Author Games: Return To Seasons

Task One: To Make An Impression - ❦ Autumn Entries ❦

District 7 Male - EDGAR N. MOORE

Ten minutes into meeting Holly-Noelle, I knew who my favourite to win was. And it definitely was not myself.

She looked like a warm hearth beneath a garland of green and sugar. Inside she was an endless torrent of icy fury.

We spoke while we waited for our training sessions. Compared weapons- my ideal rapier and her sickle. I offered any tips I could, as it was a tool I was very familiar with.

"I'm honestly very worried to meet with you in the arena." Edgar grinned, though his testament was true.

"I wouldn't worry about it for now." Holly-Noelle watched the screen where my district partner was showcasing her skills. "Who knows, maybe we'll be on the same side for a while."

Sorrel finished and they announced my turn. I sighed and said goodbye to Holly-Noelle before entering the brightly lit room.

It was almost a joyous sight- lovely colours filled the room. Natural blues, greys, greens and browns. Edgar looked around before catching the rapier sitting on a table. He closed his eyes whilst grabbing the hilt, and waited for them to appear.

From the brightness shadows did creep; tall, looming blackness. Clusters of dripping fangs, venomous claws and skeletal faces. They surrounded him, as they always did. He would not run, not this time. He was ready for them.

Edgar lashed out at the demons- cutting through scorched flesh as though it were never there. He grunted and called out, though maintained form as his father had taught.

Gazing down on him with eyes blazing fire was his one. His Ligeia. He fought his way through the black masses- he would reach her. He wouldn't be too late this time-

The lights flashed brighter and Edgar was suddenly alone. His eyes were blinded by the illumination- the demons that only he seemed to be able to see had vanished, as well as his love.

"You had to have seen them!" He muttered, looking for any echo of his own, pounding heart in the faces of his observers. But there was nothing but blankness as they observed the now sand-filled room and heap of cut up dummies. "You had to have seen them!" Edgar cried.

Someone came to pull him away. As he left, a shimmer of white caught his attention and he smiled.

She was still there with him. He simply had to fight his way to her.

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District 7 Female - SORREL GOLDIE

Sorrel didn’t understand parties. And why the biggest one of all was held the night before the annual reaping, also known as the worst say of the year, she hadn’t the slightest clue. Yet, she was far more confused as to why she had decided to attend it. No: as to why she let her sister force her to attend it.

She could see their faces now, mocking and giddy, with laughter on their lips as she walked in wearing a hand-sewn sweatshirt and ripped jeans. No doubt a few glasses of illegal alcohol would slip from their manicured fingers and break upon the floor of whoever had taken the burden of hosting the horrid affair.

Each year, she would spend this night in a rickety old shed where all the farming tools were kept, sleeping soundlessly with her sister’s hand in hers, knowing that at least for this night they wouldn’t be found cooped up in government-owned property. Everyone would be at the party, and even the peacekeepers would be out of uniform and decked in their most revealing party attire.

But she wouldn’t be staying in the shed again. Tonight, she would be in attendance and for the first time every year, besides on the reaping, all of the District would be in the same place. And it is all because of her younger sister, Laurel, and those cursed locks of gold and irises of sapphire.