Shocked

It will be over in less than a minute. All you need to do is relax and don’t struggle. Your outcome has been predetermined so you might as well accept your fate. Think of it as your path to freedom and a new life. This, and so much more, is what I was told to make me feel better. Of course, I knew they were lying and so did they. Nothing, not kind words, or soothing gestures, no nothing will make me willingly accept my rendezvous with old sparky.

It all started innocently enough, just a noble deed gone horribly wrong. The governor personally picked me out of all the other sentinels to watch his eighteen-year-old daughter while she went on holiday with some friends. I had talked with her infrequently while making my rounds in the mansion and found her to be both intelligent and well-mannered. This should have been a simple assignment.

I had never met the rest of the protection detail until the day before we were scheduled to leave. They would be the advance team, checking the route and accommodations for any potential problems. I would stay with Gwendolyn, the daughter, as her personal escort. Day one went smoothly. The trip to the seaside was uneventful, and she was gracious enough to include me when we stopped for lunch. I had no contact with the advance team, but it wasn’t of any concern. No contact meant no issues.

Day two is when everything changed. Her itinerary called for a morning excursion around the harbor, followed by an afternoon of sand and swimming. It should have been a simple day for me as well, but I was becoming concerned over the lack of contact from the rest of the team. They had gone dark. Gwen, we were on a first-name basis by now, boarded the private yacht and asked if I wouldn’t mind getting her sunglasses from the car. My guardian self said I should never leave her side, but the nice guy me thought, sure the car is less than half a minute away.

I spotted them just as I reached the car. The rest of my team were boarding the boat, and they were wearing the uniforms of a rival state. I turned and raced toward the yacht at top speed, but it was too late. The boat had already pulled away from the dock. To make things worse, Gwen was kissing one of them. I found out later that the man she was kissing was the son of a rival governor.

I knew punishment was waiting for me when I returned to the mansion, but I never expected this. Without hesitation, the governor sentenced me to eternal death by electrocution. As upset and scared as I was, eternal death was a phrase I had never heard before, so I asked my jailer.

“Oh lad, it seems there is a lot you don’t know about our good governor. He is a master of the dark arts. He has sentenced you to a never-ending execution for losing his daughter to his rival. Every minute from the first time the lever is pulled, the executioner will hit you with another jolt of electricity until the flesh falls from your bones and your skeleton turns to dust. Old sparky and you will become one for eternity.

I sat in my cell for the next few days mulling over what my jailer had told me. Yes, I’m facing a most terrible fate, but it could have been worse. I could have fallen in love with the bitch. It’s true what they say, “Nice guys always finish last.”