Twelve Hours

Twelve hours from now I will be a dead man. It is six pm now and I
will be hanged tomorrow morning. Hanged for murder. It has been proved
in a court of law that I have murdered a man. A man whose name I didn't
know when he died. It is true that he died in my presence. But I did
not do anything to cause his death. When I heard the loud knocks on the
door that night my first reaction was to ignore it. But the banging of
the front door went on for twenty minutes. I was afraid that my cheap
wooden door would give way. So, I asked who it was. In reply I heard a
moaning noise. The cry that came from the other side was truly ghostly.
I am certainly not afraid of ghosts. So, I decided to find out just who
was bothering me well past midnight. I had to open all of three locks
before the door opened completely and then I turned on the light
outside. A tall man wearing a very imposing overcoat was standing
outside and his face was covered with a hat. I asked the person what he
wanted. He had pushed me aside and rushed to my sofa. It was evident
that the man was badly injured. After some time he began to breathe
heavily like dying people do. And even as I looked on he died. My first
reaction was to remove his coat. This I did and found that a knife had
been stuck into his back. Naturally he had been stabbed. As I tried to
look at the knife without touching it a party of policemen entered
through my front door. "There he is!" one of them said. Before I could
react I had been handcuffed. All kinds of arguments had been forwarded
to establish in court that I had indeed killed Danny Bose, the tycoon.
The judge had patiently listened to the lawyers on both sides and had
concluded that I was guilty. As a result I was sentenced to
death.
I had been lucky in life before the trial. I was born in a middle class
family. Being the only issue I was pampered a great deal. I was always
given toys we could not afford. I went to a good school. I was an
average student but my teachers always liked me. Indeed I always
greeted them every morning and said yes when they wanted me to. My
results in the school leaving examination were better than expected. I
gained entry into a famous college. I became president of the drama
club and bunked college to go to the pictures. I only studied in the
library for a fortnight before the promotion test. Despite this I was
always placed in the first class often with distinction. When I was
through with college I began teaching in a school. In the school both
colleagues and students took a liking to me. In fact I was sent abroad
for a year-long continuing education course. Before the midnight
incident occurred I had been engaged to a pretty girl and we were due
to marry the coming month. But then my luck ran out. I have appealed to
the President for a special pardon stating all facts. I am not very
hopeful though.
I have been in jail for two months. The other inmates respect me
because I am educated. None of them has ever had a salaried job. I have
tried teaching them Mathematics which was my subject. Some of them do
have talent for numbers. I have been counselled by a number of people
about my impending fate. I have been asked to be patient, remorseful
and even grateful. I have been told that I have been bad and must
therefore be punished for it. My family and my antecedents have been
severely criticized. I have no immediate family now though I have
aunties and uncles and many cousins. I have been reminded that all
these people are of bad blood and that this blood has made me a
murderer. I have quietly heard all that I have been told. I am afraid
of dying. As scared a person can be really. I shudder to think of the
day when this beautiful world with its attendant sights and sounds will
prosper-and I will not live to be a part of it. Life is precious, it's
everything. I want to live many many years till the earth is destroyed
perhaps. But then, I will be put to death tomorrow. Almighty, what have
I done to deserve this. As long as I lived free I tried to be happy. I
tried to make others happy too. I behaved well with everyone-said
'please' and 'sorry' and 'thanks'. I loved children, adored flowers. I
did whatever I could to add to the measure of good. And must I die for
it.
The clock just struck five. Its five am in the morning. The sun will
rise any minute now. I see the jail warden coming to my cell with my
lawyer. I guess this is it. Goodbye, world. The warden has just entered
my cell. He speaks, "Congratulations Mr Ian Sen. The presidential
pardon has just arrived. From this moment you are a free man."