#BirdvilleVoices

This digital literary magazine is a compilation of writings from the budding 6th grade authors around the district. Please enjoy their insights, humor, and writer's craft.

How Cows Got Their Spots

The day started as any other normal fantastic day. The gods were working on a box that they didn't want anyone stealing from or they shall be punished for their misbehavior.

When the gods had finished working on the box, they put it near the fire pit in the temple of cows. They said to never take the treasure from the box or something bad would happen, but when the gods vanished from sight the cows got curious as to why they couldn't take the gold. Inside the temple, the cows had thoughts about the forbidden treasure and thought “maybe the gold is worth trillions and the gods want it for themselves, or maybe they stole it from someone”.

Now that the cows were thinking that the gods were greedy stealers, they rushed to the box and threw the lid open! They quickly took as much gold as they could and hid it in their closets. Out of curiosity, a god came to check on the treasure. Just as he suspected, with the exception of a few golden bars, there wasn't any more treasure left!

The god was furious so he quickly called for Zeus. Zeus wasn't happy at all, infact he placed a curse on the cows, in which he had placed the most ugliest spots you could imagine onto their bodies. Then Zeus made the cows work for trust and prosperity, and eventually the cows earned trust and were relieved from the curse but some liked the spots and wanted to keep them and so they were able to keep their spots.

I

I might be tiny,

But that doesn’t mean I’m not mighty

See all the scars on my knees

Well that doesn't stop me

I might fall,

But I get right back up

I keep trying

I keep giving my all

But sometimes

Sometimes giving my all isn't enough

Sometimes I make mistakes

And then I'm back where I started

At the bottom

Am I ever gonna back it to the top?

I really don't know

And now I don't care

People can think what they want to think

It doesn't matter.

Not anymore

As long as I know I'm beautiful

As long as I know I'm perfect the way I am

I don't have to be someone I'm not

Just so people like me

I just have to be me

And if they don't like me for me

Then they don't have to be friends with me…..

Do you ever wonder what happens to our souls after death? Maybe we come back on Earth as another person without any memory of our past life. Do our ghosts go to Heaven or Hell? What if our spirits roam different galaxies and discover new things that no human would ever? People believe many different things happen when we die, but will we ever know the truth? The answer is no. Humans have no way of figuring out what happens to one after their existence disappears from this planet. The only souls who do know what goes on after death, are the deceased. If anything at all does actually happen after your death, I'm sure it is not the same for everyone. The things that go on after that last breath you take leaves your body may always be a mystery for us humans. What if being dead is better than living on this dark, cruel world we call Earth? I guess we will find that out sooner or later.

How Monkeys Were Created

A long time ago, before any humans were created, there were two gorillas having a conversation beside a river deep inside a rainforest.

Gorilla 1: Look at all the bananas at the top of that tree.

Gorilla 2: Yeah, only if we were smaller and had tails we could climb up the branches to eat the bananas.

Gorilla 1: But we can only eat the ones that fall to the ground, and they aren't as fresh.

Gorilla 2: Maybe there is an animal that is small and has a tail.

Gorilla 1: Maybe, but I haven’t seen any animal that looks like that.

Gorilla 2: I wish we knew an animal like that.

As they continued their conversation another gorilla came out of the rainforest to join them.

Gorilla 3: Hey, I heard that if you go to a certain mountain they can make any creature you want.

Gorilla 2: Hmm that sounds cool.

Gorilla 1: Yeah, but do you have to do anything?

Gorilla 3: I don’t think so. Oh yeah, there is something.

Gorilla 2: What?

Gorilla 3: I think there is an animal at the top of the mountain and he makes you find something.

Gorilla 1: We can do that.

Gorilla 2: Yeah.

Gorilla 1: Do you know where the mountain is?

Gorilla 3: Yeah, but we have to leave in the morning.

Gorilla 1 & 2: Okay.

The gorillas woke up early the next morning and began walking towards the mountain. They were now approaching the mountain, but stopped.

Gorilla 2: Wow! That’s a tall mountain.

Gorilla 1: Yeah, how are we going to get up there?

Gorilla 3: Don’t worry. We can walk up that path over there.

The three gorillas were walking until they were suddenly interrupted by a mysterious creature.

Mysterious Creature: What drinks but doesn’t eat and has no mouth? Bring this to me, and I will let you pass.

The gorillas started walking down the mountain, talking and trying to figure out what the object was.

Gorilla 1: So what do you think it is?

Gorilla 3: I have no idea.

