A Twist in My Story

Chapter 2: My Home, My Family

      I rest my head on the backpack that was sitting on my lap when I heard the sound of a snare go up. I ran to its location and found a big fat rabbit caught in one of our traps. I cut the rope, bringing it  down. I brought the rabbit back to where I was previously sitting and found my father and brother there. My father was carrying a spear and a knife in his hands. He was far from his youth but still was able to hunt. He was basically still in a good shape but those wrinkles in his face and dark circle under his eyes make us worry sometimes. My brother, Apollo, who most of the time I’d call Paul, was a fair-toned guy with strong features. He was tall and well built. He’s handsome and smart. Maybe that’s why a lot of girls are actually into him. But despite this, he is focused only on keeping our family alive. They both smiled at the site of the dead rabbit in my hand.

      I heard the ring of the clock at the Town Square which signaled that it was 9 in the morning. Only three more hours before the Reaping. We went out of the woods, being careful not to hit the electric fence which hasn’t been on for the past 7 months. My brother and I went back to our home which was a few blocks away while our father headed to the Hob to trade the 3 pieces of squirrel and berries that we had today.

      When I entered the house, I saw my mother boiling some water on our stove. My elder sister Janelle was watching over the twins. My younger sister Louis was chopping some greens to go with what my mom was cooking. Paul put his backpack away behind our door and sat down to take his shoes off. My other elder brother, the second in our family, Nathan who I prefer to call Nate took the rabbit and went off to skin it for lunch. I took off my hunting coat and shoes. I took the twins Ren and Rina to give them a bath. They need to look spick and span for the Reaping today even if they are young enough to be spared.

      After giving them a bath, the house already smelled like grain and roasted rabbit meat. We had grain because I signed up for the tesserae. One year’s supply for each member of the family and each one means that another name of mine is being added in the reaping. I do this every year. Without my family ever knowing of course coz if they did, I knew they wouldn’t allow me. I’d often tell them that I got these grain and oil from my friend Yenna who was the towns mayor’s kind daughter. And without the grain and oil from the tesserae, I couldn’t imagine our family ever surviving. My father got a dozen pieces of bread in exchange for 2 pieces of squirrel. He got cheese for the other piece. And he was able to sell the berries for 120 and even got a small jar of honey.

      I sat down and ate with everybody. We were having our usual jolly conversations. It was as if it wasn’t the Reaping Day today. When Louis suddenly banged the dining table and said,

“How could you all be so happy today? Are you all forgetting that today is the day of the reaping of tributes? And if you didn’t know, I am already 12 which means I am legible for being the tribute.” she said harshly.

“Calm down, Lou. We all are scared inside.” Paul said to her gently.

“Yeah. Just don’t think about it.” continued Jan.

“How can I not think about it knowing that my name is in there?” she said.

“Its just one piece of paper out of a thousand. Don’t worry.” said Nate.

“Hmmp. I’m tired of all of this. I should-“

“You don’t know what kind of suffering we’ve had to go through to keep this family alive! I even had to sign up for the tesserae to feed you! So stop being so selfish!” I said. Angrily. It was then that I realized that I blurted out my secret to my entire family. Now I’m dead.

“You what? Say that again, Alliana.” my father said.

“It’s nothing. I just-”

“Say it again!” he insisted

“I signed up for the tesserae, okay? One for each of you.” I said.

      He sat there. Looking at me. Then, he let out a sigh and said,

“Since when have you been doing this?” he asked calmly.

“Since I was 12. I couldn’t stand the sight of our family starving.” I answered.

“Very well, then. There is nothing we can do about it. It has been done. So why don’t we continue our lunch?”

      We continued to eat. This time with an awkward silence. A silence that I so desperately wanted to break.

      After eating, everyone took a shower and got ready while Paul and I were cleaning up the table and washing the dishes.

“You didn’t have to do it you know.” he started.

”You know I had to. Without it we’d-”

“We wouldn’t have to worry about the great possibility of you being picked as a    tribute.” he continued.

And I didn’t dare to correct him. Because he was right. And the thought of his correct statement scared me. So I just kept my mouth shut when he suddenly let out a shrill laugh.

“How many times do you think have your name been in there?” he asked.

“Uhm-About 27 times I guess.”

      He then laughed again and whispered in the Capitol accent that never fails to amuse me.

“Very well then. May the odds be ever in your favor.”

      I know this was supposed to make me feel better. But it actually made me feel worse. It was as if I was going to be sick.

      Paul left to take a shower as I washed our dishes. After cleaning up, I took a quick shower myself. The water was cool felt refreshing on my skin. I went out, and saw my family standing there, all lined up as if to welcome me or something. Then, my mother came up to me and gave me a light blue dress. It was beautiful. She said she made it herself. They all came close to me and gave me a hug. Then young Ren said to me,

            “Thank you for keeping us alive, Allie.” he kissed me on my cheek and hugged me.

            I went in my room to change. I tied my hair back in my usual ponytail and went out. We were ready. We walked out the door and locked our house. We walked to the Town Square where the crowd was lining up for the reaping. Then, the clocked ticked. It was time. Then, everyone took their places in lines and was looking very ready. I looked at my brother Paul on the other side and he mouthed the words, “It’s gonna be okay.”

But, apparently, I had the feeling that it wasn’t.

- End of Chapter 2 -