To Be Home Again (Hunger games/Clove)

The Beginning Of The End

"Hello and happy hunger games!" our escort Queenie spoke loudly into the microphone, her capitol accent instantly recognizable. This year she was wearing a pale blue wig that curled and pinned to one side, allowing the waterfall of hair to cascade over her right shoulder. Her dress was bright yellow, made of a shiny fabric that clung to her in a way that made me blush. Speaking of blush, her makeup was lighter that most of the escorts I've seen on TV in the past years. Her eyes, cheeks and lips were all painted in the same rose pink colour which definitely made her stand out against the drab greys in the square of our humble district. As beautiful as she was the sign of her always made me feel sick, it was a constant reminder of what was about to come; a boy and a girl i grew up were going to go into the games and never come home, they almost never came home.

While everyone else pretended to pay attention I continued to examine her outfit, I'd always had an interest in the finer things and fashion but unfortunately I was doomed to a life of drab hand-me-downs. The dress I was wearing used to belong to my mother and you could tell, it was a little big, held in place by a ribbon tied tightly around my waist and I just knew I looked a mess, making me shift uncomfortable from foot to foot. "the time has come, ladies first." she smiled widely as the yearly Capitol propaganda video came to an end and walked over to the bowl of girls names, her impossibly tall pink shoes clicked against the metal stage. She reached into the bowl and dug around before eventually pulling one out and making her way back over to the microphone.

She stood before the mic and unraveled the paper, taking a second to read it before speaking into the mic, "Sylvia Callaghan." my mind instantly went blank as I whipped my head around frantically trying to find my sister in the crowd. I didn't see her until she was almost out of the crowd. I pushed my way back towards her and when I finally reached her I fell into her arms. "no no no, this can't be happening." I cried as I felt myself being pulled away from her grasp only to find her bloodshot eyes staring back at me. "let me go! Let me go! I volunteer as tribute!" I yelled, flailing out of the peacekeepers grasp as I heard people gasping around me. "I believe we have a volunteer?" Queenie's cheerful voice had a slight edge of confusion as she looked around the audience.

"you have to take care of Maggie, I'll try my best to come back home." I was barely able to lay a hand on Sylvia's arm before I was ripped away from her once more and made to walk up to the stage. I pulled the ribbon around my waist tighter and clasped my hands in front of me as I mounted the stage before standing beside Queenie, "and what is your name dear?" she smiled down at me before holding the microphone in front of my mouth. "Briar-Rose Callaghan." I spoke as clearly as I could, trying not to make the shaking in my voice evident. "was that your sister then?" Queenie asked prompting me to simply nod before looking down at my shoes, the bright lights pointed at the stage mixed with my oncoming tears making me feel overwhelmingly hot.

"let's all give a round of applause for our brave volunteer, Briar-Rose." She said and a hand full of people of district 7 clapped slowly while the rest looked at me or my sisters with pity. "next I will pull from the boys." she said, walking over to the boys bowl and picking one before returning to center stage to deliver the name, " Rowan Hemlock." she read out and my head snapped up, feeling panic rise in my chest as I scanned the crowed for the boy. Rowan Hemlock is someone I've known since I was a child, we grew up always in the same classes and to say we were close friends was an understatement; he was like a brother to me. I watched as the tall, thin boy made his way up the stage, only making eye contact with me briefly before returning his gaze to the floor.

"and here we have it, district 7 give warm a round of applause for this year's tributes." Queenie flashed one last smile which was followed by the echo of half hearted clapping from the crowed. As it fades she took each of us by the shoulder and guiding us into the building. The meeting with my family was over before it started and consisted of me telling Maggie all the things I told her at home and Sylvia scolding me for volunteering followed promptly by words of encouragement and declarations of love. Before they left I was pulled into a tight hug only to have them ripped from my grasped. I stared blankly at the door as i slammed behind them and i had to blink away tears. I knew my gut feeling was right, it always was. I was given no more time to mourn before being rushed onto a train; the train to my inevitable death.