Gorilla 2: It has something to do with water.

Gorilla 3: Yeah.

Gorilla 1: Wait! Is it that pond? It drinks water from the river.

Gorilla 3: It makes sense but how are we going to pick up a pond?

The gorillas continued their way down the mountain until they reached the pond. One of the gorillas accidently stepped on a small tree.

Gorilla 2: Hey, what if it’s this tree?

Gorilla 1: Yeah, it drinks water but has no mouth and we can carry it up the mountain.

The gorillas carefully dug up the plant and left dirt around the plant. After they dug the plant up, one of the gorillas carried it as they headed up the mountain.

Gorilla 1: Do you think this is what it was asking for?

Gorilla 2: It better be. I don’t want to walk back up the mountain another time.

Gorilla 3: Yeah.

Gorilla 1: Hey there’s the creature.

Gorilla 2: Is this what you asked for?

Mysterious Creature: Yes.

Gorilla 1: Great!

The gorillas planted the tree and started talking to the creature.

Creature: What animal do you want?

Gorilla 1: An animal that can climb trees easily and has a tail.

Gorilla 2: They also have to be friends with us.

Gorilla 1: Yeah.

The three gorillas headed into a cave where the creature sent them and came past a door with writing on it.

Gorilla 2: Hey, a door!

Gorilla 3: What’s a monkey?

The gorillas opened the door but when they did hundreds of monkeys bursted out of the door. Once the gorillas figured out that they had gotten what they wished for they ran out to greet the monkeys. The gorillas and monkeys became great friends after meeting each other, and gorillas were the reason monkeys were created.

Pantophobia

Have you ever heard of the fear called Pantophobia? Very few people have not, If you have, you are most likely one the few people may have it. Before I get into my story I am going to tell you what that is, if you do not already know.

Pantophobia is a fear of nothing. Not that you are brave and fear nothing, it is you fear nothing itself. You fear nothingness. You fear that you will be alone, and if you are alone you will have nothing. That is my fear, I fear that the person I love will go away and then i will have nothing.

Now for my story…..

It was about two years ago and I had just woken up and I went downstairs to wake up my great grandma (we called her Nanny). I ran downstairs and went into her room , went to her bedside and said in a whisper, “ Nanny it’s time to wake up.” By that time it was about nine o’clock in the morning, and she would not wake up. I tried shaking her, but nothing. Then I realized that there was purple and blue dots on her face and that her lips were a blueish-purplish kind of color. So, using my context clues, I checked for breathing or a heartbeat, But nothing. I was so scared but calm at the same time. I dialed 911. Then her caretaker walked in, and I quickly told her what was going on , Nanny’s Caretaker talked to the 911 operator and one fire truck, two ambulance trucks, two cop cars, and 2 SUV cop cars were dispatched to our house.

I remember the thought that went through my head as they took her more oxygen bags, “ she is going to live, she is going to stay with me, She still has a lot of people that need her to stay here, If she leaves I will have nothing. She can’t leave me like this!” and as they took her away, I was at her neighbor Nann’s house. Nann broke the news to me and my sisters and my friend, the caretaker's son. I was broken. I felt like I had just died. I was so close to her from when I was a baby, till then. We would do everything together. She taught me how to read, write, sing, even how to shoot a gun. She was my everything, she was the sunshine in my day ,the spring in my step. I loved her so much. When she was gone I felt I lost everything , had nothing. That's when my phobia came. I have never loved someone as much as her.

Many people have fears of heights, snakes, darkness, clowns, and others but mine is Pantophobia- the fear of nothing itself.

The Importance of Fine Arts

Victor Pinchuck once said, “Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics.” Because of decreased funds, schools everywhere are eliminating their fine arts programs. This could greatly affect students and not in good ways. Fine arts can do many things for students, such as, allow them to express their emotions, help them score more on tests, and enhance their collaboration skills.

Fine arts help students express their emotions. If I walked into an art or theater class, and I was very frustrated I would have ways to express how I feel. For example, I could sketch a drawing or I could act it out. Not only could this help me express myself, but it could also relieve my stress. Self-expression is just one of the many reasons we shouldn’t remove fine arts from our schools.

Secondly, fine arts can help kids score higher on tests. If I was a senior in high-school, and I had taken four years of fine arts, it might be noticed that I had a higher score on the SAT. A study by the college board reveals that students who took four years of fine arts scored 91 points higher on the SAT exams. Higher scores on the SAT! Isn’t that what we want? If so, why are we getting rid of our fine arts programs?

