Has Anyone Ever Thought About This

[Kenny McCeely]

When a person makes up his (or her) mind to end his (or her) life, there can never be any guarantee of succeeding.  You can work out a plan, and it might succeed, or it might not.  The thought can be there, and you don't do anything.  Then, one day, out of the blue, a situation presents itself, and on the spur of the moment, a noose is tightened around your neck and you are hanged.  I knew two people who, on the spur of the moment, hanged themselves.  The one guy was 17, the other was 57. The 17-year-old hanged himself on March 31st, 1972 (There are certain dates you never forget!)  The 57-year-old hanged himself on July 7th, 2007.  Both succeeded, as both did it in such a way that their necks were broken.  I was with my 17-year-old friend just a couple of hours before he killed himself.  It wasn't his first time!  By the way, he was only six-weeks older than me.  I last saw my 57-year-old just an hour before he killed himself.  He too had a long history of suicide failures!  Oh, and he was four-years my senior.  In both cases though, they and I often talked openly about suicide.  It was just that, on those particular dates, when I last saw them, there were no signs that that would be the last time I would see either one of them alive.  I wasn't there when my young friend hanged himself and his body was cut down.  I did see his body in the casket!  His parents had decided to leave all the rope burns and bruises visible.  Plus, that was when I learned that, when you are hanged, and your neck breaks, your neck stretches!  My friend's neck had stretched 6-inches before his body was cut down, and the mortician did not alter his "wound"!  However, I was the one to find my older friend's body.  Why do the police and paramedics have to take so long before a hanged body can be cut down?  Interesting too, was that his neck also stretched, and in fact, stretched more than when my other friend died.  His neck had stretched almost 9-inches!  Too, the one thing I haven't mentioned is that, he and I were lovers!  We lived together.  So, his funeral arrangements were left up to me.  As with my other friend, the burns and bruises were left exposed, and the neck length was not altered! 
 
I want the same thing, if that is how I finally make my exit!
 
But, I have gotten sidetracked again!
 
Last night, I began to think about something, beside my exit plan.  And what made me think about this was that, I walked passed what was nothing more than a junk store.  And I guess with Hallowe'en approaching, the store was displaying some Hallowe'en decorations in the window.  Inside the store, I could see ropes with nooses in them, tied around a beam.  That was when a very crazy, and quite twisted, thought entered my head.  On October 31st, most obviously after it was dark, I could go somewhere and find a high enough and strong enough tree branch, and hang myself from it.  If the tree was in the right area, who would give a hanged man's body any immediate thought?  Would people think my hanged body was just a seasonal decoration?  I know sooner or later, someone would get curious and check me out, but by then, it would be way too late!
 
Yes, this is a crazy idea, but one that just might succeed!

[Ashley Jordan]

It's not as crazy of an idea as you might think, although hanging myself in a public area might be upsetting to some people.  Then again, in the area where I live, over the last eight years, five guys were hanged in this exact scenario.  FIVE!  Including one guy who hanged himself as part of a public display last Hallowe'en (2021).  Too, I think it actually might be easy.  If anyone is watching, they might think I had a safety device (which I wouldn't have) and that it failed somehow.  One guy I used to know a few years ago used to participate in a Hallowe'en display where the group that put the display on had an actual high gallows constructed.   There was a ceremony late in the evening where he was "sentenced to death" and "executed".  He did wear a special harness when he was hanged.  He had done it for about ten years before the unthinkable happened.  When he was hanged, the harness he wore did fail when he came to the end of the drop (he had a 7-foot drop) and the rope snapped tight, the connection to his noose disconnected from the force of the impact, leaving him hanged for real.  The one thing was, if the connection had of failed just a second sooner than it did, he would have had his neck broken.  The other issue was that he had been hanged for almost three minutes before anyone noticed that he was really hanged.  He was okay though, although, he was rushed to the hospital unconscious, but he regained consciousness within like a day.  All he was left with was a very badly bruised and excruciatingly sore neck.  

The thing was, he was back at it the next year!  In fact, he went another twelve years before the same thing happened again.  Only that time, the connection between his harness and the noose failed right at impact.  The result?  That time, his neck was broken, and he died.  It was thought, and hoped, that he died instantly, which, when the autopsy was performed on his body, the indication was that he did.  The guy was 60-years-old when he died.  I could go for doing that.  I mean, after all, everyone would be looking at my dangling, unconscious body, not realizing that I was hanged for real.  Hopefully, by the time they realize it, I will be dead.  

 🏳️‍🌈 Ashley J. 🏳️‍🌈