~Author's Note: This is a prediction piece for the lottery. It takes place about 40 years after Tessie has died. This is also written in the point of view of her husband. English @ ACMS (PoV Piece)
It has been forty years since my wife left me. She was cruelly ripped from my grasp and I did nothing about it, because I was too scared to do anything, and to risk the remaining lives in my family. But now everyone is gone. Every year after, I managed to draw that little black dot, until only myself remained. Then my bad luck stopped but it seemed as if Summers stared me down every time; it was creepy I tell you.
Finally, about 30 years ago, I started a mission to transform this village so that no one died any more. No more would wives be widowed, no more would men by saddened, no more would children be so grieved yet happy to kill. I had never before seen such a blood-thirsty group of youngsters. So I started to volunteer to watch the little monsters and I slowly started to shape them into someone better, someone worth having in my life. I grew attached, I must admit, and the black dot always seemed to target those of which I got through to. Only the blood-thirsty ones remained.
Tonight is the night. Tonight, I may die, as I'm going to kill the Devil's advocate himself. It may kill me, or the villagers might as they were instructed to kill any insane people. I managed to get many of the kids, who don’t have much power, onto my side. But is it enough? I had pondered this all night, and this seems like the best time, as everyone would be gathered.
It's time. Kids are already completing their annual ritual of setting up stone piles. People are talking in nervous voices; its almost as if they know something bad is gonna happen. Sadly, they never notice the sharp stone I had hidden in my coat. It was my one last chance to get people to stop myself from murdering Summers. Over the last 20 years, I had sharpened that stone. I had sharpened it to a point that is as sharp as a steel blade. Difference was, this also had poisons on the tip, deadly poisons that I found in the prairie, the woods, the herbalists garden. But, I still did not want to murder. It just wasn’t right to go to God's realm with a murderous heart in your hands. In other words, I might go to Hell. But I don’t care: I'm a simple man, avenging my family and loved one's deaths.
Here comes the devil now with that thrice blasted black box of his. It has gotten even heavier as we have gotten more villagers and now five strong men are required to carry it. The hawk-eyed post master is still watching everyone with his beady eyes. He has recently been put in charge of repairs to the box, which is now simply wood planks stuck together with glue. But that wont be needed after tonight.
As that silky voice poured out over the crowd, sweetening itself in the villagers' ears, I steadied myself and gripped the stone tightly. The wave soon reached me but I refused to let itself take me over by thinking good thoughts of my wife, Tessie, the first to be killed. He then called out my name in the mandatory head of house listing. I replied and started walking towards that hated black box, wobbling ever so slightly from the weight of my left hand.
I looked Summers in the eye, and said, "You Bastard."
The next moment, everyone gasped, as I had struck him in the heart, right underneath his ribs. But instead of red blood pouring out, black wisps of gas flew out and started to attack me. I writhed and fell to the ground, terrified of the image in my head.
A devil's head, from the bible, appeared in my eyes. Black wispy smoke had covered his frame and blazing red eyes accompanied it.
"You may have defeated me this time, but I will come back. I swear it on your families' spirits."
The devil disappeared and my vision went completely black. My eyes felt sticky and I couldn’t open them. I began to panic, was I blind?
But only a few minutes later, soft and smooth hands swept them open and my gaze was filled with the sights of my kids and wife. They looked refreshed and beautiful, unlike the horrid mess they had left the world in.
"Tessie!"