Lastly, fine arts can enhance a student’s collaboration skills. Imagine, you’re a sixth grader in a Pre-AP english class. You’d do A LOT of group work, where you definitely need to be able to collaborate with your peers. Not only would collaboration help you in school, but when doing volunteer projects with friends, you’ll want to be able to collaborate. As you can see, fine arts can enhance a student’s collaboration skills, which will be handy inside and outside of school.

In the end, fine arts are vital to a good educational environment, and should be kept. Savings can be found elsewhere. Before you eliminate your fine arts program, you should really a second to consider all the great things it can do for the wonderful students in your school district.

PINK

I love the color pink,

In my case pink means joy and happiness,

or it’s the color of cancer patients.

Pink is also the name of my imaginary mother,

and red is my imaginary father.

It takes me back to when I was younger and cuter in kindergarten.

Pink over all is beautiful.

Characters’ Feelings in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

This essay is about the character’s feelings in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. I’ll be focusing on whether they are enthusiastic about the lottery, if they feel reluctant about being in the lottery, and if they want it to continue.

There was one character that stood out to me: Old Man Warner. When Mrs. Hutchinson was being killed, he seemed to be encouraging everyone to join in. The text says, “Old Man Warner was saying, ‘Come on, come on, everyone’”(Jackson 9). He also seems to be proud that he has made it 77 years with the lottery going on. The text says, “‘Seventy-seventh year I’ve been in the lottery,’ Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. ‘Seventy-seventh time’” (Jackson 5). So Old Man Warner is definitely enthusiastic about the lottery.

You can see that at the beginning of the lottery, people are good natured and casually tell jokes to one another. But as time goes on, people start getting anxious and reluctant to be in the lottery. For example, earlier in the text you see some humor going on, such as, “They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands”(Jackson 1), and “Mrs. Hutchinson said grinning, ‘Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now would you Joe?,’ and soft laughter ran through the crowd”(Jackson 4). Then you start seeing some reluctance later in the text, such as “‘Some places have already quit lotteries’, Mrs. Adams said”(Jackson 5). Another example of this idea is,“They grinned at each other humorlessly and nervously”(Jackson 5). and “She held her breath while her husband went forward”(Jackson 5). Another example is, “‘I wish they’d hurry,’ Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son”(Jackson 6). Notice in the citations how the more reluctant and anxious quotes come after the good natured quotes.

You see these mixed feelings in the kids too. It says in the story, “...and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play and their talk was still of the classroom and teacher…”(Jackson 1). Clearly these kids just want to be kids, playing and having fun, but they know the lottery is coming up. This creates the mixed feelings you see in the text.

Then there’s the main issue: do the characters want the lottery to be continued, or discontinued? We know Old Man Warner wants it to continue, as I have explained previously. The majority of the people don’t seem to think about the morality of the lottery. They are just doing it because that’s just their tradition, and traditions tend to be followed without much thought.

So in conclusion, most of the people are just mindlessly following their tradition and they don’t even think about it. We found that Old Man Warner is very enthusiastic about the lottery, and even the townspeople are good-natured and humorous. But as time goes on, the humor turns to reluctance and anxiety.

~PROLOGUE~

It's very dark outside. I hate the dark. The dark reminds me of my mum, and how she was kidnapped in the dark. It reminds me of how my grandad Kendal was killed in a car crash in the dark. Most of all, I hate how it makes me feel safe as well as scared.

My name's Katherine ( Kat for short ). I was born in California when my mum was on vacation. We're from England, but we moved to Australia when I was about ten. It was right after mom died.

I never knew my father. I lived with my mum my whole life. All I know is that his name's Bradley Rivera, he's Hispanic, and he died of a drug overdose when I was around six, so now I live with my grandmum Ruby. She always makes sure I get all my needs. The thing is, I'm not like all the other kids who have lost their parents. I don't act "bratty" or "spoiled". People wouldn't call me "special" if they knew I lost both my parents, but I like it that way.

Grandmum Ruby doesn't have a lot of money, but she'll buy me anything I ask for. I've only asked for around two or three things from her. I don't need that much to know that I'm blessed. I'm just like any other teenager. I long for expensive things but I would never ask for them. Why would you purposely ask for expensive things when your family doesn't have enough money for it?

Anyway that's my life story. I'm just a regular teen that likes parties, sleeps in on Saturdays, and uses her allowance to buy candy for the weekends. The only thing different that I forgot to mention is that I kinda, sorta, really have the power to read people’s minds when they are having bad thoughts.....

