“The lottery’s almost starting!”
“Everybody! Let’s go!”
“Come on!”
As I peered out from behind some of Mrs. Hutchinson’s big bushes and trees, almost everyone else was already gathering in the center of the village. She was humming a cheerful song while scrubbing the dishes, but with a solemn look on her face, as if she was trying to cheer herself up. I watched for a few minutes, then decided to go and see what the other people were doing in the village center. My guess was the “lottery” they were talking about, but I would see for myself in a couple of minutes.
I quietly crept away, my back towards Mrs. Hutchinson. I was almost to the street when suddenly, Mrs. Hutchinson whirled around and spotted me.
“What are you doing? I know you don’t belong here.” She firmly put her hands on her hips. Trying to change the subject, I said,
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the lottery like everyone else?” I nodded towards the gathering of people not far off in the distance.
“Oh!” She frantically checked her watch, then the calendar on the wall of the kitchen. “My! It’s the twenty-seventh already! Oh, I simply cannot be late for the lottery. I hope Bill and the kids are all already there, and just waiting for me now!” She then swatted me away and scurried towards the silent gathering of people. I, curious, decided to follow along.
She glanced at me like I was crazy. “Where’s your father? Do you have a brother? Actually, do you even have a relative here? You can’t go without a person to draw for you!”
I shook my head no. She hesitated, then said, “Then if you want to come along, you’ll have to hide in the foliage again around the center and whatever you do, do not try to come out. They may try to stone you as well.”
We were almost halfway to the other villagers by now. Along the rest of the way, Mrs. Hutchinson explained the lottery to me.
“We worship a god named Little-Bunny-Foo-Foo. He is the one that makes sure our crops thrive and that we have enough food to last us the winter. Unfortunately, he likes human sacrifices, so we must hold a lottery each month to choose whoever is going to die an honored death for Little-Bunny-Foo-Foo.”
“But that’s terrible! Why can’t you just learn how to grow good crops my yourselves?” I asked, shocked.
Mrs. Hutchinson sighed. “You have no idea how hard it is without the help of Foo-Foo. Nearly half of our village died of starvation every year… and we figured losing twelve a year was better than losing one hundred and fifty.”
And at that point we arrived.
I quickly tiptoed around the center into a clump of tall plants and bushes. From there, I peeked through the branches of a magnolia tree and saw the lottery begin. I saw a man call out names, one after another, until about sixty people, scattered in the crowd of apprehensive villagers, were holding a scrap of paper, folded in half, in their hands.
Then, at the man’s direction, the sixty villagers slowly opened up their papers, and gradually, they all sighed a sigh of relief and smiled at the rest of their family. All except one… Bill. And I watched as a smaller lottery was held inside just Bill’s family and held my breath with them as they opened up their papers.
“It’s Mrs. Hutchinson.”
“It’s her… “
“It’s really Mrs. Hutchinson.”
And I watched as all of the rest of the villagers stooped down to grab the stones lying on the ground. And I couldn’t just let this happen. I couldn’t!
So I stepped out of hiding shouted at the villagers and I told them to put down the stones. I kicked the nearest one hard to make a point.
Silence.
“Stop! You don’t need to kill someone for a Little-Bunny-Foo-Foo! You–” I was cut off short by Mrs. Hutchinson.
“I told you not to come out! Why did you–“
“You know this intruder?” A man turned to look at her, raising his stone once more. Several others followed suit.
I started again. “Stop! I can show you how to plant successful crops! I know how to do it! Just follow me and let me teach you! Please! Don’t try to throw stones at one of your own when you are perfectly capable of getting food yourselves, without the help of this Foo-Foo Bunny!”
This time they peered at me with interest. They had gotten tired of killing off other families of the village just for some food. If there was an alternative, they were curious to see if it would work.
So they reluctantly let Mrs. Hutchinson go, as she was the one who let me follow her into the center.
And they all expectantly turned their attention to me.