The act of simplicity.

Chapter 1

A loud thud commanded the room as the gavel came crashing down three times.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The noise sent chills down Emily as though she had just been shot three times in the heart, and at this point she would have preferred that to standing here, alone, without anyone she actually cares about there to comfort her. The only person that wanted to stand next to her was her jury Megan. But even Megan didn't want to be there, the reality of the case, and the fact of how quickly it's all happening brought discomfort to everyone, even the judge.

Megan was a short young lady, she had short ginger hair and circle glasses. She didn't wear dresses or skirts or leotards. She was about business and about winning. She always wore a suit shaped perfectly to her curves, the expressions she bore on her face could change from kind and gentle to an angry lion in a matter of seconds. She really was the best iterny money could buy.

On the third thud everyone stood awaiting to hear what would happen. The judge was a rather large man with a big chin and black hair, he was short and stubborn and hated people waisting his time. But he was also the most self-centred and therefore unbiased judge there has ever been, it looks like for this case Emily really did get the best people.

The judge asked if Emily would come up and recall her version of events before the guilty in question enters.

"Well we were walking home from the cinema when it happened"
Emily and Johnathon were celebrating their 7 year wedding anniversary, everyone thought they married to early, each of them only being 20 at the time, and no one thought it would last. They had been to the cinema as they always did on their anniversary due to this is how they spent their first date. They were walking home after discussing the film and how if Johnathon was directing it, it would have come out a lot better. Johnathon always talked about becoming a director, Emily thinks it was just because he wanted to met all the big name celebrities. They had a long debate about how Johnathon would have changed it, always coming back to the argument "we don't have the money for you to run and become a director" Emily was trying to get her own clothing business up and running, it was low key and still in its infancy stage, but it looked like it was getting there. Emily focused all her time and effort into this clothing brand, she had made everything, scarfs, hats, tops, shirts, skirts, trousers, even shoes. They decided to go down a near by alleyway as it had generally been a short cut for it. They were holding hands and because the debate had finished they even began to sing one of the songs from the movie.

They took about three steps into the dark alleyway, only being lit by the windows of the near by houses, three steps in they were approached. The figure was dark and moved so slyly it looked almost fake. Johnathon squeezed Emily's hand a little tighter just to reassure her that he was there for her, they wanted to just walk past without saying anything or make contact. The figure spoke. "Please please do you have any change, I've been on the streets for to long and I can't get any food." Johnathon took pity on the man who spoke with a voice so dry it made the air they were breathing seemed thin. Johnathon took his wallet out and dug out every last coin he had and handed it over to the man. The man thanked him at first but when he saw Johnathon put his wallet back into his pocket he noticed some notes sticking out the top, he asked for more but Johnathon exclaimed that was the only change he had.
Johnathon and Emily had taken two steps more, he began to ease holding onto her hand but quickly grabbed back on with such force that Emily thought her hand would break. "Ouch Johnathon let go of me your hurting me" she felt his hand immediately release and when she looked to see if he was ok, Johnathon was lying in the floor with blood surrounding him and a knife sticking out of his chest. The figure that approached them ran with a limp so quickly.
Emily froze. She didn't know what to do. How could anyone know what to do in that situation apart from what humans do best. She fell to the floor and cried out in pain. Instead of screaming for help she started to clean Johnathon's face. She moved the hair out of his eyes and she wiped his tears. She lay down next to him and told him everything would be alright.
Johnathon looked up at her one last time with his gorgeous sea blue eyes. He looked at her and said "goodbye. I love you so so much"
And then just like that he was gone, never to say another word or breath another breath. It was only at this point that Emily began screaming, and she only screamed because of how real the pain of never seeing the person she loved most again.

"And thats what happened" Emily had been holding the tears back the whole time but as she came to a close on her last sentence, a single tear ran from her face.

The court room was silent as she finished her story and sat back down. They all felt the pity of what had just happened.

The judge even wiped a tear from his eye and stated for the guilty in question to be brought in. A man came limping in from the back of the room. Although everyone had been silent before, it seemed now they were even more silent then ever. A murderer was present and they had nothing for protection. When the man came into the light his face was much clearer, it as much clearer then when he begged for change.