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1 " It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. "
― Shirley Jackson , The Lottery
2 " It's not the way it used to be... people ain't the way they used to be. "
3 " Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. "
4 " Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. "
5 " They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. "
6 " The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. "
7 " There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up of heads of families, heads of households in each family, members of each household in each family. "
8 " They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery."Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live hat way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery, he added petulantly. "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.""Some places have already quit lotteries." Mrs. Adams said."Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools. "