Thomas stands at the edge of the bridge, and looks at the water. Two of his executors wait and watch as he looks back at them. There's a makeshift stand for him to balance on and the sergeant stands on it, awaiting the captain's order. Once the sergeant steps off, it’ll leave Thomas to dangle over the water. He waits as the sergeant looks over at the captain, who is likewise about to give him the signal. Thomas only stares at the water as it slowly, but steadily, sweeps off until he can see it no more. He imagines freeing his hands, sliding the noose off, and then plunging into the water to safely swim back home. These thoughts have only just passed through his mind when the sergeant suddenly steps off the board supporting Thomas and he plummets towards the water. Suddenly, Thomas is awakened by horribly painful pieces of something sharp in his sides, and he opens his eyes to see that he has landed under water, onto the terribly sharp rocks in the creek bed. To his surprise, he realizes that the noose had broken and he fell into the water. Hurriedly, Thomas slips the ropes off his hands and neck, swimming forwards as fast as he can. Worried the soldiers will see him and shoot immediately, Thomas stays underwater as long as possible, his lungs shrinking as he stays under. Finally not being able to handle it longer, Thomas breaks through the water with a painful scream, alerting the executioners to his position. He looks back to see the silhouette of the soldiers, captain, and sergeant against the golden sky. One sentinel fires a rifle at him, and he ducks underwater as he hears a call for more shots to be taken. A bullet loosely strikes into his neck and he quickly pulls it out as more dive past him in the water. As his attackers reload, Thomas takes a quick breath of air and then hurriedly shots back down into the water. Swimming with the current, Thomas anticipates another round of fire, not knowing how lucky he’ll be the next time. But as he peers over the water, he is suddenly thrust into a confusing swirl of water and dirt, violently, then ejected onto a gravel bank far from the range of the would-be executioners. Unable to believe his luck Thomas cries for joy and lays to rest. Sadly, still being able to hear the sounds of gunshot from his pursuers Thomas quickly gets up and sets out to his home. He travels the entire rest of the day and until the late morning hours, eventually finding himself at the gate to his home. As he walks forwards, his wife carrying their baby runs down to meet him. They cry and hug and it feels as if he was to just be hanged a lifetime ago. Suddenly, he feels a sharp pain at his neck and blinding white lights, then silence and nothing more. Thomas is dead, his body swinging from the Owl Creek bridge.