Prologue

A simple man who lives a simple life deserves a simple end.

The Good Book will attest to that fact. One reaps what one sows, and for that individual who has led a life of misconduct, nothing short of an untimely end is justified.

The obvious question to ask, then, is thus: why do those who are evil prosper while those who are good suffer? Why is it that a criminal can live to be eighty in a jail cell while a pastor dies of heart failure at thirty? Why are missionaries slaughtered heartlessly while their murderers go on to live for years before they are finally murdered themselves?

Police are gunned down by the criminals they are hunting. Children are stolen from their beds and molesters walk out of prison on probation. The young couple that longs for a child discovers they are infertile, while the ones who detest children choose abortion over adoption again and again.

Of course the rhyme and reason behind these all–too–common examples could simply be “fate”. Or God’s plan, if you’re religious.

In my experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that fate is made up entirely of choices – good, bad, poor, wise. And because of that, outcomes can be predictable and – in a way – chosen. It is when the choices of two separate individuals cross that we arrive at fate.

The universe is clockwork. Time and space are interrelated, and even though it may seem to the contrary, every event has a cause. And we as humans determine both cause and outcome. The fate argument has a nasty habit of worming its way into discussions of misfortune. Anything inexplicable, anything that is wont to be reasoned is simply discredited by this simple word: fate.

Bullshit. If there’s a God out there, he’s done a good job hiding himself.

But I digress. There was certainly nothing fateful about how one young man, a man named Peyton Werthin, met his untimely end. There was nothing to justify it; there was nothing to condemn it. It simply happened. It was simply a matter of revenge long overdue, payment long withheld, punishment long restrained.

It was necessary.

But before I recount to you the tale, there are several questions that must be posed, as pertaining to Peyton Werthin’s character.

Was he a hero? Was he a villain? Was he a victim?

I’ll pose merely those three to you, because the questions are endless. The possibilities are staggering, because there are certainly grey areas. Perhaps Peyton Werthin is the hero of my little story – a noble man who truly stood for something. On the other hand, he could have been but the appearance of a hero: someone whose true roots are grounded in something much less than noble.

Well, that’s for you to decide. If you choose to believe that Peyton Werthin was the hero, then that is exactly what he was. Lifestyle is indicative of character, however, and although I don’t believe in the inherent “sin nature” of Christianity, people can be divided into class distinctions of “good” and “bad”. But man cannot be a judge of himself, nor can friends or family be honest judges of their peers.

So that is why I leave the decision up to you. But first read the story of his last day – it will shed light on the questions, and then you may make your own decision on the matter.

Let me warn you in advance that his tale is an ironic parable, fact and fiction combined. What has been transcribed in fairytale format to entertain can also be viewed as a life lesson. Perhaps Peyton Werthin himself might have learned from it. Of course, if only he had known what the future held for him, he might not have passed away as he did. Maybe he would still have lived, postponing his inevitable death, or even living forever.

But now, in this story, he is immortalized, and let his testimony be a life lesson to the reader – one to be taken to heart. Any story with a hero and a villain is worth telling, after all, and the events are catalogued here in this account as follows. Nothing has been edited, added, or subtracted. It remains a simple story, about a simple man, who entertained simple goals and a simplistic way of thinking.

And it culminates with his death.