[ CC ] Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt

> We were all crowded together. It was **tight, **^1 I could n't breathe. 
 
 
 > All of the white and black stripes dangling off **of**^2 the lanky figures, it was almost something you'd think you've seen in a Dalì piece. Although it was n't as beautiful as Dalì's work, it was definitely just as surreal. 
 
 
 > After several minutes, they finally led the boy out. They had already draped the black fabric over his face, which was probably the most moral thing to do. But, then again, when have the Germans portrayed to us their morality? 
 
 
 > He could n't have been older than 11. And, yet, they made it seem **as if it was**^3 a struggle to drag him up onto the stilted platform. I was standing near the back, but I could still hear the muffled **moans and groans**^4 of the boy. If I'm to be honest with myself, I'd say that I was slightly angry with him. Who did he think he was, stealing those extra food rations? He knew the consequences, and he followed through. **How dare he make us sympathize him, in a land of no compassion? **^5 
 
 
 > There was no sound other than the quiet sobbing of the boy. **If I did n't know better, **^6 I'd think this crowd was one of corpses, for you could hear no one breathing. The only sound, the boy's sobbing, seemed to increase in volume. **So much so, **^7 that it felt like he was standing to my side, bawling loudly and obnoxiously. It got to a point where I wanted to be the man up there to pull the lever. 
 
 
 > **Then I realized**^8 that I could never. 
 
 
 > They held the noose above his head and let it fall, landing on his shoulders. They had to tighten it quite a bit to be able to fit it around his scrawny little neck. With each yank of the noose, you'd hear him mutter a cry, **probably to his mother, whom was most likely a pile of ash. **^9 
 
 
 > Now, there was nothing. The boy had quit sobbing. He had come to terms with it, I thought. At this point, right now, we had just watched this child transition from boy to man. He was ready. 
 
 
 > One of the men on the platform looked down at his time piece. He started bobbing his head to the count of seconds, looked up, and nodded. 
 
 
 > There was a pull of a lever. 
 
 
 > I did n't know if the **cry was from the boy or the wood, **^10 but it was deafening, nonetheless. I saw the top of the rope fall, tighten, **bounce, bounce, bounce, and straighten. **^11 Then the crowd unexpectedly **moved**^12 forward. At first, I **did n't know what was happening**^13. But then, I saw them. The boy was so small the rope had not broken his neck when he had hanged, and there was a group of men, aged from **child to senior, **^14 pulling the boy by his ankles and legs. They were yanking and pulling vigorously and an elderly man was dangling off of the ground by the boys' feet, sobbing. 
 
 
 > I stood in awe among the other men who also had n't the stomach to bear such a thing. **The man next to me, **^15 a young man whom I've labored with but never spoken to, leaned in and whispered with a face of stone, **'' Alas! **^16 Right in front of you. All the darkness in the world.'' 
 
 
 > After five minutes there was an assurance of the boys' death, and everyone went to their barracks to get some rest before the next morning's labor. 
 
 
 > **I need to gain weight, I thought. **^17
