And the tall man spoke to the crowd of onlookers who had come to witness, his hair a mess and his eyes the deepest red.

“I detest all of you! You are cowards beyond measure and your bellies are yellower than canaries. I stand here, an innocent! Condemned to hang by the neck ‘til I am dead for a crime of compassion. God put on this earth animals for companionship, not death. If ever I was to say I have consumed a living thing, shall I die before the noose ever touches my neck. You all are the savages! You kill a helpless thing. You maim a thing of beauty, a creature that breathes and feels and is alive. A being not unlike your very self! And do not dare call me a charlatan. When I strangled the butcher Emit, his clothes drenched in innocent blood, there was no soul in his body. His eyes were coal black and he smiled as I choked the life out of his body. I could not stand the foul reek of death around me. I could not let him harm another animal. Not on my watch. Not under the eyes of God. I did this State a favor. I am no criminal. It is all of you who should face these gallows, not I. Every man who consumes the flesh of another, be it man or animal, will have to justify his acts at the gates of Heaven. You will see! You may enjoy the rest of your time on this earth, eating and doing what you please, but mark my words: you will pay. I, however, am at peace with myself and with my soul. I can travel on now, to the paradise in the heavens, to be with my fathers who lived unsoiled lives. My present company is vermin, the unholy masses. You are filth and swine of the lowest degree. I abhor you all and am glad I will soon be free of your company. When my body dangles here, lifeless, resist your urges to dig into my flesh on the spot, savages. You putrid vile, go ahead and smirk. For you will spend your eternity in the bowels of Hell, with demons peeling your skin off piece by piece. They will lick their lips and masticate your flesh. You fowl degenerates. I can stand no more of your presence. Pull the lever! Hang me now! Release me from this torturous Hell. Release me from a place where men kill defenseless animals for their own satisfaction. To fill their own pu-”

And at this moment the lever was released. The man’s body danced and dangled, expending its remaining life to the cheers of the onlookers. It stopped at last and there was silence once again. The hangman cut the rope in two clean swings with a machete and the body fell to the ground in a heap with a loud thump.

Two large men from the group grabbed the body by the arms and dragged it into the large building adjacent to the gallows. Down a long back hallway leaving a thin trail of blood they carried it. Finally, they reached their destination - the kitchen. There would be a great feast tonight.