I’m so stressed out. I need to write some things off my chest. I’m quickly realizing how much I am like my father. Trying to teach my daughters to be respectful but getting a face full of disrespect because I’m old fashion. At least that my guess. Being a little respectful, is that old fashion. Holding off on the swearing. Refusing to use derogatory terms. It’s like I am on the outside screaming “Come on.” or even on the inside trapped in a world that wants to spread hatred and disrespect everywhere.
I was going to go on but I hate doing this crap…. the belly aching.. On to a story…
The Trials of the Century ———-
Jim stepped forward hands shackled to a loop in the waist of his pants.
“Mister Crow, do you understand the charges.”
Jim Crow stood staunch and defiant.
“I don’t have to speak to you. I have the right to be silent.”
“You also have the right to say whatever you want,” reminded the judge as he prepared for the stiff rebuttal.
“Yes, I do,” stated Jim as he growled.
“Mr. Crow, you have spent years festering within the community. Your reign of terror spreading like a cancer. Your actions separating the bipedal human community into haves and have-not. I sentence you to Shut the Hell up!!”
The judge then stood, grabbed the desk that sat in front of him and tossed it into the air. It floated slowly over the head of the court appointed attorney and eventually landed within the empty seats of the juror. The crash of the wood shook everyone within the court room but when the eyes returned to the judges desk it had reappeared.
“Bailiff take this man away.” A large man, dressed in black walked quickly toward Jim Crow. His frame spread large against the smaller man and the lawyer. The Bailiff grabbed Jim Crow and dragged him from the room.
“Next up!” The judge stood. Towering over the room. He then shrank as a man dressed in a sharp suit and tie stood in the center of the room. Christian was shackled similarly to Jim Crow and stood shoulders straight and confident.
“Do you understand the charges?”
Christian looked upon the judge and said confidently. “I only have one judge. You hold no power over me.”
The judge paused. His lip grumbled slightly. He then slapped a meaty hand upon the desk and said. “I hold no power over you? You are not in need of any judgement within this courtroom. You have held my position for years. Judge, juror and executioner. You stand over the others in the world holding your arrogant point of view. Judging others before your jaded views. Your book tells you to judge none. Treat others as you would like to be treated but you continue to hover over others. A beacon of what is right to do.”
Christian stood silent. Lips sealed tightly.
“Bailiff, remove this person. I have nothing else to say to this man.” The large man dressed in black stood and approached Christian. He grabbed the man by the shoulder and lead him from the room. “Next!” Shouted the judge.
Next to the enter the court was a tall man. His head hidden and his arms shackled near the front of a large white robe.
“What is the defendants name?” Ordered the judge. The words erupting from his powerful throat. The Bailiff stood and spoke. His voice measured. “The defendant has declared no name, judge.”
“Interesting,” the judge says as he studies the defendant. He inspects the robe and the darkness under the hood. “Have you declared no face and no existence?”
The defendant shifts slightly then speaks clearly. “I will be respected. Even by you.”
The judge turns his head slightly. “You feel slighted by me? You feel I’ve no respect for you? I’ve never met you. I don’t know who you are? How can you declare I have a lack of respect?”
The man stands quiet.
“Do you understand the charges?” Asks the judge.
“I do not.”
“Ah!” The judge sat back. “Finally, an honest answer. Bailiff bring the other into the court room. Within moments all three men stood in front of the judge. Jim Crow, Christian and ‘the man that would not be named’.
“You will all be charged with arrogance, hate mongering, murder, rape and allowing the bipedal human race an opportunity to spread the insanity of your thoughts. With this charge a sentence is returned. You will be instructed to watch from above as your followers destroy what is left of the human race. You will be forced to observe the failures and successes of each.”
The small lawyer steps forward. “Judge, this is unjust. Can the defendants do anything to avoid this sentence?”
The judge stands and the lawyer winces. The judge walks from the desk and down to the floor of the courtroom. “My friend,” he says to the lawyer. “The world is full of wonderful people, religions and thoughts. These defendants will not allow the freedom to view all that is wonderful in this world. They are terrified that lack of judgement will make them irrelevant. To treat everyone justly will force the hand of an imperfect human race to do what is unexpected and figure out how to do things right. These defendants do not have the confidence to allow the voice within us all to do what’s right. This, my friend, is why they cannot avoid this sentence.”
The judge then turned and stepped back up to the desk. “Bailiff take them away to watch their own handy work. Let me know if it all works out.”
Matthew R. Stitt // The Writer’s Archive 