Wednesday, March 31, 2010

#fridayflash: Sacrilege

Warning: this Fridayflash is not for the easily offended.


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By Lily Mulholland

It's kind of ironic that I ended up in the job I'm in. I have a very low pain threshhold. But, someone's got to do the dirty jobs no one else wants to do. For a so-called 'civilisation' we're surprisingly uncivil in some of our collective choices, don't you think? So anyway, my mum hears of this job. Great pay, flexible hours, health plan. Can't ask for more than that, I say. She reckons I might even get a woman out of it. Being employed by the government and all. It's a job that gives me status, although I'm not the kind of person that gets invited to dinner parties. If you ask someone what they think about my job, they kind of shudder. I think I'm up there, or is it down, with politicians and journalists. But, hey, it doesn't bother me. I know that I'm needed and that's enough reward for me these days.

So, anyway, today's a big day. My team and I have been preparing for for weeks now, ever since the courts handed down their verdict. And it's not just any execution we're doing today, it's the harshest form we have available in our inventory, and we have some pretty gruesome ways to kill you. I'm not necessarily a supporter of capital punishment, but it does send a message and keeps the marginally good in our society on the right side of the ledger. The bad guys, well, they keep me employed, so I don't complain.

Like I said, today we're making history. We've planned it down to the last detail and have a great risk management plan (just in case something goes wrong, we're working in pretty unique circumstances here). Everything's ready, so we're just waiting for the prisoner to arrive. I hear Mr Pilate ordered a spot of flogging and and the slow walk, so we're not sure when he'll get here. I hope he's not too shattered. I've got a few questions I'd like to ask him.

11 comments:

  1. In the head of an executioner. An interesting place to be. Really liked your ending (and I'm also very jealous that you've finished your #fridayflash so early).

    One thing tripped me up a little in the first paragraph. You said "unsurprisingly civil" - did you mean "surprisingly uncivil" or am I just really slow on just one cup of coffee?

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  2. Oh, very nice! I really liked how this story began from inside the head of a public executioner...then the third paragraph made it suddenly very topical. Extremely slick, I'm very impressed.

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  3. I had to come back again. I read this again, twice, and each time I liked it even more. Like I said earlier, the head of the executioner is an interesting place - especially this particular one. (sorry for the two comments, I just really, really liked it)

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  4. Intriguing viewpoint that can be further developed.Congrats on early Fridayflash Lily!

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  5. Not offensive at all. Very well constructed and paced. Did love that it was mom who found the job!

    A story that could have made one flinch, but done in such an elegant way that it makes one impressed.

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  6. Might even get a woman out of it! Love that. Like the other's have said, an interesting subject for a character study. Also got me thinking about those women who write to life sentence murders in prison.

    marc nash

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  7. Nothing ever changes for the civil servants of the world...good job, status. :)

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  8. Certainly an interesting take here!
    (should it be Mr Pilate though? Apologies if I missed something obvious about "Pilot"!)

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  9. Very different way of looking at it. I like the way your mind works on this.

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  10. Ha! I agree with Laura.

    Very interesting perspective and I think it was very well-written and not offensive at all.

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  11. Good story. Quite an interesting tale!

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