How Hail Became Hail

The God of all water, storms, tsunamis and hurricanes, Poseidon, was making a sandwich in Florida. The cool breeze hit his long, gray, silky beard. But as he was placing the last piece of bread on the sandwich… he realized he forgot the mustard! So, he raced to the fridge, grasped the yellow bottle in his hands, and splattered the sticky substance onto the not-so-pleasant-looking sandwich. He poured himself a glass of water because, for a God of liquid, he was very thirsty. But he didn’t have any ice, so Poseidon went to Zeus’ apartment down the street to ask for 5 pieces of ice. Turns out, Zeus only had one piece of ice! Shocked of his misfortune, Poseidon realized he didn’t have any other Godly friends. He decided that he would rise to the Heavens and make ice himself. He froze Lakesynons, which are basically the Gods version of freshwater lakes and rivers. Then, he broke the ice. But to his surprise, most of the ice fell down to Earth! Poseidon panicked! This had never happened before, so he decided to name this weather-like accident. He decided on hail. “Hail… it has a nice ring to it!” He flew down from the Heavens back to Florida and placed the ice into his surprisingly still cold water. “Hail, hail, hail..” he sang all night until he fell asleep.

Trinity

We all have people in our lives that we feel like we can’t live without. However when these people are gone the heartbreak stays with us a while, especially if that person was your best friend.

My dearest friend Trinity passed away recently and it’s hard not being able to see her beautiful face or hear her comforting voice anymore. She had fought the cancer of Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childs cancer. But even through this hard time she stayed her strong, amazing, beautiful self and she will always be someone people look up to, even though she’s gone.

I have known Trinity since first grade. Each day after school we would wait outside for our parents to pick us up. We would always be the last people to leave so we would talk to each other and play until we got picked up. From then looking forward I knew we were going to stay great friends.

Trinity was so sweet, loving, supportive and many other things aswell. She was always there for me when I needed her, whether it be for school or if I just needed someone to talk to during rough times, I knew she would always listen.

When I found out that she had cancer the summer before fifth grade, I have to admit I was scared and upset. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a terrible sickness like that and I didn’t know what was going to happen. But what I did know was that she was strong, so strong, and if anyone was going to be able to go through this devastating time with such grace and dignity one this twisted roller coaster of life I knew it would be her.

C.C. Scott said, “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same.” And Abraham Lincoln once said, “It’s not the years we count in our life, it’s the life we count in our years.” Even though Trinity wasn’t in my life for very long, she has still left footprints on my heart of hope and faith. And though Trinity’s years on this earth were short, they were filled with many wonderful things and doings. She brought people together you would never expect would come together, communities were brought together, and ultimately she changed the world.

I want everyone to remember these wise words an unknown author once said “Goodbyes are only for people who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with their heart and soul there is no separation.” I thank Trinity for being a part of my life and an impact on my heart. Even though Trinity appears to be gone, I know she will always be with me at heart.

The Sneak Attack

One day in Pakistan, I was sitting outside in front of my house during nighttime. To my right was a black toyota car. Behind it was a ramp for when cars would come inside the closed area.

To my left was a garden, and on the side of my house was a small corridor. In front of my house was a red rusty door, and a big red gate next to it for vehicles. From time to time, when the door was unlocked, cats and dogs would slip in and out.

Everyone was inside eating, and the power went out (this happens from time to time in Pakistan). Well the door in front of my house was open just a creak, and a motorcycle passed by. As it passed by, some shadowy black figure was standing there. It looked very much like a dog. Not just any dog though, this one was larger than the others. As the motorcycle passed, the figure disappeared. I knew immediately it had gone in the garden to the left of the door. I decided it was time to entertain myself.

I grabbed a green hollow rod sitting next to me on the chair, and slowly crept into the garden. the objective was to get at least one hit off and leave it to run. I have my own dog, but it should've been with all the cows making sure they're safe(sort of like a guard dog). If I had to escape, I would just run to the small corridor and jump the gate. After that, I would go around back and enter from the back door. It was my exit if things went south.

I entered the garden and there were shrubs and plants everywhere. I could hear panting like: *Huff* *Huff*, I could also hear where it was coming from. All of a sudden, I bumped into a thorn, and the panting stopped.

It was somewhere in the dark, and to my horrible luck, the dog was alert and perked its head up. It was silent for two- three seconds, until I finally raised the green hollow rod. I brought it down with extreme force and power. I missed and it went in his mouth. It started tugging and fighting it eventually broke, and I fell into the grass.

