“You want me to bring him into the woods…” “Yes…” “The shotgun…” “Kill him…are you sure? OK I’ll bring him now.” I could hear the muffled telephone conversation through the thin walls of the cabin. Fear prickled the back of my neck as my heart pounded. Feeling every rapid beat of the pulse in my neck as the blood coursed through my veins. Straining my ears, I could now hear him fumbling around. I jumped as he opened the door. “Get your coat, we have to go out!” That was it. My fate was sealed. My hands shook as I put on my coat, hat and gloves. ‘What was the point of wrapping up warm if all I was going to do was die out there in the cold woods.’ Outside, he gestured for me to go first and I hesitantly headed in the direction that he had pointed to. My boots sank deeply into the crisp snow leaving the only evidence of my doomed existence like shallow graves. But I didn’t know how my legs were moving - I couldn't feel them. We walked for what seemed like an agonizing hour though it was probably only fifteen minutes. I watched my breath as it exhaled in quick successive bursts, like the steam from an old train running at full speed. “Not far now,” was all my executioner had to say to me as we neared the end of my fateful journey. Finally, we broke free into a clearing. I could see Mr. Bianchi wave at the far end signaling his location. My legs didn’t want to move. “Go on!” ordered my tormentor. The closer we got to him, the wobblier my legs became. Panic rose as I teetered on the edge of hysteria. As we reached Mr. Bianchi his face was wretched with anguish. “I’m sorry it has to be like this Luca. I told your father I would take care of you, but this is the only way I feel I can punish you for what you did.” Bile was threatening to erupt from the pit of my stomach. Mr. Bianchi then stepped aside to reveal his beloved pet Labrador. He was whimpering, his whole back leg almost severed by the trap that had ensnared him, blood soaked into the surrounding snow enclosing him in a heart-shaped shrine. He was dying a slow and torturous death. I felt the heavy shotgun being pressed into my arms. “You have to be the one to do it Luca, this is your punishment for letting him stray. I know you are only ten, but it is time to be a man and face the consequences for your actions.” I began to cry. Relief and shame washing over me in a torrent as I raised the gun and pulled the trigger. Candy Croc © 2019 Staffordshire