Silence. Uncomfortable silence followed her death. Storm clouds hovered in the stunned sky, reflecting everyone’s mood. She lay in the center of the crowd, her body twisted and contorted, forming graceless angles. Her auburn hair was scattered in multiple places, stained with blood. Her eyes were wide open, but her pupils seemed to be brimming with bitter melancholy. I glanced away from her bloodstained frame, her screams still resounding in my ears.
Looking at her husband, I sensed both his grief and his acceptance. His gaze was focused on his wife, who lay covered in blood, a jagged blanket of punitive pebbles enveloping her body. Wearily, he stepped towards her, avoiding the gravel on the ground. He bent down and cleared away some of the stones, calmly searching for her face. …show more content…
But not for Tessie: today, she lost her life. Today, fate had decided that it was her that had to die. Leaving her children and husband behind, she had been forced to depart our world.
Tessie died today, and for what? What’s the point of it all? I have never understood the point of the lottery. Yet every year, we follow that boring old fool Mr Summers, and condemn one of our neighbours to death. The other villages have stopped – why can’t we?
Brusquely, I sat down. My elbows dug into the table as I held my head in my hands. Her desperate cries echoed in my ears once again.
Death wasn’t kind. It came, greedily snatching people away, not even pretending to care about its victims. Death hovered over our village; it's dark presence only faded once the lottery was over. But, no complacency could be countenanced for death would surely descend upon us the next year.
I contemplated the drizzle spraying my window. The rhythm of the raindrops progressively subdued my thoughts. Swayed by the soft melody of the rain, my consciousness quietly slipped from