For the Unicorn Challenge…

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” The judge asked.

“Yes, your honor,” the stout fore-jurywoman stood clumsily. She cleared her throat and unfolded the piece of paper she was holding. “The jury hereby unanimously find the defendant guilty.”

At the defense table, he had squeezed his eyes shut as the verdict was being read. How foolish was he to think he could get away with murder. It was an accident, how many times would the voice in his head be repeating this phrase? It was an accident.

He’d never meant to kill her. She just made him so mad and the way she kept screaming at him just drove him to the brink. The madness drove him to pick up the nearest thing and swung it at her. He didn’t know it would kill her. He just wanted her to shut up, just shut up for a change.

“H-honey?” He said in a whine. She was gone almost in the instant when her skull was bludgeoned by his paper-weight. “No,” he sobbed as he held her in his trembling arms, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“What do you have to say for yourself, young man?” The judge’s voice reeled him back to reality.

Shakily, he stood, “It was…all an accident,” he swallowed his sob, “I loved her. I never meant to hurt her.”

“Too late, young man. What’s done is done. I suggest you think hard about what you’ve done as you spend the rest of your life in prison.”

(250 words)