I crawled back, startled for life, and cursing myself out in my head. All of a sudden, the power went came back on, and so did the garden lights.

That's when i saw it for the first time...

It was a white dog, with blue eyes, and shiny fur. It was as shocked as I was, and we just looked ourselves in the eyes for a while, until it came to its senses and ran off.

I realized I was a very lucky man, it could've ripped me to shreds, but no. All of a sudden, I heard my house door open, and someone yelled Umar! I got up, and went around the garden , so they wouldn't suspect me, and went inside to eat.

Dance under the stars

As you get lost in the dark

Let the thunder take over for a moment

As the lightning fills the sky with great

Beauty and passion

Feel the earth shake underneath your feet

Follow the shaking, dance to the beautiful beat

And

Never forget the feeling of freedom.

“The Lottery” PAP Essay

I have read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” several times. It seemed there was no reason behind the bizarre tradition of sacrificing someone by stoning the to death in public. But over time, with the help of Jackson’s symbolism use in many objects, I have found a reason behind the tradition of “The Lottery” and why it is dangerous to blindly follow others. I noticed that both objects in “the lottery” were both, in a way, religious. The black box rested upon a 3-legged stool. The 3-legged stool stool for the Christian trinity. One leg represents God the father, another God the son, and the last one the Holy Spirit. The Christian trinity represents purity and holiness. But the color black represents evil and sin. With the black over the stool, or “evil over purity”, it is significant because the people are manipulating the religion to make it seem the religion supported evil or violence referring to the stoning a random person to death. The people thought it was okay to stone someone to death because it seemed God would have wanted the villagers to kill innocent people.

In paragraph 2, the author states, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full with stones, other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” (Jackson 5) This piece of textual evidence shows that the kids wanted the victim to suffer, for smooth rocks make for a slower kill because of the flat surface and round edges. Most rocks are rough and pointy, but the kids wanted to torture the one being stoned by hurting them with smooth rocks so they live a bit longer and can bear more pain. The kids think this is okay because they take after their elders. Their elders tell them it is okay because God would have wanted them to sacrifice the innocent person. This is an example of blindly following others because the kids don’t have a reason to kill a person. The kids are blinded by the adults’ lies and actions, and they think it is necessary to take after them and kill innocent people just like their elders. The kids see, and the kids do. They think it is right to kill because their elders do, and the bad thing is the other people do not have a good reason to stone someone. They kill for the same reason as the kids: their parents did it, and they believed they had good reason.

Blindly following others can come with a cost. Blindly following others is dangerous because of many reasons. Some consequences are more serious based on what you are doing while blindly following others. You are pressured by peers and unaware of the damage you are really doing. You are not worried about what is happening and even more if you are now accepted by doing something “cool” to another person if told to do so. In this case, the villagers are sacrificing someone with the only reason to do so being “God wanted me to do this.” But not everyone is religious. Not everyone will believe what you are blindly doing is good and right. Not everyone agrees with you. Stoning someone to death is an act of murder, and you can be put on death row, receive minimum jail time of 25 years, or executed for just one murder. Imagine Old Man Warner. He would be accused of 77 murders! He would be executed or put on death row in jail for a life sentence! But he would deny him murdering anyone because he was blindly following others telling him that this wasn’t doing anything wrong. It was what God wanted in his mind. I would call that a danger of what could happen if you blindly follow others.

In conclusion, blindly following others can be dangerous. You need to understand what you are doing and make the right decision.

Don’t cry for me little one,for I won.

This great battle of cancer that shall be gone

I’ve had not died,but I’ve moved on.

This house is not my home,

I stayed until I was called.

Don’t cry for me little one,

I shall not die as I am only sleeping.

It’s my turn to sleep

and we meet again, my friend.

I’m still living,

not only living but thriving

on what I got!!

I watch you all time,

no it’s not a secret

for I’ve lived my life!!!

From Calm to Stormy

“Whoooooo.”

”CRACK!”

“What was that!?”

“THUNDER!

I Think...”

One day while I was at my grandmaś,there was a really scary storm.When I say scary; I mean SCARY! The storm had rolled in all of a sudden. The first thing I know everything is calm,and next, everything was noisy,stormy,and sirens were going off.

The sirens are what scared me the most. Being a Louisiana girl I don’t have to tell you why flood sirens scare me. At first I thought it was the siren for flash floods, but...it wasn´t. It was the tornado siren. Once I knew which siren it was I totally FREAKED OUT! I was so scared that I wanted to hide in the smallest space possible. The sirens were so loud that I thought there was a tornado right behind me!

