Chapter Two – 'And the winner is'
"Glad that is over with." Remarked Homer, a little tired from the errands ran after the usual Sunday morning spent in church. "Is there something going on in this town? Everyone just seemed weird today."
"Yeah, more weird than normal. This town has its characters, but everybody was so..." Bart couldn't finish his thought before Marge interjected.
"Nice. People are never nice to us. The Krusty Burger staff seemed like they cared about serving good food. Reverend Lovejoy ignored the fact you fell asleep during the opening hymn." Still frustrated over Homer's usual church antics, Marge let it slide since no one seemed to take offense to his snoring today.
Lisa looking ever frustrated with Homer's lack of personality reminded the family the reason for the townspeople's unusual kindness. "The Lottery." She said as plainly as she could. "How could you all forget this. It's such a big deal. The multimillion dollar science project polluting our lake will have a new owner and it could be one of us."
The excitement raised in Lisa's voice the more she continued, remembering her thoughts from yesterday, on what Springfield would be like without the Nuclear Power Plant, then she was reminded of the odds that she may not even have the opportunity to fulfill her dreams.
"There are hundreds of people Burns could pick from." Bart reminded Lisa, if only to destroy her thoughts of being one of the six. "It could be Barney, or Apu or..."
"Or Sideshow Bob." Lisa countered, if only to scare Bart.
"Oh, that's today?" Homer asked, completely absent-minded anything was happening. "I had completely forgot."
Lisa looking even more frustrated just wanted to scream, but calmed down enough to maintain a normal voice. "How could you forget? When is anyone nice to us. We are disliked by most of the residents here. They even tried to get us to leave on several occasions, but we always end up back here."
Everyone nodded in agreement. They weren't the most liked family, but they were just as much a part of Springfield as the Tire Fire or the Power Plant itself.
"Everyone was just nice to us, thinking that we have an advantage of being picked. I mean, you do work at the power plant, and you talk to Burns more than the average citizen." Marge explained, and it made sense to at least Lisa.
"But he doesn't remember my name most of the time, unless I screw something up." Homer felt saddened by the fact that Burns still had not learned his name, after being an employee at the power plant since the beginning days of its life. The few times a major incident was his fault, Burns knew exactly who Homer Simpson was, but other times he was just a nameless employee in Sector 7-G.
"Dad, he doesn't remember any of our names. There are many times where he has to be told who he is talking to, and he will probably have the names of the citizens written on the lottery balls." Homer agreed with Lisa. She was usually right about these kinds of things.
"You are probably right, wonder who he will pick?" Homer continued to wonder as it seemed to play on his mind about the future of the power plant.
"I still say he will pick people he knows the name of, like me. I'm Burns' heir, so how long until I'm crowned King of Springfield?" Bart caught the attention of everyone as he picked up a bowl off of the table and placed it on his head.
"Or Queen of Springfield." Lisa said as she stole the bowl from Bart.
"Take that off. Even if you are picked, no one with the last name of Simpson is playing in Mr. Burns' twisted game." Marge still did not want anyone getting involved in this unknown.
"What about Grandpa?" Bart quickly thought and spoke.
Marge groaned at that remark. "Grandpa can do whatever he wants, he can make his own decisions. But no child of mine will participate." She insisted repeatedly, neither Lisa nor Bart got her point.
"Woo-hoo, you said children. I still have a chance." Homer seemed relieved he wasn't included in the family members not able to play.
"That includes you too, Homer. No one living under this roof will be a part of Burns' game." Marge needed to reword her answer to include everyone without any loopholes.
"D'oh!" exclaimed Homer.
Lisa and Bart both saw the finality of Marge's decision. "But Mom!" They both let out. "It's not fair." Lisa tried to add, but it didn't seem to matter.
"I said no, and that's it. Burns is a man not to be trusted and he just finds a way to screw people out of what they deserve. Burns owes a lot to you saving his life by donating blood to him, when no one in Springfield had a matching blood type except you. And what did you get out of it." Marge thought level-headed reasoning might work better.
"It sure wasn't eternal gratitude." Bart said snidely.
"Even after confronting him, all we got was that giant head statue and you don't even play with that anymore." Marge reminded.
"That's because it's in the basement. Nobody plays in the basement. Too creepy." Bart remarked, getting a few chills thinking what lurked in the basement.
"How did we even get it downstairs anyways?" Lisa questioned in a quiet voice.
"Beats me. How do a lot of strange things seem to happen around here? They just do." Bart replied just as mystified.
"The point is..." Homer started as Marge spoke over him.
"The point is, the head is something you kids don't play with because you got bored with it. Same thing with anything else you win. It's just something you will get bored with and it will end up in the basement or the attic." Marge explained, as there was any number of examples she could have used to prove her point.
"Ooh, let's go play in the attic. So many boxes, so many memories." Homer shrieked like a little kid.
"We're not going into the attic." Marge scolded. "Boxes of memories can wait for a rainy day."
