They told me this was the end, That all my thoughts would fade, The life would seep from me, As they injected that lethal dose, 20 years on death row, I’d made peace for what was to be, I lay there awaiting the end, Knowing there was nothing to mend, I’d already gone around the bend, Murdered 23 people, Number 24 had gotten away, Now, my life they’re here to take, I will rest among the dead, Once everything is erased from my head. Do you even know? What it would be like, to sit here in this cell? ~~~ I had been writing my journalling as my therapist had suggested, and although I know they were trying to help, it really just made me think more about what was to come. I couldn’t possibly close my eyes, I was exhausted from the sleep deprivation, but I didn’t want to waste another second. My life was due to end, and although I’d spent the last 20 years in this cell... it still seemed brighter than what was to come. I looked around and strained in the dark, my small torch I had managed to sneak in from the prison store, allowed me to write under the dark cover. I clicked it off and stored it away. The darkness felt like it was consuming me, about to swallow me whole, but that was okay. I’d welcome the darkness and the endless sleep. Because I sure as shit wasn’t getting it now. As soon as dawns light came, my life was going to end. They would walk me down death row, I’d take my final steps, after my final breakfast, and they’d end it right then and there. In a room full of onlookers, they’d shoot me with the lethal dose. They called me sick and twisted, but I’m not the one crowding to watch another human suffer, I do think it’s a little obscene, but what would I know after all? ~~ Morning light haze broke and cast a dark glow across the cell floor, and inmates began to stir. I heard the guards yelling for us all to get up, a tray was shoved through my Mail-slot. Eggs, bacon and pancakes with a glass of orange juice. Simple, but my last request. It reminded me of childhood simplicity, of home, of brighter days. So I felt there was a morbid sense of humour, that on my darkest day, I would have the brightest breakfast. I chuckled to myself. It was amusing to say the least. I had just about finished draining my glass after scraping up every last crumb from my plate when I heard the key in the door unlock, and as I heard that metal thunk, I felt my food threaten to reappear. I thought I’d be okay, I thought I’d not really care all that much. But now it was here, I really wasn’t too sure. The guard summoned me with an angry glare, they never really did have much care for me. I mean, I couldn’t give a shit about them either. They locked the cuffs an inch too tight, a sick pleasure they probably gained from doing so. I shuffled forward and they rung the bell “Dead man walkin’ “ so they’d tell. I walked with my head held high, I told myself I wouldn’t cry. I made it to the end of the corridor, and shuffled into the viewing room. A white metal bed frame stood before me, and the chains from my body were removed. They pulled me over to the place, and tied me down and put a muzzle on my face. I could still breathe and apparently speak, and so they asked me; “Any last words?” “You’re just as sick as me” I retorted. They spun me round to see the glass, a ton of faces staring back, as the guard explained the procedure, people called me names. Told me I got what I deserved. The guard just smiled at me, and said it would erase my life, I nodded slightly and looked away. I felt the cold needle pierce the skin, just a tight little prick, and I felt it go numb. The world around me began to fade, I could hear some of the noises they made, but as I tried to think, my mind went dark, my life erased, once and for all.