion,
as well as several other magazines. He has an anthology book of
published and unpublished stories available on Amazon called Delightful Nightmares. His work has also appeared in the anthology Vicious Circle by Sinister Grin.
E-mail: Ray Prew
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