District Three Reapings
Runa Gates:
“Ouch!” I squeaked as the dressmaker stuck another needle in my dress… She needs to realize that I am not a human pincushion, the humor thought made me smile a little… Something I didn't do often these days.
“My apologizes, Mrs. Short.” Linda said to me curtly, barely hearing me, utterly absorbed in her work.
“Gates.” I correct her. “Miss Gates.” Linda just goes back to measuring the length of the skirt as I stare out straight ahead. I bit my lip, I wasn't ready for this. I felt tears brim in my eyes from the stress of all of this and had to blink them away. I promised myself I could cry later when I was alone in the safety of my room.
“If I can just sew a couple more inches on the skirt of your gown, it will be perfect.” Linda gushes, clearly proud of her work.
My aunt comes out of the kitchen her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. I hear the clicking stop, I reluctantly turn my head, willing myself not to cry. Tears come into her eyes… I swear they’re fake though. “Oh, Runa…” She says, “You look gorgeous. You’re going to make a beautiful bride.”
Yes, you heard her right: Beautiful.Bride.
If I survive through reaping, I’m getting married in a week. My fiancée is a dreadful man who is more than three times my age.
The room is so silent you could hear a pin drop as my aunt waited for a response that wasn't coming. I had nothing to say to her, inside I blamed her for all of this.
My aunt shifts her feet awkwardly then runs upstairs, coming back holding her old wedding veil. She approaches me, placing it on my head, stepping back, and looking at me. She lets out a gasp. “Maxwell! Arthur! Come see!” I heard heavy footsteps pound toward us as my fiancée and my uncle come out to see me, my younger cousin follows them to come see what I look like.
“Doesn’t she look beautiful?” Aunt Trillian says, her voice gushing with so much enthusiasm that I wanna throw up. Beauty was nothing, beauty was a shallow and meaningless tool woman use for satisfying men. I didnt want to be beautiful, I wanted to be free.
“She’s hot.” My fiancée says as he eyes me in the dress, I want to glare at him, but I can't quite bring myself to attempt staring down the dreadful beast.
I do dare to let out a snort though for two reasons. One… a man his age shouldn’t be using that word. It’s one that should be exclusive to the 12-18-year-old mindset. Two, I don’t think he’s picturing me IN the dress… that’s all I’ll say about it. In addition, he seemed to be speaking more to my aunt than me, as if I was only an object of desire, with no brains of my own.
“May I go get ready?” I ask with a slight amount of boredom in my voice, boredom to disguise the utter hatred, fear, and disgust that swirled within me.
“Oh, Runa, before I forget.” Aunt Trillian says, raising a finger as I jumped from the stool I had been standing on. “I got you something. It’s on your bed.”
“Thank you, Aunt Trillian….” I say a bit perplexed, but with genuine gratefulness. Even though we have a lot of money, it’s rare that I get anything new. I wondered what had driven my aunt to do something so kind. I run upstairs to go get dressed, with a growing curiosity to what my aunt could of gotten me.
As soon as I open the door I stop dead in my tracks. On my bed is a new dress that is a violent shade of cobalt. My second-hand sneakers are underneath it.
“Ah!” I gasp excitedly. It was the dress that I had admired in the shops in the middle of town. I peel off my bridal gown and I toss on the blue dress. The material is cool against my hot skin, and I feel much more like myself.
It was hardly my decision to get married… it was arranged against my wishes (and my grandfather’s too, for that matter). Even though we had a lot of money, my aunt and uncle were marrying me off to one of their friends so they could have MORE money. They were sick.
I guess I’m not TOO surprised… girls sometimes marry young in my district. I’m just one of the youngest in a long time. It wasnt fair. If I marry I want to marry someone I genuinely love, not some perverted old man.
I toss on my trainers and I comb out my hair. Thick, dark and curly… I don’t like it much. But it looks almost nice today. I stare in the mirror at my reflection… the girl in the mirror has a sweet, innocent look to her. So opposite to how I truly felt. I turn from the mirror before I began bawling. I’m about to head downstairs when I hear voices.
