The Wicked Lottery

The Wicked Lottery

A rewriting of short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

It was June 24th—three days before the day of the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson wandered back and forth in the kitchen. She was supposed to prepare a breakfast for her husband and children, but something else had bothered her mind. Her life. If she couldn’t find enough money by June 27th, it was all over for her. Heavy steps suddenly echoed from the stairs. It was Bill, her husband. She quickly gathered the ingredients and prepared the utensils she needed to make the meal.

“Good morning, dear.” greeted Tessie. “I’ve prepared a warm bath for you. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

         Bill’s consciousness was still all over the place. He didn’t respond and just walked straight to the bathroom.

He... Is he aware about it?, Tessie froze. A sudden realization struck her mind. What if he already knew? He was rich. In fact, the reason her family had able to live with privilege was because Bill had a considerable amount of money. If that was the case, that would explain how he managed to not get the lottery every year. Her whole body trembled in fear. She didn’t want to die. Before June 27th, she had to get more money, one way or another.

Tessie was never a talented person. Her only skills were those of cooking and cleaning—all common skills housewives were skilled at. She was also unemployed. Therefore, since she knew about it she began searching for work to increase her finance. Of course, she did it in secret. While her husband was working at a near factory and her children studying at school, she walked around the village and offered a service as a cook or maid.

All the villagers she visited were puzzled of her action since she was originally a woman of a pretty well-off family. Each time they asked her the motives, she explained that she was short on money to buy new clothes for her children.

“Can’t you ask Mr. Hutchinson for money to buy them?” asked them.

“I can’t. My husband was very strict with money... He never allowed me to use his money for my personal needs.” That was the truth she told them. Since three years ago, her husband never shared her her part of the wealth. However, no matter how hard she tried to convince them to hire her, she was always rejected.

“Please...” Tessie’s hands clasped together on her chest, begging for a little kindness and consideration.

“I wish I could, Tessie, but I can’t. I don’t have the money to pay you.” That was the lie the villagers told her. The door was then slammed in front of her face. Tessie had no idea that all the villagers were the same as her—they kept a secret from each other because they were afraid of death.

Feeling hopeless, Tessie walked back home. On her way, she passed the house of Old Man Warner. Tessie stopped for awhile and gazed upon the crumbling, unattended structure. Old Man Warner had been the eldest person in the village until he exclaimed that he would stop participating in the yearly lottery tradition. When the day of the lottery came, he pushed Mr. Summers—the person who became chief of the village 3 years ago—aside and took his place as the center of  the crowd. Then he shouted, “STOP THIS BLOODY CHARADE!” and “THIS STUPID LOTTERY DON’T HAVE ANY EFFECT ON THE PROSPERITY OF OUR VILLAGE! YOU’VE ALL BEEN FOOLED!”. No one paid attention to him and the lottery continued as usual, but the next day he vanished. The answers of why Warner denied the practice that had persisted for many years had forever gone with his dead body, burried in the depths of the forest, unknown by Tessie and the rest of the villagers. Tessie shivered at the sight of the old building. She gripped her shawl tighter and resumed her walk.

When Tessie arrived home, the house was still empty. Blinded by the will to live and selfishness, she went inside her husband’s office, where he kept all of the family’s monetary. She stared at the vault. She was scared to death, but there was no other way. She snooped around the room in search for the vault’s key. Bill was always very secretive of his money storage, so Tessie didn’t know where he hid the key. After a while, she finally found it hidden in a file inside one of the drawers. She grabbed the key tight with her now-sweaty hand, but before she managed to open the vault, Bill barged into the room with a yell.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN FRONT OF MY VAULT!???”

“B-Bill!!!” Tessie quickly stood up and hid the key in her dress’ pocket. “Nothing! I-I was just cleaning it! I am not aware you’re already home, I—“

“I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE MY OFFICE ALONE!” Bill grabbed both of Tessie’s shoulders. She struggled to break away from him, but his grip was too strong. Suddenly, he put his right hand in the pocket where Tessie hid the key.

He lifted the key in front of her face. “How would you explain this!? Did you try to steal my money!!!??”

Tears began to emerge from her eyes. She was scared of what her husband might do to her upon breaking his rule. “I-I didn’t! I swear upon our Lord I didn’t steal anything! Please don’t hurt me...”

Bill was known as a person who never let out his anger heedlessly, but Tessie’s disobedience had passed the limit. Without any hesitation, he shoved her out of his room. “I won’t harm you, Tes. Not now. I shall wait for the day you get your proper punishment.”

