The Lottery
by Beth Goobie
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Every student at Saskatoon Collegiate knew that all the most important aspects of school life were controlled by a secret club called Shadow Council. Each fall, Shadow held a traditional lottery during which a single studentís name was drawn. The rest of the student body called the student the lottery winner. But Shadow Council knew better; to them the winner was the lottery victim. Whatever the label, the fated student became the Councilís go-fer, delivering messages of doom to selected targets. In reponse, the student body shunned the lottery winner for the entire year. This yearís victim was fifteen-year-old Sally Hanson.
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The third scroll was dropped onto her binder as she rushed between classes at mid-morning break. The halls were crowded, she's hadn't seen anyone of note beside her - the scroll hadn't been there, then suddenly it was To her left, she spotted an open maintenance closet, full of cleaning solutions and wet mops. Stepping in, she closed the door and fumbled for the light switch. Frantically she tore at the ribbon and the wax seal, not caring if the paper ripped
As her eyes reluctantly returned to the black message scrawled across the page, the light bulb's electric after-image danced across her retinas, confusing her vision, but the third scroll's contents had already been seared deep into her memory.
Congratulations! You are this year's lottery winner.
