Aida spent the afternoon selling raffle tickets at a school charity fair, then realized that evening their matching stubs were still in her coat pocket. They should have been given to the person filling the drum. The first prize had already been drawn. On stage, her partner Vedran called for the lucky winner, smiling broadly beneath lights he had installed himself. Aida removed the thick bundle of paper and felt her palms sweat over the simple fact that she had made the mistake.
She approached between two draws. "We need to stop," she said. Vedran examined the numbers, then the audience. He replied that she could add them now and nobody would have reason to complain. Aida reminded him that the two most expensive prizes had already been awarded. He said the event's purpose was helping the library, not perfect mathematics. Behind them stood people who had bought five or ten numbers using money they did not have entirely to spare.
Aida requested the microphone. Vedran held it several seconds longer than necessary, then handed it over. She said some numbers had been omitted through her mistake and the draw was stopping until they agreed on a fair next step with those present. She did not try hiding responsibility inside the words technical problem. Someone shouted that everything was rigged. Aida replied that she understood the anger but could show precisely which numbers she held and when she had sold them.
The discussion was loud and lengthy. With the winners' consent, they returned the first prizes for another draw and offered refunds to anyone no longer wishing to participate. Several people left. One winner was particularly angry, so they waited to reach a clear agreement with him too instead of shouting him down. The event fell almost an hour behind. The library received less money than expected, and afterward Aida helped stack tables with guilt that had not vanished simply because she admitted the error.
On the way home Vedran said she had embarrassed him. Aida replied that she had not entrusted him with her mistake for him to turn it into their shared lie. They spoke coldly for several days. Later he admitted protecting the appearance of good organization more than the people they were working for. At the next fair, stubs were handed over immediately before a second person. Aida left her coat far from the table. Vedran brought her tea and checked the drum together with her before the event began.