Mr. Wong's "Happy Hours“

In 2039, the 43-year old Mr. Joshua Wong chi-fung was on the way to the "Dance Hall": this was the unofficial designation of this room which had never been used for any sportive activities. Joshua pressed the handle down and was satisfied that the door was still locked. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the heavy metal door. The "Dance Hall" was a large windowless room. At its left side there were several rows of chairs. Joshua looked to the opposite side and what he saw there filled him with satisfaction. Joshua moved towards the wooden platform, which took the whole width of the "Dance Hall". In a height of about 4 m there was a solid steel beam: three white-dressed shapes were hanging on three ropes, which were fastened to the beam above: According to the law it was not permitted to enter this room in the next two hours but Joshua was the highest authority in the Beijing prison and nobody would deny him the right to check if everything was in order here after the completion of the official part.

Today three young girls had been executed by hanging: a drug dealer, a murderer and a prostitute hung side by side in their white short sleeved dresses which all the condemned women had to were during the execution: with their white socks and sandals they looked almost like nurses or school girls. Only the rough ropes with the thick coiled nooses formed a brutal contrast to the almost idyllic picture. Joshua entered the platform and examined with obvious joy the three hanged girls.

All three hung nearly at the same height, their feet, pointing downward, were only a few centimeters from the ground. Joshua went to the girl hanging next to him and moved and turned her lifeless body around. Her hands were still bound with handcuffs on the back. Where the metal touched the wrists, bloody scratches could be seen. “She had struggled a lot” he thought by himself. In addition, at her tender neck bloody rope marks showed up, caused by the tightening of the noose.

Now he looked more closely at the faces of the criminals. He was always fascinated how differently the hanged looked after they had died. The murderer showed a pain-cramped face, a trace of bloody saliva ran from her mouth (probable she had bitten herself in the tongue during her agony), her eyes were wide open, the head was tilted sideways. The prostitute seemed to have died nearly peacefully. The eyes were closed, the head was bent forward. Only the drug dealer showed all signs of a slow strangulation: the half-opened mouth and the out-pouring tongue. It seemed to be also the only one who during the execution had lost control over her bladder. On her otherwise immaculate white dress a dirty-yellow urine mark showed up and under her feet one could see a small puddle. Joshua took its digital camera and began taking photos of the hanged girls. As a director of the women's prison he had of course been present during the execution and it was each time an exciting experience to watch while women were hanged with the “Short Drop”. Here was here no trapdoor through which the condemned fell. The criminals simply stood on a bench which was taken out under their feet. For most spectators the quivering and wiggling of the hanged girls was the most exciting view they could imagine. It took mostly a good quarter of an hour until the executed hung dead and still in the ropes. Most spectators then took a few more photographs and left the “Dance Hall”

For Joshua however it was the highlight of the day when the official execution was over and when the doors had been locked: Now he had time to look privately after “his girls”. According to the law they had to remain at least two hours at the gallows and actually it was not permitted to enter the area before this time was over. Joshua however did not care about these regulations. He now began to slowly turn back and forth one the hanged girls and enjoyed the sight of the dead corpse swaying around: then he pulled the girl to the side and let her bounce against her neighbor. This one began to swing and touched her neighbor at the right and within short time the three bodies performed a peculiar ballet, touching themselves, swinging apart again apart, until after some minutes all three came to rest again and hung quietly in the ropes. Then he pulled each girl forward and let her swing back like a pendulum. He masturbated while watching the swinging corpses

One hour later Joshua left the execution area and locked the door carefully. Shortly he would return again with the prison physician, who had to certify the death of the executed criminals. This was only a formality, as it was impossible that someone still survived after hanging two hours at the gallows. The doctor however took his task very seriously: he used a low step ladder, climbed up unbuttoned slowly the two upper buttons of the dress of the hanged girls and listened with the stethoscope for eventual heart beats. “Exitus” - was then each time his laconic statement, which was carefully noted down by the prison clerk. The doctor even took the trouble of closing again the two buttons before he climbed down his ladder. Now the last formality was fulfilled. Two prison wardens stepped forwards, removed the handcuffs from the dead girls and cut them off the ropes: The three bodies were laid on three gurneys and rolled out. They will be placed in the prison chapel where their relatives can take them to the funeral.

Joshua was satisfied. Tomorrow morning again an execution was scheduled: two sisters of 18 and 20 years who had brutally murdered her parents.

The End