Bill slammed the door hard. He kneeled down and opened the vault, then counted all the money stored in there. The amount was still the same as when he last took some to secure his and his children’s life. Deep inside his heart, he felt exceedingly guilty for leaving his wife out, but he had no choice. It was his money, and to think that the lottery will still be going for years to come, it was not enough to pay for a family of five. It was either his children or his wife—and his love for the children was bigger.

...

At night before the sacred day, Tessie sneaked out of the house to rendezvous with someone she ought to meet in the alley. She held the envelope tight. She was truly worried that the money was not enough to ensure her life, but she had at least tried. In secret, she prayed that it was enough.

“Here’s the money.” She handed over the envelope to a cloaked man. They were in the deepest part of the alley where they were concealed by the shadows of the buildings around them.

The stranger nodded and took the envelope. “May you be safe tomorrow.”

Before he left, Tessie took out a letter inside her pocket. “Wait!” She clutched his cloak. “I have one humble request. Please, give this letter to him. Make sure it arrives at his hand safely. It’s very important.”

“Alright.” The man answered shortly. Tessie felt uncertain about leaving the matter to a stranger, but she couldn’t risk coming accross any villager on her way to his house. She was doubtful and restless; thinking that she might not be the one to rely on him. Yet, if she indeed the only one who knew about this, she had to keep it a secret so that she would be the one whose life was never threatened by the chance of getting the lottery. Tessie could only hope that the letter reached his hand safely.

The stranger returned to the man he worked under. “Here you go, sir. From Tessie Hutchinson.”

Mr. Summers, who was sitting on his comfy chair, smiled widely. On his desk were piles of opened envelopes and neatly organized stacks of money that were divided by the name of each giver.  “Ah, thank you. You may leave now.”

“One moment, sir. Tessie also leave a letter for you.” The stranger handed the envelope. After that, he bowed slightly and left the room.

Prioritizing to count how much money he received, Mr. Summers ignored the letter and started to open the one envelope that contained the cash. “Tessie, Tessie. She almost not made it last year. Let’s see how much she got now.”

“She came to my house two days ago, y’know, asking for a job.” Mr. Graves, who were taking notes of the names of villagers, puffed his cigarette and exhaled. “She was that hopeless.”

Mr. Summers laughed. “Ha! That was her lost. Don’t give a damn about her misfortune,” He carefully counted each leaf of money in his tended hands. “There’re still many others who give us more than we asked.”

“True,” Mr. Graves guffawed. “With all this money, we can have a lifetime vacation.”

“If only they knew that this deprived village is the only one who still doin’ such stupid ritual,” Mr. Summers snickered. He stacked the money and labeled it with ‘Tessie Hutchinson – 100’. “But of course, they shall not know. We’ll leave it that way.”

“True, true,” Mr. Graves sneered. “So, how much’s Tessie’s?”

“Lowest of the lowest. We all know who’ll be the lucky person tomorrow,” Mr. Graves collected all the money and put it into his drawer. “Now, fetch me the box. We’ll make the draw.”

After Mr. Graves was finished with his list, he walked out to pick the old black lottery box. Mr. Summers stretched his back and leaned to his chair. The letter from Tessie remained in its initial position, forgotten.

...

The awaited day had finally come. At precisely 10 in the morning, all villagers had all gathered in the plaza. Children excitedly jumped around, pebbles which were secured in their pockets clincked as they ran in circles. The adults greeted each other and talked and gossiped. Fake smiles were printed on their face—on the outside, they nonchalantly chatted about today’s bright weather, but deep within, each prayed for the death of the person they were talking to.

Mr. Summers began to count each family that were present. All had assembled, except one person.

“Mr. Hutchinson, your wife is apparently nowhere to be seen. Where could she be?” asked Mr. Summers politely.

Bill shook his head. “I have no idea. I was tending the farm when my children yelled about collecting pebbles and ran to the plaza. Damn forgot today was the day, so I just ran after them here.”

“Well, now, couldn’t start without her, could we?” Mr. Summers sighed. He looked at his watch. “Alright, if in 10 minutes she doesn’t appear, we’ll just start without her.”

Ten minutes had passed, but there was still no sign of Tessie Hutchinson. The crowds murmurred and looked at each other anxiously. To appease the commotion, Mr. Summers clapped his hands.

“Alright, folks. Since Mrs. Hutchinson hasn’t made her appearance, we’ll—”

“W-wait!” From afar, Tessie Hutchinson ran hastily the crowd. An apron was still attached to her dress. All eyes were on her.

“What took you so long?” asked Mrs. Dunbars. She approached Tessie and observed her. “And look! Your apron is all soaked!”

