The Chop

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

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  He has an anthology book of published and unpublished stories available on Amazon called Delightful Nightmares.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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