The Last Execution

In twelve hours, a fifteen-year-old boy will be be executed on Gallows Hill.The master carpenter comes to measure Niels for his coffin.The master baker bakes bread for the spectators.The messenger posts the notice of execution in the town square.The poet prepares his best pen to record the events of the execution as they unfold.A fly, Niels’s only companion in the cell, buzzes, buzzes.A dog hovers by his young master’s window.A young girl hovers too, pitying the boy.The executioner sharpens, sharpens, sharpens his blade.Each townsperson holds a stake in the execution. But as the hours tick by, each must answer the question: Does this young boy have the right to live? Or does he deserve to die?