"Have you heard of the news?"
Tina, a gardener to the Long family for several years now, was busy plucking away at weeds in the front yard when Cynthia Long's voice shot through the air much like an arrow, piercing through her ear drums and causing her to cringe slightly. It wasn't that Cynthia's voice was enough to shatter glass, really, it was just that when she was excited...the pitch was taken up a notch.
"No, atleast I don't think so. What's going on?" Tina asked casually, eyeing an annoying little weed in front of her that refused to budge. She gave it a tug and it persisted to stay put, and as Tina pulled harder, it seemed to laugh at her efforts.
"They're setting up that Dominic fellow for slaughter!" she called out, eyes wide as she grinned. In that instant, the weed's decapitation took place as the roots shot forth from the Earth, causing Tina to fall back into a stunned sitting position, her head turning towards Mrs. Long in shock.
"S..slaughter?"
"Yes! Isn't it wonderful?!" she said smiling, clapping her hands lightly. Recently, Dominic had been convicted for the attempted murder of their former mayor, Sean Galen, and was given an unfair trial. The scheduled executioner, should Dominic have eventually lost the trial and fallen victim to the town's traditional ways, would be the town's proverbial monster...Frank Merritt. He was a wonderful, kindly man...but when it came to his business, he was ALL business. Inside, Tina wanted to scream at Cynthia, inside she wanted to berate her for her ignorance...but to do so would be to break a longtime friendship between the two.
"Yes...it's wonderful.." she replied quietly, placing the dying weed in the bag beside her.
Within her mind however, a storm was raging fiercely. Cynthia was excitedly running to the neighbors to talk of the news, as Tina slowly stood with her bag and wiped the sweat from her brow. She looked to the sky, sighing softly.
"They're gonna kill an innocent man...just because they can't understand him. I wonder how these people can even sleep at night sometimes..."
Strangeville...a land of people who were constantly at peace and at war with one another. Poor Dominic had came here with his eyes set on a Despairican dream...and it all crumpled down into one big nightmare for him by the time he was done. Tina was there the first day he came in, people welcomed him warmly, accepted him as one of their own. Slowly he gained more power in Strangeville, and unlike those who'd done it before he actually hadn't been corrupted by it.
And yet the instant he tries to stop a corrupt former mayor from rising to the ranks again, and winds up getting set-up by the same mayor in a compromising situation, the administration who'd welcomed him set him up for slaughter.
Tina knew Galen wasn't exactly trying to set up Dominic--he just really couldn't help but be corrupt, and in Dominic's eyes that was wrong. Dominic didn't want to see Galen ruin this town again...and he tried to stop him. Unfortunately, Galen faked that Dominic had attempted to murder him, and the leaders of the town believed him, setting him up to be stoned. This wasn't the first time either--Dominic had overcome Galen's accusations once before...
It was just sad, really...because he probably wouldn't be able to overcome them this time.
Dropping the bag of weeds and removing her gloves, Tina made her way towards the Long household for a glass of water. Mr. Long, sitting on the front porch reading his paper, regarded her with a nod and a smile. Tina tried to smile in return as she passed by, but she knew that what she gave him was scarcely even half of one.
The television was on, and the news anchor was all smiles as he went about his job, reading the teleprompter in front of him to the people watching at home. Beside his head, an image of Dominic being arrested was shown. Tina shook her head sadly, picking up the remote and turning the television off. She wasn't interested in what was to be said, because she knew the whole story--she had experienced it first hand.
Looking back on that first day he'd came, she could have never imagined that such a nice man could be forced onto deathrow by the people he'd trusted. She could have never forseen the administration of Strangeville actually betraying him...it just didn't add up--Dominic appealed to them for God's sake!
There was something about Dominic that appealed to the people of Strangeville on the very first day. Of course, the hoodlums and hoodrats would come after him, and for awhile he was even on the bad side of former mayor Galen...but the people themselves generally loved him, and that helped him never break under the pressure that some higher-ups in the town put on him. The administration itself seemed happy with Dominic, but after the so-called 'attempted murder' of former mayor Galen...it all just seems so faux. Dominic, even through the trial, was determined that he would make it out okay. It was a trait of his that Tina truly admired, his determination was unmatched by all in Strangeville...not even their chief of police, Phil Castle, could be held over him in that department.
