"The Lottery" - Write a new ending for the story.
"The Lottery"
Shirley Jackson
Write a new ending for the story
AFRICIUS C.M TAN
Mrs. Tara Ley
Period: 1
ENGOAc. 05
Jason lay on the wet grass beside Angel Creek. His feet cold and he was sleeping peacefully like
a baby in a cradle. The moon hovered above the running stream, casting a magical wavery image
on the water. As the wind blew, dark conspicuous clouds moved quickly across the sky. It
hindered the bright, illuminated moon showing every holes and craters on the surface and
consumed every light source and its remains. The clouds moved swiftly across the dark sky with
its unbridled force as if it was fleeing from some danger, sending yet another gush of cold wind
towards the creek. The willows swayed violently with its long leafy 'tentacles', deceptively
reaching out to grip Jason.
Jason stirred fitfully, overwhelmed by the surroundings of howling winds and huge, monstrous
trees which seems to entangle him with their curly vines. He took a few steps back and peered
through the darkness around him. He was in a graveyard, he reassured himself. A flurry of wind
sent a body of dead leaves towards him as he fought against the gale, trying to shove his way
through. He could vaguely make out the figure of his vehicle 100 foot away. Just when he was
about to run across the graveyard towards his car, he heard something from behind. He turned
around and peered through the darkness once again. He could see gravestones and crosses all over
the place with names and dates written on it. The names looked familiar but the dates were all the
same but in different year. As he looked up, he froze with fear. He could see zombies still in their
early stage of decay, rising from the graveyard one by one. Jason looked around as he stared
uncomprehendingly at the zombies, with bright red bruises all over their body as if they were
being hit hard by some objects. He looked again and a chill ran down his spine. He saw his
mother, a young women standing beside her gravestone, smiling as she hurled a harpoon towards
him. ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
same but in different year. As he looked up, he froze with fear. He could see zombies still in their
early stage of decay, rising from the graveyard one by one. Jason looked around as he stared
uncomprehendingly at the zombies, with bright red bruises all over their body as if they were
being hit hard by some objects. He looked again and a chill ran down his spine. He saw his
mother, a young women standing beside her gravestone, smiling as she hurled a harpoon towards
him.
"arh, arh..." Jason awoke instantly, gasping for air as his new girlfriend, Felice sat beside
comforted him saying that he had a terrible bad dream. Felice was a young and beautiful lady in
all aspects who had escaped with Jason after the lottery twelve hours ago. Both of them fled and
drove away from the insane community. Jason could still see Felice mum brutally being stoned to
death. The heartless crowd half day ago, participating enthusiastically by throwing stones and
broken concretes on her as she tried in vain to protect herself. Her pain and fear was her only
companion till her death. Jason and Felice had both agreed to seek refuge at the clearance beside
Angel Creek as she said no one would ever want to come here except on Memorial Day and the
day of the lottery. While Jason and Felice were fixing the engines and checking the water
indicator, little did they know that they were being watched. As Jason slammed the cover down,
they stared in shock as a 'ghost' walked slowly towards them.
The 'ghost' was Jason's grandmother, Rose. She wore a thin white gown with flax linen covering
her silky white skin and showing only her pale face, expressionless. Within a second, Jason and
his grandma embraced warmly as her old wrinkled fingers running down Jason's brown hair.
"You are safe, my boy" Rose replied, touching every inch and features of Jason's face as droplets
of tears began to form in her eyes. "I missed you so much" she replied. But this time her voice
was clear and gentle, full of affection and for the first time in Jason's life, he felt loved again. As
all the touching and hugging dissipated, Rose began saying "it was so nice to see you both again.
I thought I would never see you again, Jason. You must be shocked and furious by the lottery
yesterday and I do not blame you".
She continued "remember that day you first visited me, I have not seen you for twenty years. That
moment was the happiest moment of my life. I knew you had came back to seek the truth about
your mother's death and I did not tell you the complete truth that day". At once, Jason's eyes and
fingers began to titillate in respond, staring affectionless in Rose's eyes as she continued. "The
lottery was a tradition practiced here in the origin Cleveland whereby decades ago stretched acres
and acres of golden wheat farmland. Life was prosperous and harvests were abundant for many
years. Till one day when one woman was innocently accused of burning a large piece of the crop
and was sentenced to death the next day. No one could prove her innocence because she was the
only one seen closest to the fire. Just before she was hung, she yelled a remark towards the crowd
"if the God had saw that I am indeed innocent, he shall curse all the dwellers of this land to be as
stupid as the dead". "Beware!" she shrieked as the board was released. Momentarily, the people
who witnessed the event were petrified by the ugly and haunting sight of the women and were
unable to regain their composure until the body was removed from the scene. The woman's neck
was twisted in the most awkward position and blood were gushing out profusely, soaking her
long hair and her grayish coat. The scariest parts were the eyes. They were wild and evil, totally
consuming, one could easily tell that it is returning to seek revenge and death.
"All the people were so terrified by that tragic event that many had left the county and more
followed. Feared that the women's vengeance would return to haunt the town and the gods would
indeed curse the people, some kind of traditions practiced had been set up to be performed
annually on the date of 27th June, the date on which the woman had died. The day was a day of
human sacrifice to appease the wrath of the woman. The tradition continued for many years and
many lives were perished from brutally stoning to death. As the years advanced, few had known
about the actual true purpose of the lottery. The young ones throwing stones today only blindly
followed their families, participating in the event which they believed would bring about
happiness and prosperity. The actual history was long forgotten". Her voice flailed off slowly.
"What you had seen yesterday, was merely just a celebration of peace and happiness".
She laughed wickedly, with a suave smile across her face. Jason's eyes furrowed. He cited
conspiracy. When he was about to demand an explanation towards his grandma's awkward
ending, a large rock hit hard on Jason's forehead. The pain was excruciating. Jason tried to
balance himself up but was being hit hard again by another big rock on his face. This time, rocks
and stones were being thrown from all direction, slowly debilitating him. The last 'opal' like
stone struck his neck, sending him into unconsciousness. Jason laid there on the ground,
motionless.
"Let buried him and get over and done with" a man at the dispersing crowd shouted.
During the painful event a few hours ago, Felice and Rose participated in it, hurling big rocks at
him despite the fact that one was his girlfriend and the other was his grandmother. This was the
first time in history whereby the lottery was not properly performed on the actual date and only
sent Jason into semi-unconsciousness.
That night as the wind blew again, a hand protruded out beside Angel Creek. Slowly and
painfully, a body emerged from the ground and walked the graveyard like a zombie. He will be
seeking revenge and death...
