The Penalty

by Henry Slesar

   On the last day of the trial, the heavenly courtroom was crowded with angelic spectators, seated on the alabaster steps which ringed the arena of justice. It was not morbid curiosity which drew them there; the eyes that looked upon the defendant were liquid with sympathy for his ordeal, if slightly glazed by boredom. There was little unique in the case of Angel John Matthew Kress; his crimes (Scorn Vanity, and unwarranted Criticism) were common enough even in Heaven. But, this being the last day, they flocked to witness the drama of the jury's verdict, and to hear the inevitable sentence pronounced by St. David, District Judge of the Eighth Heavenly District.
   The cosmos cooperated to heighten the melodramatic, mood of the day. The cottony clouds overhead assumed a gray and slightly soiled appearance as the trial's participant awaited the jury's decision. The defendant, seated despondently before the judge's dais, seemed resigned to what must come next, and there was a forlorn, tattered look to his wings.
   The bailiff, a broad-shouldered Angel with a stern voice commanded them to silence and announced the arrival of the judge. There was a faint whir of feathers in the courtroom, and St. David, in his long white robe, was business-like as he took his place behind the marble bench. Whatever sad emotion he felt in the moment was concealed behind an implacable expression. He turned to the jury foreman, and said:
   "Have you reached a verdict?" 
   "We have, your Honor." 
   "Please announce it to the court." 
   "We find the defendant guilty as charged." A sigh, no louder than the breeze, drifted across the arena. The defendant, his fate fixed by a law both ancient and immutable, remained motionless. 
   "The defendant will rise," St. David said, "and approach the bench." 
   Slowly, the prisoner lifted himself from the chair, his wings now a hindrance to movement. He went dreamlike towards the judge's dais, and stood with head bowed before him.
   "John Matthew Kress," St. David said sonorously, "you have been found guilty of the crimes of Scorn, Vanity, and unwarranted Criticism, crimes ill-befitting an Angel of your rank and service. You have sinned against your fellows without thought to the harm you would create, or the punishment which would surely follow. You have broken sacred commandments we hold dear. You have allowed un-saintly pride to take possession of you, pride which eats away the heart of Love. You have placed yourself above the ancient laws of Heaven, and you must pay for your sin." St. David paused, and his eyes became grave.
   "I have no other course but to pass judgment upon you according to our honorable tradition, harsh as that judgment may seem. Angel John Matthew Kress, I hereby sentence you to Life."



   In the Cleveland General Hospital, a baby was born. It was a boy, to be christened John Matthew Kress. And like all newborn infants, it cried and cried, as if it were very angry.