The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Like all the men of Babylon, I have been proconsul; like all, I have been a slave. I have known omnipotence, ignominy, imprisonment. Look here– my right hand has no index finger. Look here– through this gash in my cape you can see on my stomach a crimson tattoo–it is the second letter, Beth. On nights when […]
Chapter 50
AUGUST 23, 1997 “LIZ, COME HERE, QUICK,” HUGH CALLED OUT FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS STREET. “The sun is so strong, it’s melting the tarmac on the road.” “It is?” Springing up from my perch on the footpath outside, I dropped the chalk I’d been playing with and hurried over to him. “See?” Hugh […]
Part 5 – Chapter 49
JUNE 8, 1997 “THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY WEEKEND EVER,” LIZZIE DECLARED EXCITEDLY AS WE wandered through the crowds at the county fair on Sunday afternoon. She was turning nine tomorrow, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day to celebrate. The sun was splitting the stones, her mother was looking healthier than she had […]
Part 5 – Chapter 48
Part 5 – Friendship Lifelines MARCH 17, 1997 AFTER THE ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE IN TOWN THIS AFTERNOON, CATHERINE YOUNG invited us to Old Hall House to play. The weather was too good to stay inside, so the five of us decided on building a treehouse. While Gibs, Feely, and Claire snooped through the stables for potential materials we […]
Chapter 47
JANUARY 17, 1997 FEELING DAZED AND OFF BALANCE, I TRUDGED THROUGH THE FIELDS AT THE BACK OF our property with Hugh by my side. Stumbling over uneven surfaces and potholes, I tried to get my bearings, while Hugh remained patient the entire time. I felt like I was emerging from hibernation. Like a bear waking up after […]
Chapter 46
JANUARY 17, 1997 SINCE STARTING FIRST CLASS LAST SEPTEMBER, LIZ TOOK THE THREE O’CLOCK BUS home from school with me. However, two weeks had passed since we’d returned to school after Christmas break, and Lizzie still hadn’t returned. I knew what that meant. She was sick again. After tormenting my mother for days to call Lizzie’s mother, […]
Chapter 45
JANUARY 5, 1997 “WHAT’S WRONG?” CRYING ON MY BED IN THE DARKNESS, I HOOKED MY ARMS AROUND my knees and rocked. “Why are you angry?” “Because you got your fucking period,” the monster snarled, appearing from darkness in a cloud of smoke. “You’re nine!” His eyes were glowing red. “Why are you getting your fucking period when […]
Chapter 44
DECEMBER 31, 1996 THE PARTY WAS IN FULL SWING DOWNSTAIRS, BUT LIZ WASN’T IN THE MOOD TO JOIN in the celebrations, so I remained by her side the whole night. There would be a million more parties, but there would only ever be one Lizzie Young. I knew she was doing better since coming home from hospital, […]
Chapter 43
DECEMBER 31, 1996 I KNEW I WAS DREAMING WHEN THE MONSTER CAME INTO MY ROOM TONIGHT BECAUSE the doctors told me he wasn’t real. I’d made him all up. The scary lady, too. They were a figment of my imagination, delusions I invented inside my own head, and I think that made me feel better because it meant I […]
Chapter 42
OCTOBER 31, 1996 TODAY WAS MY NINTH BIRTHDAY AND, AS USUAL, MY HOUSE WAS PACKED WITH friends. The lads were happily plowing their way through my house like a wrecking ball with a game of tip the can, but I didn’t join in. I couldn’t enjoy my party until she arrived. When Mam came into my room and […]