The 250th Hunger Games

A Gamemaker

Thomas Dorian

Sometimes I think that Dad shouldn't tell me about the games. But, ever since I've been really little he's let me think of what should be done in the games. I remember I used to love those nights when he'd tell me a bedtime story- and he'd ask me what I wanted to have happen next. The stories were all about the games.

See, my Dad's a Gamemaker.

It was only when I was four that I realized I could get to see the stories I created on television. When I said a giant teddy bear- there it was. Though, it was never quite how I'd envisioned it. Teddy wasn't supposed to rip kids apart. And the moon wasn't supposed to explode and rain down on the kids.

Mom hated it. And I think she still does. I suppose she never understood why Dad asked me for inspiration on the games.

He'd said kids have the best imaginations.

She'd said it would ruin my mind- to see all the kids die.

But, it didn't. Because every year I'll tell my Dad the most imaginative stories- and I'll come up with animals no one but the kid inside could come up with, I'll create a world where even the color of the sky is carefully planned out.

And I don't even cry anymore when I watch the games. I just watch patiently. I laugh when Dad laughs. I cheer when Dad cheers. I sigh when he sighs. Because I love my old man, and I want to make him proud.

Of course, last year changed everything. I used to have this friend named Billy Boreal. Billy's Dad worked for the president. And I just remember one day Billy and his mother where sitting in my kitchen and saying goodbye to me. Mom later told me Billy's Dad had died of a heart attack. But, I knew she was lying. Billy moved away from the capital and to some district- I never even knew which one. Well, until last year. Until he got reaped for the games from district 9. And I watched the things I created destroy the boy I'd once called my best friend. And it didn't make me sad. It just made me angry.

That's why this year is different. It's not special because it's the 10th Quarter Quell. No, it's different because this year I'm not going to think like a little boy.

"Thomas..." Dad gives one slow breath. I've just told him my idea for this year. And for a moment I think he's going to say no, even though he's never said no to my ideas. I almost think he's going to say it's too much. And he'll say that we can't do that in the hunger games. But, he just nods.

Because there's no such thing as going too far in the games.