Daybreaker: 69th Hunger Games

The Light of a New Beginning

Fourth of July, reaping day had made its reappearance. The day many young people fear but I wished for it, the chance to escape the void of my district, my parents, the morphling riots. Maybe I could win, maybe I could lose, anything is better than the story I'm currently living. My chance to rewrite this path is slim to none, due to it being my last year to be reaped and my name is only in there the minimum number of seven one for each reaping I have been a part of.

"Aliana, you better hurry or you'll miss the reaping" my mother called. Giving myself the last once over my pale yellow, knee length plaid dress, paired with white pumps and a yellow ribbon in my blonde hair. Everything was perfect, not an imperfection in sight, just what my mother had wanted, a family with the epitome of excellence though my family was far from it. My father had passed a year prior, he had fallen victim to the morphling drug the same as my brother who had passed two years before him. It was my brother passing that guided my father towards the morphling in the first place, we were not the first family who had lost someone to the drug nor will we be the last unlike the others my family had everything to live for, my mother is an aircraft engineer, my father was a peacekeeper, we had food, clean water, a roof over our head and no reason to play up to peacekeepers to get your name recorded more times for the reaping but darkness is always in the places that shine the brightest.

"Aliana do not make me call you again." mother yelled with annoyance in her tone, "coming" I replied finally no longer trapped in my thoughts. Walking downstairs I notice a note on the table, will meet you after the reaping, needed to go to a meeting from mum. No love you, no hope to see you soon, just point-blank straight to the point. My mother and I have always had a minimum contact relationship, in her eyes I was a mistake, another way society controlled her even though I was the only person she had left but to her she lost everything the night my father died believed it was my fault, blamed me for his and my brother death, not the drug that killed them. So, I went down to the town centre where the reaping will take place on the hottest day of the year as usual, nothing had truly changed from when the games had begun and nothing ever will the next quarter quell in six years' time will mark the games seventy-fifth anniversary, a moment many pray that they will experience.

Having my finger pricked for what seemed like the thousandth time surrounded by a bundle of nervous energy from young twelve year olds, experiencing the reaping for the first time and certainly not their last to the young adults, people my age, who I've grown up with, went to school with although I have never formed a true relationship with any of my peers, whether that was a method to protect myself if I ever lost them or a personal choice of being anti-social, either way I'm happy with my decision. Walking single file down towards the designated area for your age group, seeing a purple blob upon the stage, Pearla I thought our escort for the games. Pearla has been district six escort for about five years now, but she hasn't changed at all, still this explosive bubble of energy that had an obnoxious laugh to match, she seems friendly though.

 The sound of her laugh broke me from my trance "Happy Hunger Games, District Six to start our day we will watch a special video from the Capital." The same video played each year explaining the games were needed to prevent another rebellion, that this was the only way peace could be achieved. The only difference was that this video ended was the victory scene from last year's hunger games, a boy from district four called Ron Stanford won the games when he drown his career partner from district one in the stream near the cornucopia, a very forgettable games as many died from dehydration, with the video ending came the reaping, women are always reaped first that when she did it her body no longer in control, the anger she had built up, the story she always wanted to rewrite had started when she had shouted from the top of her lungs before Pearla had even put her hand within the reaping bowl, "I volunteer as tribute." a saying she never thought she would say, being guided up to the podium by peacekeepers she thought of what she had done, she had defense and offence training something she had done since she was little to protect herself as of her mother request but would it be enough she no longer knew. "Introduce yourself my dear." Pearla approached her "Aliana Dawnbrook, aged eighteen." she confidently replied, a cocky smile appeared on her face, she would win these games and write her story no matter how difficult these games will be. "Nice to meet you my dear, now onto our male representative." Pearla announced, her hand rummaging within the reaping bowl, everyone's faces filled with curiosity as she finally pulled the name "Gimm Hawkslee." Now that was a name Aliana was familiar with as the boy was escorted onto the stage, she had gone to school with him, though he was never the sharpest tool in the shed though his self-righteousness and cockiness covered up that fact. You could see the cocky personality that Gimm possessed from a mile away. He was acting that way now, swaggering up to the podium, Aliana had decided then and there that she would be the one to wipe that smirk off of his face.

The plotting Aliana had been doing had made her completely miss Gimm's speech, not that she wanted to hear it. Heading inside she wonder whether her mother would come to say goodbye, or would she not care at all but opening up those large wooden doors sat a petite blonde woman with tears flooding down her face, her mother, the normally completely composed woman who believed crying was a weakness was crying in the corner of the room not even realising Aliana had entered. "Mum" she cried out, the women looked up at her daughter, green eyes meets her daughter blue ones "what have you done" she kept repeating "you need to win, I know you can win, I can't lose anyone else" her mother sobbed, Aliana ran to her side to hug her but before she could she was pulled away my peacekeepers what had she done.