Jack looked at the clock. The secondhand was accelerating and wouldn't stop.
<Tab/>"I can't believe that they're going to give it to me on my birthday," Jack lowered his head as the words escaped him.
<Tab/>"It's just a coincidence that your execution was set on your birthday. Your attorney's have done all they can, Jack. I heard from the guards that you have an appeal with the governor tonight at 11:00. All you can do now is hope for a stay or a pardon," whispered Father Chad, perhaps the last man Jack would ever carry on a conversation with.
<Tab…
