The Tale of The Seller and his Brother

A seller and his brother traveled the countryside, searching for great airships far and wide.
The two owned a bicycle shop mounted to their balloon, in operation all months but June.
To the seller, it seemed his brother's happiness was unhidden, but there was one thing the brother never let anyone know unbidden-
He hated the seller with a passion, for every suggestion he had was dismissed in a rather rude fashion.

On a ship they landed with money to spend, their pants they needed to mend.
One night the brother lay in bed, eyes bloodshot and red, smoldering covertly, when the thought hit him curtly:
"I must have the shop," he decided, "ownership undivided."

The next day they were out late, for the brother had promised the seller a date.
"You must be quiet," said the brother, hoping he'd buy it, "she's just round this corner, and I did not forewarn her."
Much to the seller's dismay, there was nothing that way.
"We must have taken a wrong turn," he said with little concern,
"there's nothing here but the edge of the ship. Let's turn back," he said, fearing he might trip.
The brother turned to him, the look in his eye grim.
"There is no turning back," the brother said, "if you are found to be dead."
The seller was astounded, rightly confounded.
He couldn't imagine being betrayed- maybe perhaps in this matter his dear brother might be swayed.
"B-Brother, surely you can't..." ...but the words he couldn't decant.
With a single blow, the brother knocked the seller into the valley below.
"I bid you good riddance and wish you farewell on your journey to hell," the brother spat, waiting for a distant splat.

Unfortunately for the brother, a police officer was doing some mid-night strolling, all the while patrolling.
The officer had witnessed the entire altercation, and said without hesitation,
"Stop, in the name of the law! Do not try to run, for I know what you have done!"
Disregarding the patrol's advice, the brother tried to run, but his legs were imprecise.
For a moment the two tangled, ultimately the brother was wrangled.
He was taken to jail and locked in a cell, where there was nothing to do but try to ignore the smell.

So came the trial date, on which would be decided his fate.
"Order, order!" the judge banged his gavel, his voice like gravel.
The courtroom hushed. The judge spoke, not particularly rushed.
"This you must heed, you have committed a most treacherous deed. What do you plead?"
The brother stood, kept his voice straight as he could,
"Guilty I say, I have no excuse."
"So it would seem," the judge did deem. "At this time tomorrow, you shall hang from a noose."
Another gavel bang, so loud the brother's ears rang.

The very next day, right down to the minute, the noose was hung in the gallows, the brother's neck in it.
The judge gave the call, and the floor did fall.
The brother didn't last long, he was not very strong.
When he had stilled, and everyone was sure he had been killed, the executioner cut him down and put a sack over the dead man's head.
He carried the body to the edge of the ship, to the same place the seller had been pushed, and dropped it into the valley below.

Regrettably for the brother, there was one thing he did not know, and it always goes to show-
One cannot escape the cruel poetic justice life continuously provides, no matter what you may do to try to turn the tides.