The noise didn't bother me much. In fact the noise didn't bother me at all. There was only two things that were causing the noise,the thunder and the wind. The wind was so strong that it made the tree in the front yard look like it was going to topple over! The thunder was so loud it was like there was a rock band trying to play as loud as they can to get some recognition or something.

Take some advice from me:

If you ever feel scared about something in nature, trust an adult to keep you safe.

Achluophobia

There are a lot of different types of phobias. A phobia is a fear a specific object, activity, or situation. My phobia is achluophobia. Achluophobia is the fear of darkness. I am not much afraid of the dark, but of what could be in the dark. The worst part is that I don’t really know where it came from. Here are the reasons I think why I have achluophobia.

First,when I was a kid my grandma, Mama Nena, said I was very curious and creative. So, I always wanted to know what was around me or where I was. In the dark I feel alone and scared of what I think is around me. Then I start to imagine the worst things that could be there. My imagination starts running wild with thoughts of crazy dolls or brain eating zombies even killer clowns.

Other times it is because of media sources like movie trailers. When I see trailers to horror movies like “Paranormal Activity” or “Rings.” I won't be scared then , but at night that's all i can imagine in the dark. Then if I fall asleep I usually get a dream of the things I imagine popping out of the dark. Those are the hardest nights to sleep through.

Now this isn't fully true, but this is my theory on how it started. When I was four I slept in my parents room , every night until I was seven or eight years old. I felt safe, no worries at all. So safe that i truly slept like a baby. Until that horrible day came the day i had to start sleeping alone in my own room. So when I left their room my small fear turned into a phobia. Now it is not as bad, but I still sleep with a weak night light. With that transition I had a variety of night lights. At first I had a bright lamp with a flower plug in night light. Then a few years later I got a small emoji night light When the light bulb ran out I was already adjusted to it being a little more darker. So now I use a not so bright light.

Achluophobia is the fear of the dark. Which use to be a big problem for me, and still is. Fear shouldn't get in the way of what you want to do in life, so don't let it.

Fears are only as big as you let them be.

“Never let fear decide your fate.”- Unknown.

The Lottery

The Lottery is about one group of villagers sacrificing one of their own each year. These villagers have held a bizarre tradition of having everyone draw a piece of paper with a black dot. The unlucky person who is to be sacrifice for the sake of this “tradition” will be stoned to death.

Are the villagers enthusiastic about the lottery? No, a little over 300 villagers, the people seemed nervous and hesitant throughout the day of the ceremony. The beginning of summer break most children were feeling uneasily but still gathered stones. The girls would cling to their older siblings hands while watching over their shoulders. When the mothers called for their kids to come, it would take four or five calls before they would get to their spots. A villager who whispered, ‘I hope it’s not Nancy.”(Jackson 8) hoping that her friend wouldn’t die.

Are the villagers reluctant to participate in the lottery? Yes, the children who were called 4 or 5 times finally came back with rocks in page 1 paragraph 4. “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool and when Mr. Summers said, “Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?” there was a hesitation before two men. Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter came forward to hold the box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it.” (Jackson 2) When Mr. Summers would bring up the subject of making a new black box it would only be ignored. Also the crowd only half listened to what Mr.Summers said about the directions of the lottery since they’ve done the lottery every year in page 5 paragraph 2. So there were hints that they weren’t eager to do it.

Can it be argued that the villagers want the drawing to continue? Yes, because of tradition, they followed routine. The only two men who showed most interest with the lottery were Mr. Summers and Old Man Warner. Mr. Summers was very good at being an official the way he spoke with the people. He must of enjoyed the attention since he conducted the square dances, teen club, Halloween program and of the Lottery. Old Man Warner in page 6 paragraph 1 it said “Pack of crazy fools”, he said “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough of them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that 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.”(Jackson 6) Saying that the northern village are crazy for quitting the lottery because the young folks would just become lazy and go back to the age of savages.

It can be argued but most of the villagers don’t want it to continue since they don’t want to die or their family members or their friends to die either but they continue to do the motion. The only generation who wants it to keep tradition is Old Man Warner and Mr. Summers. Even Mr. Summers got the paper but was lucky since it was blank. The fact that Old Man Warner was encouraging others to join in on the cruel act and the people don’t even hesitate to pick up their stones, leaves you to believe that the tradition will continue.