Lisa had her attention diverted from the family's discussion of boxes and basements by the television. They had all patiently waited for this big moment since yesterday. "I think it's time." She glanced back at the television as she said this to see if anyone else followed her gaze.
"How can you tell?" Homer asked, as he just noticed Burns' face the full size of the screen. "Burns!"
"There he is, he looks bigger on television, instead of the skinny weak-boned old man." Bart thought out loud.
Marge's dislike for this whole idea came out again. "I'm not watching this and neither is anyone else." She grabbed the remote and turned the channel.
"How are we supposed to know what happens?" Homer complained. "But I want to know who Burns picks."
"Don't worry Dad, just turn around. He is on every channel." Lisa stated as Homer turned around and grinned he could still see the drawing.
"What the...?" Marge frantically changed the channel several times quickly. "You're right, he is on every channel. I guess we are stuck."
They all sat down on the couch and turned their undivided attention towards the image of Mr. Burns, which then changed into Kent Brockman reporting from his news desk.
"Kent Brockman here with the moment we have all been waiting for. Six. Just six people will have their names drawn from Burns' lottery machine for a chance to win his power plant. We go live to the drawing taking place at Burns Manor from inside the gate today." Kent Brockman sounded excited as he always did, to make the news sound more interesting than it actually was. "Is that true? Inside the gate?" He said quietly to others just off camera. He chuckled nervously for a second. "And here's Mr. Burns."
"Greetings citizens of Springfield." Burns announced to the crowd of people standing in his courtyard, and to the viewers watching at home. "Welcome to the moment you all waited your whole life for."
"You only announced this contest yesterday, how could anyone have been waiting their whole life?" Smithers asked, but was quickly ignored by Burns.
"With that being said, I'll continue now, and I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm giving my precious power plant away. I built this power plant many years ago right here in Springfield. I built it for the future of this town, but now I can no longer keep up with the daily operations, constant inspector visits, or the level of shenanigans I see on all the security cameras. It is time to give someone else a chance at this wonderful opportunity." Burns continued his speech on how great the power plant was with information that not many would find interesting. "So in conclusion, I have developed my plan in selecting a new owner."
Burns wrapped up his speech, as everyone grew more anxious about what was about to happen. The crowd started cheering as the giant metal cage filled with hundreds of white balls was rolled out in front of them.
"This must be it." Homer said as a tense feeling filled everyone watching. "What if our names aren't even in there."
"That could be the reality of it." Lisa pondered. "No one except Mr. Burns and probably Smithers know exactly whose names are even in there. He could be playing the town for fools."
"We just have to hope for the best." Marge added, but the rest of the family didn't get the double meaning of her comment.
Their focus turned back to the television where Mr. Burns appeared to be ready to start the biggest sweepstakes in Springfield history. "I'll just mix up the lottery balls some," as he grabbed the handle, his weak body could not turn it to spin the cage. Smithers came over and took control and cranked it several times.
"There we go, nice and mixed up, so there isn't any possible complaints." Smithers said to Burns a little louder than he intended.
"That is an odd thing to say." Remarked Lisa. Trying to figure out what it meant.
"Quiet, he is drawing the first name." Bart fired over at Lisa. Anything he could do to dampen her mood, he tried.
As Burns reached into the metal cage he dug deep to pull one of the lottery balls out of the middle. An eerie quiet came over the crowd. This was it, the first person to have a chance to win the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He stood back up and held the lottery ball high in the air and then lowered it to read the name printed on it.
"The first person is..." Burns looked again at the ball he held in his hand. "Frank Grimes."
The crowd gasped when they heard this name read.
The family noticed a look of disbelief on Homer's face. "Dad, isn't that..." Lisa started to ask before Homer just simply nodded. The attention turned back to the television.
"Uh, Frank Grimes got electrocuted in your plant a few years ago." Smithers reminded Burns, as a look of shock came over his face.
"Smithers, did you not check the lottery balls with my list." Burns asked. "That's why I gave you that list. So we wouldn't be up here in front of the town drawing a bad name."
"I did. That list was the last census for Springfield, so it may be a bit outdated." Smithers replied as he took the list from his pocket, checked it, and put it back in.
"First name and this is how everyone will remember the start to my game, the beginning of the end of my legacy. I need a break for a cup of tea, before I draw more names. I'll be back in a minute." As he exited Smithers laughed nervously before following Burns back into the mansion.
Stunned, Kent Brockman tried to act normal while he tried to think of something to say during the awkwardness of the first name drawn being a former resident. "And there you have it, Frank Grimes, the first person picked is unable to play due to electrocution inside Burns power plant. Is this the fate that everyone picked faces, or what will happen to them." Getting excited as usual for non-news stories, he played up this old event from several years ago. "Well never mind that, its old news, Burns is now back and we are ready to see who the first person is."
"I shall try this again, and any mistakes I fully blame on Smithers. Maybe second place can take over as the assistant to the winner." Burns said in an evil tone of voice which worried Smithers. "I will reach in again and..."
Burns dug deep into the lottery machine and pulled out another lottery ball and held it high.
"The first person is..." as Burns closed his palm around the answer.
