As I stood in the queue I pondered on how such a small act can have an immense impact on a person's life. How something trivial can rapidly escalate into massive consequences in such a short space of time. My only crime was trying to get a free meal.
I've got away with it so many times before, walking into a restaurant, ordering and eating a meal, then apologising to the manager, explaining my predicament, that I had been starving hungry but had no money. Usually I just end up getting the bum's rush out of the back door into the garbage cans, the management can't usually be bothered wasting their time pursuing a few quid through the courts, it's easier to just throw the problem out, and get back to serving the paying customers.
But this time I went a bit too up-market, I ate at Bibby's, the snotty gits called the police.
I was duly charged, tried and sentenced, all in less than twenty four hours. The benefits of our new judicial system. No more prisons, no more fines, just branded then thrown out into society.
Some of the branded never survived more than a few minutes on the street before the mob got to them. The rapists, the murderers and such. Others just faced a life of humiliation, or a life of seclusion, hiding away from the stares of the public.
The blue door at the end of the corridor opened and two guards dragged a man out, the word THEFT freshly burnt into his forehead. They opened the red door in the side wall, the one that led back to the street, and threw him unceremoniously through the opening, slamming the door shut behind him.
The two goons then grabbed the man at the head of the queue and pulled him through the doorway into the room they had emerged from, slamming that door shut too.
The rest of us shuffled forward, each of us that bit nearer to our punishment.
After a few minutes the blue door opened again, the man was dragged back out through the doorway with the word FRAUD lividly telling the world of his crime. Out he went, into the street.
We all shuffled forward again.
And so it went on... MURDER... Shuffle... BIGAMY... Shuffle... RAPE... Shuffle... ARSON... Shuffle... TREASON... Shuffle...
Suddenly a thought struck me, and I couldn't help but smile, in fact more than smile, a huge grin spread its way across my face.
One of the guards patrolling the corridor leaned towards me threateningly, his ugly mug just inches from mine.
“Amused, are we? You won't be so cheerful when your turn comes. What heinous crime did you commit then?”
“I was convicted of 'Obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception'.” I replied, still smiling at my inner thoughts.
“Well, my cheerful friend, they're gonna burn that into your head.”
“Yeah? Well I'm just wondering how the hell they're gonna get it all on there, and if you lot are as intelligent as you look, I'll expect all of the long words to contain spelling mistakes too.”
The next time the blue door opened and I shuffled forward again, I was sporting a nice fat lip to remind me to keep my inner thoughts to myself in the future.
©2012 Stephen. J. Green.
Oh now there's a deterrent if every I heard one, having your crime branded on your forehead for all to see. I enjoyed reading this and the cockiness of your character.
ReplyDeleteI wonder hasn't her heard that there's not such thing as a free meal tee-heee
Hi Helen, yeah, no such thing as a free lunch, but this guy thought he was smart cos it was dinner he was hoping to get for nowt. :-)
Delete"Amused, are we?" seemed like such a strange question in such a dire environment, even with his huge grin. Everyone's going into the meat grinder soon. What a wretched fate.
ReplyDeleteI can almost guarantee that he wasn't quite as amused after he's earned the fat lip though. :-)
Deletesee this is why I say keep your fringe long...
ReplyDeleteGood story
marc nash
Hahaha! Yeah even a criminal's life can have fringe benefits. :-)
DeleteGreat story, and somehow not all that "fictional", given the crime hysteria in the last few years. The ending was a great idea and really exposed who was running the system (ie: thin-skinned bullies). I also liked that all the different criminals were lumped into the same queue -- not very efficient for the person doing the branding to have to keep changing irons. What if he grabs the wrong one?
ReplyDeleteDo you think "treason" would just get a branding? Often people use it as an example of a crime that can still be punished by death, even in countries that have otherwise abolished the death penalty. That's not always true, mind, but it's a popular belief.
Thanks Katherine, it's to be hoped the branders can tell one iron from another, the one that is shaped "Obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception" would probably be about two foot long. (Chuckle)
DeleteYou are probably right about the treason crime, but what-the-hell, as Mark Twain (I think) said... why let the facts get in the way of a good story, eh?
Absolutely. And branding everyone is so much more efficient and cost-effective than having the death penalty for one crime :-).
DeleteSteve, this is a super idea that you need to....suggest? What a fun story too and I love the inner monologue, quite intriguing!
ReplyDeleteThank you Deanna, I just may suggest it to the government. My only fear is that I may finish up sporting a forehead that says "Fashionless" on it, I mean, once things like this get going they have a habit of snowballing. :-)
DeleteIf he could get "hungry" burned on his forehead it might work to his advantage.
ReplyDeleteHaha! Yeah Tim, it would certainly cut down on the word count, but with his mouth he's more likely to get a few words added to the original. :-)
DeleteHave you been reading about the Olympics again? This seemed like a cheerier version of London in a few months.
ReplyDeleteHiya Peter, I think maybe we could make some crimes olympic events, or maybe branding....
Delete"Oh yessss, Martha buglinski has branded the thief at 16.352 Metres... it's a new world record...." :-)
Maybe the folks in charge will come up with another system than asking the guilty for their crime once they encounter the rapist who suggests his crime was "Pursuit of deeper carnal knowledge based on prior suggestion that such pursuit was welcome". Liked your cocky criminal who thinks he can walk in to get free meals anywhere :)Hope he got away with it.
ReplyDeleteHiya Brinda, if this system ever came into being, I would hope that rapists had every inch of their bodies branded with their crime, and maybe one or two bits removed too.
DeleteI remember a fantasy novel where some crime would result in a magical brand on the forehead for all to see. It would burn through anything used to cover it too.
ReplyDeleteSome people might think twice about committing crimes if the result were something more than a slap on the wrist, community service, or a small fine. A lifelong scar is a pretty fierce deterrent.
A humorous and thought-provoking tale... =)
Thanks John, with the level of crime in this country, and the sentences (Or lack of) getting handed out, I sometimes wonder if something like branding might not be such a bad idea.
DeleteI really enjoyed this. Loved your character's cocky voice, and the throw-them-to-the-dogs punishment system seems scarily possible in the future. Nicely done. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie, and thank you. If society continues to deteriorate, and governments grow steadily more totalitarian. then who knows...?
DeleteLOL Confident, even in the face of public branding.
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia, let's hope his confidence is still there when he comes back out of the blue door. :-)
DeleteHa! I was expecting them to brand the initials of his crime, so he would come up with something like Gastro-Intestinal Theft and get branded with GIT. Or something like that. Anyway, I loved how you depicted this, and the guy who could find something amusing in such a horrible situation.
ReplyDeleteThanks Larry, I do like to add humour if I can, even the nastiest of stories can be tempered with a little tongue-in-cheek.
DeleteI like your idea of branding them with the the initials of their crime... how about Fraudulently Acquired Restaurant Theft? :-)
I think they used to do something similar at some point in history in some country or other. Enjoyed reading this. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, and thank you. In bygone years there has been all kinds of horrific punishments, like lopping off hands, splicing noses and other such things, I think some of these may still be practiced in certain countries even to this day.
DeleteDid he manage to avoid getting branded? If so, I hope he's learned his lesson as I doubt he'll be so lucky next time!
ReplyDeleteSorry to say Icy, but every time he looks in the mirror he is reminded of his folly.
DeleteI wonder if the people who are involved in the mob justice are also brought in and branded? Could be a vicious circle! But it's a great idea. Some people get off way too easy for the things they do!
ReplyDeleteHaha! By the time they've dragged all them people in too, there'll be hardly anone left with a clear forehead.
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