Electric Chair
The morning was crisp and cool with a light pattering of rain as I made my voyage to the prison. I wasn’t quite sure why I was going to do what I was, or if it was even the right thing to do, but inside my curiosity was killing me.
At the prison, I sat in a small damp room which smelled of mold and rotting…who knows what. I sat on a cold wooden chair beside one other person who had come as I had, but we did not speak, for it felt awkward to do so during such an event. Before me was a magnificent looking chair, although I knew that it brought death to many, I was still fascinated by such a piece of work. Beside the chair stood two guards. They stood straight and tall. Their eyes were fixed on the back wall as they stood in uniform doing their job, and being intimidating. It was 9:59 am, one minute till they brought in the convict for execution.
Finally the door banged open as two more guards held a struggling man by his cuffed arms. The man’s hair was ruffled and sweat beaded down his face although it was an unusually cool day. Suddenly it struck me, although I am so fascinated with death and such, this is an actual human being. The guards then forced him down to sit in the chair as they took off his cuffs and securely fastened his wrists, ankles and head to the chair.
I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine as the fear and pain of his eyes pierced through me and I shivered. “Why am I here?” I thought to myself, and suddenly I felt embarrassed I was. I had come to watch a man I didn’t know, come to his death. Whether he deserved it or not I do not or never will know, but it still felt wrong. The man’s face went white as they pulled a mask over his face and lowered the metal crown over his head. Once again my soft side got to me and I felt tears coming on.
One of the guards said a prayer before the deed was done and everyone closed their eyes. One of the other guards pulled the lever and I jumped from the unexpected sound of electricity. I looked up from the floor to see the crown above the man’s head turn blue with threads of electricity flowing through it. The electricity flowed into the man’s brain and body as he stiffened and began to wildly shake and twitch from the power surging through him. My stomach slightly turned as the air began to smell like burning flesh as the guards bowed their heads from the sight. Although I felt morally terrible from what I was seeing I was still curious and couldn’t keep my eyes off the smoking torso which sat in the chair before me.
Suddenly the room once again went silent as the electricity stopped and the man’s body fell limp without movement. Small streams of smoke rose from his body as I stared in disbelief. “What a terrible way to die” I thought to myself as I walked off, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself after this day of finding such a grotesque act, so fascinating.

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