Momnesia

F- in Literature

I'm out with friends, talking silly crap and walking back to the car after some "lounging," when A.W. says that she wants to write a screenplay based on a short story by Shirley Jackson.

"Who's that?" I ask.

"She wrote 'The Lottery.'" Alice says.

"What's that?"

"Really?" she asks.

"Really?" A.C. asks.

"What?" I say.

"You never had to read that in middle school?" A.C. asks.

"I dunno. What's it about?" I ask.

"It's about this town, where once a year they draw names and stone those people to death," A.W. answers.

"I think I vaguely remember something... Why did they stone people?"

"That's one of the things you have to figure out. It's a classic short story," A.W. says.

"I think it has something to do with the crops," A.C. says.

"Ugh. That sounds like a horrible place to live. Why don't they just move?" I ask.

They laugh.

"What? Did I just reduce great literature to, like, one stupid question?"

"Yeah, kind of."