Les Larmes

Sunday, January 19th 1794,

A large crowd of angry French citizens gathered around in a mad frenzy within the Place De La Concord. They waited with both excitement and impatience for the execution about to take place that midday.

Finally, the wooden cart rolled in carrying its ten "criminal" loads. The cart stopped in front of small steps to the scaffold. A guard walked over to the cart and released the prisoners. One by one, nine of the ten prisoners stepped out, all but one was pure French. The last prisoner––The Peasant looked no different from the rest. He had tanned skin, wavy shoulder length black hair, and a small goatee growing under his chin.

The Peasant turned toward the crowd, staring at them with kind eyes of compassion before being pulled toward the scaffold. There he caught sight of the guillotine's blade, already stained with blood of the first prisoner.

This was his fate too. The Peasant breathed in a large sigh of air and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, all traces of his fear disappeared as he waited his turn to face the blade.

An hour passed, and finally it was his turn. The Peasant walked up the scaffold with an air of calm surrounding him in every step he took. Images of the late Queen Marie Antoinette played in the back of his mind. It was then he realized that he was walking down the very same steps she took towards the end. It seemed like an eternity to walk all the way to the top of the scaffold. When he did arrive, the ropes that tied his hands to his back were cut.

A barber grabbed the back of his hair and hastily cut it all off with scissors. A large human size wooden board was placed in front of The Peasant. He was pushed and strapped on the board before he was slid to the guillotine. The lunette was pressed down on the back of his neck. It became clear to him that this was the end.

The Peasant closed his eyes for a moment. The faces of those dearest to him flashed through his mind. 'Crible Nivôse, that was the day I was condemned to pay for my crimes. I am guiltless of all but one of the accusations against me.'

'My name is­­––' the blade was dropped.