The Hanging, versions one, two and three
By dracoling

Author's Note: These are drafts from an English 102 assignment, we were told to write a short story about a hanging.
One and Two are incomplete, couldn't think where to go with them and get the hanging done and still have it be interesting. Three is incomplete, but is going nicely, I may have a finished story to post here on Monday

-- Version One Begins --

"Wake up you stupid junkie!"

I looked around my cell, only a cot and a sink, no matrixport, no tesserplug, what was I going to do?

I am an information junkie, the greatest thrill in the world for me is cracking open another knowledge node and sharing that information with others. The only problem is that this is illegal, punishable by death, dismemberment, or even worse... de-matrix. I would gladly take the simple boredom of death to never being able to access the global info matrix.

-- Version Two Begins --

As I walked up to the gallows, I marveled at their construction. They were made of real wood! I wondered where in all the earths the Council had managed to find this much of it! Then suddenly it occurred to me, and I laughed loudly, surprising my guard.
"I was so dangerous to you, that you would spare no expense, and use the last real wood on all the earths to kill me!"
This was the ultimate in humor to me. I had been trying for years to push the council to re-grow the forests, or declare at least one earth a forestry zone, but they had refused at every turn.

-- Version Three Begins --

The night was uh,... dark and stormy... yeah, that's it... stormy... and uhm, I like, climbed the wall thingie up to the windowybit and uh... broke in and stuff... but then the chick woke up and screamed and like somehow tied her sheets around my neck and like... pushed me out the window... and like... suddenly I was dead... yeah that's it... a complete accident... wasn't my fault at all!

The other guys at the gate look at each other and then break into histerical laughter.

"You sure know how to tell a good one Bob!", said Phil as he patted bob on the back

"its all true guys", bob remarked as he shined his halo

"yeah sure... now let me tell you how I died", said Jack, and they all settled back into their clouds to listen, because they all knew Jack was the best story teller of them all.

"it was a dark and stormy night," he began.

"oh come on, tell what really happened" said Bob.

"shut up bob, some of us actually got hung on stormy nights" said Jim, the oldest of the group.

"It was a dark and stormy night," said Jack, with a glance over at Bob.

"It was one of those nights that you wish you didn't have to be out. But there I was, sitting on a horse in the middle of nowhere, tied by my neck to a tree." He stopped and got a thoughtful look on his face. "this is the wrong place to start, let me start at the beginning."

I was a farmer before the troubles, I had a small house among my fields where I lived with my family. We were just simple folk, never hurt nobody, growing some corn and potatoes to sell at market. I would go out every morning and work my fields and come home late at night. One night, I come home and my family ain't there and my house is all busted up and burnt, looking like some kinda war up and happened in my kitchen.