THE DEADLY DAYS

                              THE DEADLY DAYS

                 Martin was doomed to die. Lethal injection was the method; but he didn’t care. The fact that he was innocent worried him the most. He hoped. Oh, how he hoped for that phone call that would save him. He marked the walls with a tally of his final days. Ten more to go. He shivered from fear, wishing to God he was anywhere but where he was.  Ten more days to live. How would he survive? 

                  And it was Christmas. The worst possible Christmas imaginable, and he thought of his family again. They had disowned him years before. He still missed them, but there was nothing he could do. No one would talk to him, especially now. He was alone in his cell, save for the spectre of his impending doom. He wanted someone to talk to, but the spectre would only laugh at him. He was only a figment of his imagination, but at times he seemed very, very real. The days seemed to drag endlessly, yet at the same time to fly by. 

                  “What’s the matter, loser boy? Unhappy, are we?”

                  Jailor Johnston was a cruel man. He often dropped by to torment Martin. “Have you thought about what you’d like for your final meal? Plenty to choose from, you know. Of course, I get my share of what you choose, so make it good, will you?” He laughed, and walked away.  

                  Martin sat on his bunk and cried. The spectre moved into view. “Feeling down, are you?” it rasped from its foul mouth. “You’re going to die, boy! Dead right, you are!” and it laughed foully. 

                  “DAMN YOU!” he screamed, but the thing only laughed harder.

                   “Too late, there, Mr. Innocence, far too late! Too late for me, too late for you! Go ahead, curse those that put you here! Damn them with you every breath!  Damn them to be in your place, waiting to die! Waiting, waiting!”

                  “Go to hell!”

                  The spectre laughed harder. “Where do you think I’m from?”

                   He sat and felt horrible. His bunk was as hard as stone, but he curled up on it and tried to make the pain go away. In a few agonizing moments, he succeeded. 

                  When he woke it was deep in the night. The clock read four, so he assumed it was right. His food was on a tray by his bunk, and he sat up and ate it.  After he brushed his teeth, and went back to his bunk. He lay awake for hours, watching the spectre watch him. The thing hadn’t moved, but knew it was waiting for him to show weakness. He wanted to disappoint it, but weakness was all he could feel. The cold of the stone walls seeped into his very bones, knowing he was doomed. There was nothing he could do, and a deep feeling of helplessness overcame him. 

                  “You could curse them, you know!” 

                  “Go away,” Martin whispered. The thing laughed. “I can’t! I’m a part of you! I’m your damnation!”

                  “I didn’t do anything wrong! I killed no one! I harmed no one! I showed love to all I know, and still I am condemned to die.”

                  The spectre grinned. “I know. Terribly unfair, isn’t it? Damn those who put you here! Damn those who bore false witness against you! Curse them to the depths of your soul!”

                  Martin thought. “No. They will get their justice in the end. I cannot curse them, or I will be cursed, too.”

                  “But you were only trying to help, weren’t you?”

                  Yes. The girl was being raped, and I tried to rescue her. The rapist had a gun, and it went off in the struggle. He was hurt bad, but lived. He then swore I shot him out of vengeance, and the girl, who was his former lover, supported his word. They lied, all of them. Even the police officer believed them. And here I am, doomed to die because an innocent bystander was killed when the man tried to kill me. It’s so unfair.”

                  “I know, it is,” Jailor Johnston agreed from the door.  “But that’s the way it is, boy! You’ll die, while those who are really guilty walk free. So unfair, really. But no one believes you, and there you go. That’s life; or in your case, death! Have a nice day!’ he said, laughing as he walked away.

                  Matin realized it was morning, and made his way over to the wall. He made another mark, and realized there were only a few more days left until he died. He was overwhelmed with grief, and went over and sat on his bunk and wept. Sadness filled him with grief as he realized it was Christmas day. He recalled the days of his youth, when he would get presents from his parents. They weren’t as good as his brothers and sisters, but he was grateful for them anyway. Everyone was nicer to him then, and he liked it! It meant the world to him to have nobody picking on him, as they usually did. 

                  But this Christmas was different. So very different. His mother was dead, and his father never cared for him. His brothers and sisters, all four of them, ignored him for years now. He had no more friends, no one who cared for him at all. No one.  Well, there was a nun who befriended him, and even believed in his innocence. She tried, but she could not bring enough evidence to overturn his sentence.

                  There was nothing anyone could do. He looked up and saw the spectre there. “Curse them, curse those that put you here, foolish man! Cure them to hell!”

                  “No, I can’t and won’t do that! I will survive, you’ll see. I will survive, and you and your cursing cannot change that! I may die, but I am innocent! Nothing can change that. Now, go away!”

                  Much to his surprise, the spectre vanished! He breathed a sigh of relief, and soon found that he had a strength inside him that was remarkable. He would condemn no one, he would die as he lived, with love in his heart. No one or nothing could change that.

                  The days flew by, and finally he was put to death. It felt like going to sleep, and he died in peace. Everyone was doubting his guilt by this time, but there was nothing more to do about it.

                  He woke in the morning. Sunlight streamed through the window, lighting up the small cell. There were no marks on the wall. A person sat there, and smiled. Martin had never seen such a smile. Then he noticed the cell door was open. 

                  “That’s right, dear Martin, you are free! Your true life starts now. Welcome to Heaven!”

                  Martin burst into tears of joy. His Guide took his hand, and showed him his Happiness. There was so much to see and do, and to live. Here he was truly alive, after having died as an innocent, he deserved all of this, and more. 

THE END