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The Sequel |
The morning of June 28th was dark, gloomy, and unseasonably cool, with no rain in sight. Usually the day after the lottery, village people are back to their daily routine. This day something was different among some of the villagers or at least a common feeling among them, no one talked about it and no one could put their finger on it. Maybe it was the protest by Tessie, who did not think her prize was fair. Or possibly the chatter about North Village possibly quitting the lottery and the other towns who already banned it, would it be necessary then to kill? The Hutchinson family woke up to start their day. They gathered at the kitchen table all except for little Dave. Bill said distractedly, “Nancy go wake up your brother.” Little Dave was asleep in his bed. Nancy woke him up and they walked to the kitchen. Bill asked, “Why were you not up yet?” Little Dave responded sadly, “Mommy usually wakes me up.” A look of anxiety came over Bill’s face, “We have to find a new routine without your mother here-” Nancy burst into tears and put her head down on the table. Sternly Bill said, “I know mom is gone and we have to adjust to her absence. The lottery is necessary to keep food on our tables, it’s the way it’s always been and the way it will always be, we have no choice but to live without her and with the lottery.” As the days since the lottery passed, things returned to normal for the townspeople but not for the Hutchinson’s. Despite the excitement with school being out, Nancy became withdrawn, isolative; often found walking with her head down. Her friends stopped asking her to play. Soon, Little Dave began getting into trouble at school, anger outbursts would overcome him and he would throw things in his classroom. He was sent home from school for hitting his friend Bobby after he joked about his sister Nancy. Bill did not know what to do; he went to the local priest “What do I do about my children?” The local priest said, “Tell the children to behave and pray to God and you should also.” He consulted with Joe Summers who said “the children are having a rare reaction to their mother’s sacrifice.” Bill said anxiously, “I don’t recall this happening before, who else had a reaction like this?” The rare reaction happened before to the Mrs. Jenkins she was married to Bob Jenkins they were unable to bear children, Mr. Jenkins was chosen in the lottery thirteen years earlier. She was sad for years; she did not leave her house, except for lotteries, until the day she died, of “natural causes.” There were other cases, but the Mr. Summers could not remember, or he just did not share. In addition to the children’s misbehavior, Bill did not know what to do, he did not know how to cook, clean or manage household duties. He became increasingly frustrated and he started blowing up at the children “Just deal with it, start behaving” he yelled angrily. As time crept closer to the next lottery, Nancy and little Dave’s behavior worsened. Nancy would be found hiding and little Dave was being asked to stay home from school for yelling at teachers and hitting classmates. Bill called a cousin who lives a town an hour away, Litchfield and explained the circumstances; she agreed to take the children. Nancy and Little Dave moved in with her. Litchfield banned the lottery the year before. The plan was for them to visit their father monthly and stay with him between July and August every year. Bill Jr. seemed unaffected by his mother’s sacrifice, the lottery was a way of life and he did not understand his siblings’ grief. On the morning of June 27th, as usual, the crowd gathered at the square “It’s that time of year again” stated Mr. Graves with a joking sneer on his face. The children piled up the rocks in a similar fashion to the years before, happy to be out of school and excited to start the lottery. As the men began to gather, hesitant small talk ensued. The wives came at a much slower pace with excuses “it slipped my mind” and “I had to put things in order, just in case.” Old Man Warner was the first to show, as the women came late he expectedly grumbled about people not showing respect for the tradition and “what is this world coming to?” The anxiety and apprehension was observable. That day, a child won the prize, Dickie Delacroix was chosen for the lottery. His mother said, “He’s just a child, this is not fair, I can’t bear to watch my child stoned to death!” Mrs. Martin followed in unison, “I agree, let’s choose again and keep the kids out.” Arguing followed “no” “yes, we must” “pack of darn fools” “It’s the tradition” and so on. Dickie realized he may not be sacrificed and realized the possibility he may live and suddenly became scared that he was going to die. He began to cower, hyperventilate and he bent over near the ground. No consensus was made that day and the lottery, went forward as tradition anticipated. Mr. Summers consistently persisted that he get a new box, since popularity for the lottery was waning, he got a new box, it was bright blue, as if to bring cheer to the now experienced as a dreadful event. The box did not stay cheerful, someone one found it and beat it up, it was found in bad shape, but it was still usable. A few years passed, in this time, people secretly got together to discuss banning the lottery, at first some of the women started chatting about it, the thought of losing their own children and seeing Mrs. Delacroix grieve her loss, became difficult to bear. They were developing emotions that were not commonly experienced; the lottery was a part of their whole lives. They struggled with their faith, and prayed to God about the right thing to do. The group grew to a small assembly of people. Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Dunbar, Mrs. Percy, Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Overdyke, they did not tell their husbands, eventually Mr. Adams joined. They came up with ideas and possible solutions such as not including children in the lottery, and more humane ways to sacrifice… They could not agree on an alternative but they could agree on the goal, to ban the lottery. They consulted with friends from other towns that banned their lottery. They told them what to do. On the morning of the following June 27th, the group did not show to the lottery. The men went to look for the missing citizens. The group moved about the town and not in a predictable pattern. As soon as the men found them, they dragged them to the square. They protested the lottery that day; it still went on as planned. After the lottery, and throughout the year, more citizens decided to support banning the lottery. They met in secret and made plans to go forward. They proceeded to protest at town hall The morning of the next lottery, the village was like a ghost town, not many people were out and about. As the time for the lottery proceeded, a quarter of the town did not appear, the growing opposition to the lottery was prevalent with the news that North Village finalized the ban of the lottery in their town only one week prior “I just don’t know if this is the right thing to do anymore” Mr. Martin said hesitantly. The village residents who were on the side of preserving the lottery showed up first and on time. “Things aren’t the way the used to be” Mr. Graves said snidely. Mrs. Graves said, “Well they want us to starve, pretty soon we’ll be fighting each other over nuts and bread.” Mr. Summers appeared with the tattered box, he asked for volunteers to help him set up. His eyes darted around noticing many people missing. The protesters gathered by the park “Are you all ready, if anyone is not ready for this is your chance to leave” stated Mrs. Percy. They proceeded together to the square, many holding hands, feeling the tension in each others hands. They presented themselves to the square and announced in unison, “We will not participate in this merciless tradition, we will not sacrifice another man, woman or child.” Arguing ensued, screaming, yelling, crying and shoving. The children dropped their rocks and ran. One person picked up a rock and threw it, and then they all picked up rocks and started to throw them at each other. They fought and fought until… |
