Charlie's Final Hour

What’s it all about?

Basking in the sunlight, Charlie didn’t realize it was his last day to stroll the prison yard. His fate was decided months ago. No one thought to explain his pending plight. If they had, he would not have understood it anyway. The simple-minded jailbird never learned to read or write. Most believed he didn’t have the wherewithal to hold a simple conversation. The unrecognizable gibberish that Charlie often mumbled as he tilted his head back and forth confirmed his lack of understanding. The sympathetic faces of those around him would smile and nod their heads as though they knew what he was trying to say, even though they didn’t. 

For Charlie, it was just another lazy afternoon. He had no recollection of the events that brought him there, nor did he care. The warm light radiated from the sky, casting a shadow on the gravel beneath his feet. The clouds danced across the heavens, occasionally providing a spot of shade as the sun hovered over the aging prison. A gentle breeze slowly swept through rusting barbed wire. It was a beautiful day. Too bad it would be his last.

Young Kimberly had stopped by, that very morning, to say her goodbye. Charlie didn’t understand her tears. But the two had a somber visit as she knelt beside him and gazed into his eyes.

“I’m gonna miss you, Charlie,” she whispered. “You don’t deserve this, not at all.”

But Charlie didn’t answer. He only shuddered and gazed back at her, wondering why she seemed so sad and melancholy.

On death row, they say that an inmate’s final day races by at breakneck speeds. It’s a day of contemplation, a day of regret and guilt. But for Charlie, it was just another day, a day to enjoy his simple life of confinement. Perhaps ignorance is the greatest form of bliss.

If Charlie only knew what waited for him at dawn, he wouldn’t have dared closed his eyes that night. He would have siphoned every moment from his last remaining hours. He would have desperately searched for a means of an escape. But none of that was necessary since Charlie didn’t realize… Instead, he was fast asleep, dreaming of a future he would never see.

The early morning rooster split the darkened sky as the executioner slid from his bed. Exhausted, he splashed water on his face and prepared for his busy day.  With so much to do and little to say, he prepped the tools of his trade. Focused on the task at hand, the steady fingers of the executioner sharpened his blade. It wasn’t a matter of being cold-hearted or lacking the sympathy to care. There was a job to be done, and he was responsible to extinguish the flame.

Charlie mumbled and jutted his head to and fro as he entered the darkened doors.  The executioner ready, the blade in his hand, Charlie still ignorant wandered forward. A silence hung in the air.
The reverent man bowed his head to say a prayer, a word of thanks before he did the deed.

“Thank you, Dear Lord, for this glorious bird, and for the feast you now provide.”

With a quick and deliberate swing of the ax, the farmer completed his task. Poor Charlie, now silent, rested in peace as the man collected his prize-winning turkey.

“I’m gonna miss you, Charlie,” the humble man whispered as he carried the bird from the barn.