Lucky Day

In the sleepy village, time slipped by as one day felt very much like another. The seasons passed as crops measured the year. Tilling was followed by sowing, which was followed by growing and finally reaping. The tools may have changed over the generations as tractors replaced oxen and fertilizer replaced manure, but the cycle was the same.

Old man Hutchinson had seen some of the changes himself. A widower, he had lived in the town his whole life and knew just about everyone in it. The village had grown and now had 417 people living in it, but he knew most of their names. Twenty years ago he had even been mayor for a spell after his kids had grown up, and then passed the job on to someone else after two terms.

But one change he didn't like was the new town lottery. Last June 27 it had been held like it had for over a century, but the current mayor Mr. Dunbar complained that the town was behind the times and needed to update the town's annual event. With that in mind he had hired (for a rather hefty fee) a company to run the entire operation with computer technology. A database would keep track of all the participants and select the winner, after which trained professionals would notify and carry out the "prize distribution" as they called it.

It was too new, he thought. It should have been phased in, maybe over ten years or so; there was no hurry as long as it was held on June 27 before the harvest came too near. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon" his lips mumbled without him even being aware of it. Come to think of it, the crop had been really good the year his wife died.

But as much as tradition was upheld, it was also tradition to follow the mayor and that's why there was a new system this year. No chips or slips of paper, it was all done electronically. Easy. Clean. That's what the salesperson had claimed.

As June 27 dawned, a brightly colored bus drove into town and parked in the center. "PLAY THE LOTTERY – It's your lucky day" it proclaimed in large letters on both sides. A suited lottery official stepped off the bus and met the mayor, shaking hands while smiling.

"It's gonna go smooth as silk" he assured Mayor Dunbar. "We'll follow your instructions to the letter."

"Good" said the mayor. "The first two companies we called wouldn't touch it."

"Customer satisfaction, that's our motto" the official stated proudly. "We'll be ready to go at 8am." He returned to the bus.

The mayor watched as the town's citizens filed into the town center and formed a line circling the bus, with families standing together. As more people arrived the circle was widened as needed, until at 7:45 the mayor certified that all were present. The town was abuzz at the new system; younger people found it exciting, while the older ones tended to disapprove.

At precisely 8am the multi-colored lights around the outside of the bus started to flash.

"They're selecting the winner now" a young boy whispered to his younger brother.

Inside the bus the computer blinked and spit out an answer. The official, who was ready to announce the winner, paused; was the computer's answer on the screen correct?

"Everything is correct" the technician reported. "I wrote the software myself, and I would have gotten an error message if something had gone wrong."

"We were told to follow instructions to the letter, but I can't do it. 417 winners! I can't order 417 people to be killed. I'll explain and they can try again next week." The official opened the door and stepped off the bus.

"Townspeople, I have an announcement! Due to a technical issue, the lottery will have to be redone next week. I guess you're all winners today."

The crowd started to murmur.

"No lottery?"

"What about the corn?"

"I knew we shouldn't have changed things!"

"No corn, no food..."

Someone from the side picked up a stone and landed it on the left ear of the official, knocking his glasses off. As he bent to pick them up, others looked around for things to throw. While he protested, more and more rocks, bricks and even a hubcap struck and knocked down the official, until soon his still form lay under a heavy pile of debris.

Meanwhile, in the bus the technician noticed that a popup window was covered by the main display that showed all the names checked. When he clicked on it the message read "Error 3 – stack overflow; results invalid. Rerun program."

The corn crop was nearly a record that year.

The End

A/N: When my class saw the 1969 movie "The Lottery" in 7th grade, we weren't told anything about it beforehand. It made quite the impact on us, although I don't think any of us went out and stoned people to death as adults. But what might happen if we brought the event into the 21st century?