The Reaping of the Red Wheat | The 72nd Hunger Games

Chapter 3: The Aftermath

No.

No.

No. No. No.

It couldn't be me. How, out of thousands of other girl's names was I picked?

I stood in shock for longer than I should have. It took Clementine saying, "Come on up dearie, I don't bite!" to snap me back to reality. I walked slowly up to the stage, escorted by peacekeepers. By the time I reached the stairs, I felt like I was going to throw up. After I reached the point where I was supposed to be standing, Clementine stated that she "almost forgot!" asked if there were any volunteers. For a small moment, I had a split second of hope. But it quickly disappeared once I came to the conclusion that no one would volunteer for me. I had no siblings, and no real close friend who would volunteer for me other than Ryle, who wouldn't be able to anyways. My fate had been solidified. 

For the rest of the reaping, I stood on stage in shock. A boy was reaped, but I was too distraught to catch his name, or to even look at him. I didn't move until the reaping had concluded, where I was escorted to a private room with fancy looking couches. I was then told I had an hour to say goodbye and to get my affairs in order. I would have several visitors. 

The first were my parents of course. My mother ran into the room sobbing.

"Elsie no! Why did you have to put your name in all of those extra times!"

 I began to cry. My father however kept a strong face.

"What's done is done Rose. She's smart. She'll find a way to come home to us. I'm sure of it." His confidence didn't shake me, however.  I knew he was just trying to reassure Mom. I knew for a fact there was no chance I was coming home.

 I said my final goodbyes before two peacekeepers roughly forced them out of the room. My mothers last words to me, "Stay Alive." echoed like a lullaby throughout my head. I sat alone for a few minutes, in silence, coming to terms that it was the last time I would ever see my parents.

My next visitor was Winter She gave me a quick hug and stated that she would miss me. I noticed she had tears in her eyes. That was slightly odd, stating that she would miss me. Even though I already believed it myself, it sounded like she knew my death was imminent, and figured I wasn't coming back. We were never really close, but it felt like a punch in the gut.

After she left, Ryle came bursting through the door, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh El, this is all my fault. We never should have made that stupid arrangement anyways."

"Shhhhh. you don't know that. They might have picked one of my 3 non tesserae papers anyways. Please don't blame yourself."

"This is all my fault."

I pulled him in for an embrace to help calm him down. The hug lingered.

"El, I--." he started, "I wanted you to know that I--" Before I could figure out what he was trying to say, he swooped down and kissed me right on the lips. A blush filled his cheeks as he parted from me. "I'm counting on you. You're smarter than any of those other idiots they send out there anyways." And with that he left.

And I guess that was goodbye.

                                                                                       ~~~~~~

I spent the entirety of the first two hours of the train ride in complete shock. I sat in my room, as pangs of regret filed my head of the day of the race. I began to regret my every single action of that day, wondering if I would have made different decisions, a different outcome would occur.