Tessie giggled. “Pardon me, everyone. I was too engaged with my housechores—making breakfast, cleaning the children’s bedroom... and there were so many dishes to clean this morning! Can’t leave them unattended, can we? I washed them a little bit in a hurry, considering I was late enough to attend the lottery today.”

Most of the women nodded in agreement. Tessie excused herself and loomed to her family who were standing in front. She hugged and kissed her children. Bill didn’t say a word—her antics this morning were enough to irritate him.

Mr. Summers cleared his throat. “Mrs. Hutchinson! I thought you’ll never come. We almost leave you behind!” greeted him in a cheerful tone. Tessie smiled wryly. “Now, we can begin the lottery!”

Mr. Summers called for each head of the family, who is responsible as the representative, one by one. Soft whisperings could be heard amidst the tense atmosphere. Each man who got the blank slip returned to his family with a relieved smile—even though they and their wife suspected each other, there was no denial that deep within, each was glad that their family was saved for the day. So far, no man got the marked paper. Bill, the last representative, tighten his grip and walked forward. He knew his family was doomed.

Bill slowly raised his hand, showing the marked slip to the crowds. Tessie gasped in shock. Frightened, she held her children closer. What about my letter...? Did he not read it? Tessie’s mind was in shambles.

“That is not fair!!!!” Tessie yelled out of the blue. She pointed her finger to Mr. Summers in anger. “You didn’t give him enough time to pick the paper he wanted!”

“All of us took the same chance, Tessie.” Mrs. Delacroix rolled her eyes.

“Come on, now. Step forward. Let’s get this over with so all of us can continue our work, yeah?” Mr. Summers ignored Tessie and invited her to take the paper from the box.

Bill called for the children. He glanced at Tessie, who solely remained in her place. Her legs were trembling. She couldn’t move as if her feet were glued to the ground. She thought of running away, but there was no telling what the villagers would do to her if she did. No one in the history of the village who ever dared to flee from the lottery or rejected or questioned its final result.

“Hurry up, Tes! We don’t have all day!” The crowds had lost their patience.

“I... I...” Tessie lost her words. She grabbed her apron firmly, crumpling the soaking cloth.

 Suddenly, someone pushed her with force until she stumbled and fell to the ground. Tessie looked back at the person who shoved her. It was Mrs. Dunbars, who smiled in triumph. Not only her, all of the villagers were smiling at her.

“This is unfair...”

“Shut up, Tes.” ordered Bill in a low voice. Tessie bit her lower lip. Her chest felt painful and suffocated as she held back from crying. She could not believe the man who became her husband, who vowed to never hurt her, had turned his back on her like that. Pressured from all the gaze aimed at her, she got up.

“Alright. I’m certain all of you remember the rules. The order was Dave, the youngest, then Nancy, Bill Jr., Tessie, and Bill. Mr. Graves, help little Dave pick the slip, if you please.”

Bill escorted Davy closer to Mr. Graves. Mr. Graves stooped so that Davy could put his hand into the box easily. He reminded the child, “Remember, no opening the paper until the rest of your family got theirs.” When it was Tessie’s turn, Mr. Summers gave her his most dazzling smile and wished her a good luck.

Finally, all of the Hutchinson family members had gotten their papers. Mr. Summers instructed Bill to open the slips. Bill nodded to his family, giving them the order to open the small paper they had in their hand. First, Nancy opened hers and a bright smile emerged from her face. She raised the paper high. She was clear. Following her was Davy, who was helped by Mr. Graves, and Bill Jr. They were all clear. Next was Bill, who also held his blank paper up high.

“This is not true....”

Bill turned his head to Tessie who stared at her paper frightfully.

“It’s Tessie,” said Mr. Summers. “Show us her paper, Bill.”

Without hesitation, Bill grasped the paper out of Tessie’s hand. As he opened the paper, he spot a black dot in the middle of the white sheet of paper. He raised the paper so that the villagers could see. Tessie backed away from the murderous glares that were targeted on her. The villagers quickly surrounded her until there was no gap that allowed her to escape.

“Hurry up. Let’s finish this quickly.”

One by one, the villagers took out the stones and rocks they had prepared. Bill and his son, Bill Jr., collected some rocks that scattered around and shared them with Nancy and little Dave. Few others brought rocks so big they had to carry them with two hands.

“It isn’t fair...” She cried desperately, but no one cared for her wailing. A stone hit her head, then her nose, then her chest.

“It isn’t right!! It isn’t fair!!!” She screamed on top of her lung as stones rained her body mercilessly.

Throwing their rocks, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves sneered. They would keep the truth to themselves, and would shut anyone who came upon the realization of the sinister nature of the ritual. As long as those people were distanced from the truth, they would be forever benefitted from the fear of the easily manipulated villagers.