This week’s words: Terse Reel Rancor (bitter, rankling resentment or ill will; hatred; malice) Surge Crucifix Testimony Croon Effervesce (to issue forth in bubbles) Cromulent (fine, acceptable) Grotesque Viscous (of a glutinous nature or consistency; sticky; thick; adhesive) Hexagonal

It was the grotesque nature of his death that most appalled me.

Before in some anti Christian act they had crucified him and left him to die. I knew in the end he would have suffocated, as that’s what happens to crucified victims.

The rancour among us at this despicable act was obvious as we gathered around the murder scene and surveyed the mutilation.

There was talk of a vigilante in our midst. There was a surge of voices wanting to bear testimony to the fact that this death could not go unpunished.

I stepped up to the body and noticed blood on his hands had taken on a viscous consistency and it appeared to be bubbling as if effervescent.

The talk of vengeance was taking on a cromulent tone among the men gathered as fear of another such strike grabbed their attention and their argument for action was beginning to sound like a sensible thing to do.

Their attention was drawn to Hank Paters whose crooning voice was lulling them into an atmosphere of mob action. Hank had the ability to make any dire situation seem solvable with good old-fashioned violence.

Hank was backed up by Carson Smithers a terse and dim witted man who saw the opportunity to rise to the occasion by egging on the crowd to action. Both men worked together to reel the crowd in and soon they had the voices of those gathered baying for the head of whoever it was that had perpetrated this grotesque crime.

It wasn’t long before the men had arranged themselves in groups and armed with hexagonal hammers they set off in pursuit of the killer.

I watched all this from a distance refusing to be drawn into this equally grotesque charade, my own rancour at their behaviour in accepting this cromulent behaviour only served to make me terse towards men who the day before I had held in the highest esteem.

By dawn there would be three more crucifixes and we all wondered just who among us was the real killer.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/wordle-63-june-1-2015/