THE 150th HUNGER GAMES

District 11 and 12 Reapings (18)

Spruce Adder's (District 11) P.O.V:

It is the Reaping. My son, Koi, is eligible for it. The Capitol woman comes out after the video of the Hunger Games and how they came to be. My sister was in the Games once. She didn't come home. I can only hope that Koi won't have the same fate.

The escort says a few words and then flounces over to the girl's Reaping ball. I watch as her hand spins the papers around and then selects one. I don't have anything to worry about, my child is male.

"Edith Nolan!" The Capitol woman says. She is very bubbly.

I hear some sniffles to my left and see a woman weeping. I attempt to comfort her. "Don't worry," I say. "She'll be alright."

The woman looks up at me, a scowl across her face. "No, she won't! Edith's not coming home, and I know it!" She begins sobbing again.

I am at a loss for words, unsure of how I should react. Instead I turn back to the Reaping. I hold my breath as a paper that could have my boy's name on it is drawn.

"Xavier Emblem!" Thank goodness. Not Koi Adder. Of course, I feel sorry for Xavier's family, but I'm so relieved it wasn't Koi!

Xavier trudges up to the bouncy Capitol woman and she says his and Edith's names again. The crowd begins to leave, and Koi runs up to me. He is grinning. "One more Reaping to go," I tell him, for there is still the Reaping where his name is put in once.

"But that's not for a while," he says, and we walk home together.

Mayor of District 12's P.O.V:

I sit to the side of the Reaping, knowing that a young man and woman from the district I govern will most likely be dead in a little less than a week. The escort, a woman who's name I am supposed to know but I don't, is saying it is time to select the tributes. I am quite a forgetful person, and Capitol names are always very complicated and fancy.

I straighten my tie as she reaches her hand into the glass Reaping ball full of adolescent boy names. "Yvon Quarry!" She says with a smile. The boys look around warily, all except for a skinny boy surely from the Seam, who has a frightened expression on his face. Slowly, he begins to walk up to her. Yvon Quarry. We certainly have a lot of his last name around here.

The escort smiles at him when he arrives next to her, and then she walks over to the Reaping ball full of girl's names. She sticks her hand in and pulls out a paper right from the middle. "Willow Wisp!" She grins.

A small girl who doesn't look eighteen takes a tiny step forward. Her eyes are red from crying and I'm guessing she had nightmares about this last night. Turns out her fears came true.

"Willow?" The escort asks sweetly. Too sweetly. Like she's telling the poor girl she's about to die. Which she most likely is, of course, but you don't have to stick it right in her face. I sigh as the Capitol woman says, "Our District 12 tributes-Yvon Quarry and Willow Wisp!" She leads them into the Justice Building and the Reaping is over.