Breaking away from her thoughts for a short while, Tina made her way on into the kitchen. Pictures adorned the refrigerator in magnet form, portraying Long family portraits and pets, happy times for them over the many years the family was together. Mr. and Mrs. Long's children had long since moved out, but the two would never forget the times they'd spent as their children grew up.
Tina smiled in remembrance of the day that Jack Long, their oldest son, had finally moved out of the house. It was such an emotional day...he had finally became a man and was prepared to go out and live life on his own. His bags, packed tight in a beat up old Chevy, contained what he'd need for his adventure into the world. He was filled with this desire for success, his eyes were practically glowing in what little light dusk was providing them.
It was like a scene out of a movie, really...he'd even driven off into the sunset on that day. The skies were painted warm with reds and oranges, and there was a slight breeze. He had a fiery determination in his eyes as he set off from the driveway, making his way down the road to leave Strangeville for another land.
If only she had told Dominic of the corruption...if only she could have gotten to him in time, maybe he could have escaped too.
Dominic...had never really intended to bring harm to anyone in Strangeville, he was always just out there to make his dreams come true. He was like anyone else in the United States of Despairica, he was following his dreams. On the night that Galen accused Dominic of murdering him, Dominic's dreams might as well have ended there.
Despite Dominic professing his innocence in the matter, and despite the fact that in reality, had those people just looked at the scars he'd gotten from the conflict they'd know the truth...he was put away. On the night of the attack it was Sean Galen who had delivered the punishing blows, and Dominic who had tried to fight back. Yet he was the former 'honorable' mayor, so of course the administration would put him above Dominic. It was because of the corruption dealt from Galen to the administration--particularly to James L. Rockingwell, the president of Strangeville--that Dominic simply had no hope of winning this time.
The water was cold as it poured into her glass from the freezer's water-maker, making a piddle-esque sound as it hit the empty glass and began to fill it. Tina pulled back the glass as the water filled it halfway, bringing it to her lips for a sip. Her eyes were closed as she did so, recollections of the past flowing across the insides of her eyelids like a cinema reel.
As she brought the glass down and placed it on the counter she looked out the kitchen window, observing two squirrel's chasing each another across a branch. She smiled and shook her head, gently leaning against the countertop and resting her arms against it on either side of her.
"With all of it's flaws...atleast Strangeville still has it's good points." she said with a smile, trying to atleast find something she could be happy for in this God-forsaken place. She had always tried to convince herself that this really was a good area, but the fact of the matter was that it was, unfortunately, falling apart.
Her smile faltered as her realization came to her as it did many times in the past, denying her any salvation from the sad aura that seemed to surround Strangeville.
"It's happening!" cried forth Cynthia's voice from the living room, causing Tina to turn her head. With eyes wide in shock, Tina realized just how long the trial had been going on. Of course Rockingwell would wish for the execution to occur post-haste...it was the way he handled such things. No wonder that damn reporter had such a huge grin on his face!
Tina found herself hurrying into the living room, a sense of dread filling her as she looked towards the freshly turned on television, portraying none other then Dominic with his head lowered on screen. Before him stood the massive Frank Merritt, a pile of stones beside him. The crowd was held off by gates to ensure their own safety should Merritt miss his mark. If he was to run out of stones and Dominic survived...only then would he be set free.
And no-one survived the wrath of Frank Merritt.
Tears burned at Tina's eyes as Dominic was asked for his last words, a look of sadness on betrayal in his eyes as he turned towards the priest before him.
"I'm...innocent, I would never try to murder someone..." he choked out, lifting his head to glare towards Galen and the administration watching from their high-seats behind the crowd, "But it seems...some people in Strangeville would."
The words repeated on in Tina's head, shutting out all other sounds including the continuation of his final address to the public. The single statement he'd made to start things off was what got to Tina the most...because in more ways then one, it held all the truth in the world.
A scream of pain as the first stone connected broke through Tina's thoughts, and she simply turned her head in shame. Throughout her being she could feel it, a sense of shame towards her friends, to her community...to Strangeville itself. It was on this day that an innocent man would more then likely die because he dared to dream of a better place, and when he tried to help the administration who welcomed him with open arms...he was punished with certain death.
Should Dominic survive this onslaught, he would truly be a hero...but should he die, he wouldn't even be a martyr, but more a man killed for the betterment of the town.
If only the ignorance of the people wasn't so great that they couldn't see the corruption of their President and his administration...but the very thought of such a thing happening was no more then a dream.
And those who dare to dream in Strangeville, well...