‘Did Charles tell the little girl to say that?’ he asked respectfully.

‘She said it twice,’ Laurie said. ‘Charles told her to say it twice.’

‘What happened to Charles?’ my husband asked.

‘Nothing,’ Laurie said. ‘He was passing out the crayons.’

Monday morning Charles abandoned the little girl and said the evil word himself three or four times, getting his mouth washed out with soap each time. He also threw chalk.

My husband came to the door with me that evening as I set out for the P.T.A. meeting. ‘Invite her over for a cup of tea after the meeting,’ he said. ‘I want to get a look at her.’

‘If only she’s there,’ I said prayerfully.

‘She’ll be there,’ my husband said. ‘I don’t see how they could hold a P.T.A. meeting without Charles’s mother.’

At the meeting I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles. None of them looked to me haggard enough. No one stood up in the meeting and apologized for the way her son had been acting. No one mentioned Charles.

After the meeting I identified and sought out Laurie’s kindergarten teacher. She had a plate with a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate cake; I had a plate with a cup of tea and a piece of marshmallow cake. We maneuvered up to one another cautiously, and smiled.

‘I’ve been so anxious to meet you,’ I said. ‘I’m Laurie’s mother.’

‘We’re all so interested in Laurie,’ she said.

‘Well, he certainly likes kindergarten,’ I said. ‘He talks about it all the time.’

‘We had a little trouble adjusting, the first week or so,’ she said primly, ‘but now he’s a fine little helper. With occasional lapses, of course.’

‘Laurie usually adjusts very quickly,’ I said. ‘I suppose this time it’s Charles’s influence.’

‘Charles?’

‘Yes,’ I said, laughing, ‘you must have your hands full in that kindergarten, with Charles.’

‘Charles?’ she said. ‘We don’t have any Charles in the kindergarten.’

The Lottery

The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.