Bohannon

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Bohannon Faces the Gallows

Published on 12/3/2005

By Pernes Tounia

6:00 AM. The sun rose slowly over the desert sands; already a crowd had formed around the gallows. Artistopians mixed with the curious and the wicked. The emotional energy subdued by the early hour and the already heated landscape. Temperatures here can drop to only 85 degrees Fahrenheit overnight. The hangman's stage looked like any you've seen from television. A large enclosed wooden platform – eight feet high, 10 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The thick noose hung from an inverted wooden 'L'. Eight local soldiers stood at ready on the stage. Another ten stood to the right of the stage. Steps ascended from the left. A military vehicle pulled up, four soldiers stepped out and took position. A big man, easily six and a half feet and weighing 300 pounds, then crawled out. He looked up at the crowd, then reached and pulled out the prisoner. The man fell to the sand like a surprised rag doll. He got to his knees, then stood and brushed the sand from his prison whites. It was Bohannon. The crowd gurgled. The big man pulled Bohannon toward the stairs, but recognizing that he would not resist, simply led him by the elbow up the stairs. Bohannon seemed to count each step up to the awaiting noose. He turned to the crowd. The soldiers all lifted and aimed their rifles toward the people. “Fellow Artistopians,” Bohannon said. “Fear not. This crucifixion is not as sharp as the cutlass that awaits me.” Judge Che'ez had stepped from behind the structure and followed Bohannon up. He intoned, “All that awaits you now, is death.” He seemed to have lost the battle he had so clearly won. “You are a liar. You are a fake. You deserve whatever awaits you when the floor splits and your body falls.” His lack of enthusiasm dampened the crowd's anger. They roiled and choked silently. Bohannon smiled. “Do you have anything to say?” Judge Che'ez asked. “No,” Bohannon said. “Do you want a black hood to cover your lying head?” “No,” Bohannon answered, “because I want you to remember my final smile from now to eternity.” “Your eternity,” the judge said, “ends right here.” The big man positioned Bohannon beneath the noose, then wrapped it tightly around his neck. “My eternity,” Bohannon stated calmly, “is just beginning.” Someone unseen pulled the rope taut and Bohannon seemed to stand at attention. His face grew crimson. The judge looked out at the crowd and then at Bohannon. He waited what seemed like an eternity, while Bohannon choked silently, then lifted his arm and the trap door opened, Bohannon fell and disappeared. But the rope snapped back up... without the noose! There was a collective gasp and the sound of panic. The crowd began to surge. In the chaos no one heard the ignition of a Rocket 350 engine growling to life. The collective confusion was bitch-slapped by a sudden explosion of the right side of the hangman's stage. The wood splintered and a gold 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible shot from beneath the gallows. The stage seemed to topple in slow motion in its wake; the judge and soldiers tumbling to the sand. The muscle car jammed through the sand, parting the sea of soldiers and onlookers! Bohannon himself sat at the wheel! Urquell in a particularly colorful head scarf and sunglasses rode shotgun! Each had a highball in hand! The soldiers bumbled and fumbled and fell about one another. Someone shouted orders from somewhere. A figured appeared in the back of the car. It was Giles! The goat sat up in the back seat! The car sped past the onlookers and gathered speed up a massive dune. The Cutlass shot up the hill, left the sand and sliced through the air! At that moment Bohannon, Urquell and Giles all turned back to the crowd and smiled. [Freeze frame. Hold, move image left and run credits.] Pernes Tounia Ma Ke Beli Eve, Serio



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Bohannon Faces the Gallows