Hunger Games

District 11

I feel the cool strands of grass tickle my legs. The sun is painting a mural of warm, colourful picture on my face like it did most days. I feel at home here. The calming breeze dances around me, reminding me of all of the springs I experienced. I'm blessed to have seen so many years of life. Not many people do anymore. I hold out my hands and with my palms facing the sun as I feel the gentle caress of the grass as it slips through my fingers. My eyes gently fly over to see the people in the distance most were still working as the sun had began to fall and I noticed their shadows picking whatever fruit and vegetables had grown. 

"Cinder" a voice calls from behind me and I see my grandmother holding her back as she moved towards me. She was a little woman. The height she had once gained at a young age now bent and made her look like she had a hump in her back. It was rare to see elderly people these days but my grandmother was one of the elderly who continued to work throughout their old age. As if they had much of a choice these days. I moved towards her feeling my bare feet floating across the grass as I ran. It was freeing sometimes...the feel of the ground. some days it felt like you were running on a cloud. When I reached my grandmother she gave me a weak smile. She was tired. That much was easy to tell if it wasn't from her crunched over posture then it was the bags that sat under her eyes. Not to say I looked much better. I was covered in dirt most of the times and my hair had twigs in it from the hours I spent picking fruit off trees. 

"You alright?" I ask placing my hand on her shoulder and spinning her gently towards our home. It was a little place maybe smaller then the size of the stage they used for the reaping. The house looked like every other house in district 11. A small shack that was brown and old, it creaked whenever you walked around in it. Made it almost impossible to sneak out at night. Then again the peacekeepers were always their to return you back to your bed at night but not without blood streaming down your body from harsh whippings. The District's electric fences are active 24 hours a day and even if you did make it past, there was no way you'd make it back alive. 

"You need to be prepared for tomorrow Cinder" she whispers and i nod giving her a small smile. 

"I understand grandma" I state but she shakes her head looking over at me sternly 

"Your name is in that jar forty times Cin" she breathes out but I look down at the floor seeing the dirt in between my toes I wiggled them around and I felt a sense of peace with the earth before I looked back up at my grandmother with a smile. 

"We needed that food" I whisper but she shakes her head gripping my hand. Her hands were wrinkled and I could feel every tremble of her hand as she placed it in mine 

"Well I need you Cinder" she says and I knew this was the moment where I should feel something. Where I should tell her that I love her and that I'm scared to get picked but If I was being honest. I felt nothing. This was my last year that I could be chosen for the reaping. It wasn't like that was a bad thought but when you realise theres nothing much after the reaing it all seemed to feel like one big nightmare. 

"I'll be fine. I promise" I whisper before I give her a big kiss on the cheek and I move further into the house. It was hard to see in the little shack and the room gave you sweet kisses of the ice cold night. It was funny how the weather changed so quickly here. The way the sun spat on us during the day while we worked and worked with no break but as soon as it was night the night laughed in our face and kept us awake with the air. The odds were certainly not in District 11's favour...they never had been.