“Trillian, I don’t think you and Arthur are making the right choice in marrying her off. Runa’s FIFTEEN for goodness sakes! She needs time to live.” I pressed my ear to the floor, wondering if by any small chance Grandfather could convince them they were wrong.
“Dad, EVERYONE in this place marries at a young age. And we need the money.” Aunt Trillian snapped bitterly, though I almost thought I heard guilt in her voice.
“That’s a lie. You and Arthur are among the richest people here.” I tried not to get excited… Could my grandfather actually succeed in bailing me out?
“Runa is not your daughter.” He says harshly, “And you know that Nova wouldn’t have wanted this.”
“She’s under my care, and I can decide what’s best for her.” Aunt Trillian said smashing her fist down on something with a loud crash. I heard the unmistakable sound of her heels storming into the living room.
I laid there, a sinking feeling that started in my stomach and spread through my body. I didn’t want to get married, I would be miserable for the rest of his life. A tear slipped down my cheek as I held my wrist in front of my face. Maybe I should just end it all. I let my arm fall as I resolved to slit my wrists later. My heart raced at just the thought of it, but death was so much more appealing than ongoing misery, being his…. wife.
I waited as long as I could before I eventually had to come down and face everyone. Thankfully, Maxwell left, so it was just my aunt and uncle on one side of the room and my grandfather on the other side. My cousin sat on the floor, her ankles folded. She wore a yellow skirt and a white blouse, her light brown waves barely touching her shoulders.
I clear my throat. “Shall we go?” I ask quietly.
“Ah, yes. The reaping.” Aunt Trillian claps her hands, “Let’s go.” I inwardly smiled at her naivety. She would never see this coming, and she would be furious. I loved it, my only regret was that I wouldn't be around to see it. Somewhere I knew that this wasn’t me. The sweet girl I truly was would never ever delight in another person’s termole, but I wasn't quite sure I was her anymore.
My uncle and my aunt head into the crowd, and Zenna and I go to join our age groups. After our fingers being forcefully pricked, Zenna went to stand with the 13-year-old girls while I went to go join my age group.
“Runa, you look great. Where’d you get it?” I turn to my left, and I’m looking right into the eyes of my best friend ever… Jackie Robins. She stares at my dress enviously… I don’t ever think she’s had new clothes.
“My dress? Ah, my aunt got it for me.” I say, shrugging it off. “Thanks for the compliment though.”
“Sorry about your ah… marriage.” Jackie says, more quietly now, running a hand through her brown messy hair. “It’s just… we have so much TIME left, ya know?”
“I know, I know.” I whisper softly. “And I don’t WANT to marry him….. And I won’t.”
Jackie looked at me with concern, “What do you mean? Did you talk them out of it?”
I ignore her question, unable to tell her what I planned to do. I look to the stage and see two Capitol escorts stand before us… one is dressed in complete gold, from head to toe. She looks angelic in a weird sort of way. The second one is dressed in all red, and has horns coming out of the top of her head.
“Welcome!” The two chorus. Great… Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I curl my lip in disgust. Another thing I never would have previously done. “We have a VERY special video for you from the Capitol.”
The images appear on screen, and we focus:
“War, terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child. This was the uprising that rocked our land. Thirteen districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained.
And then came the peace, hard fought, sorely won. A people rose up from the ashes and a new era was born.
But freedom has a cost.
When the traitors were defeated, we swore as a nation we would never know this treason again.
And so it was decreed, that each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up in tribute, one young man and woman, to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice. The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness.
This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future.”
Tweedledee wipes a tear from her eye. “How beautiful… Merry, would you please select the male tribute?”
“Of course, Fairy.” The red twin dances forward and digs her hand in the bowl. It takes about a full minute before “Marvin Jobs” is called forward. I know this boy… Zenna’s boyfriend. Yes, the thirteen-year-old has a boyfriend. Marvin is also thirteen, and according to Zenna, he’s the top of his class.
Tweedledee- I mean, Fairy- asks for volunteers. When there are none, her sister goes to the second reaping bowl and picks out a girl’s name… one that I- quite frankly- don’t expect to hear.
“Zenna Gates.”
Zenna is about to come out of her pen… I can see tears in her eyes, the shock on her face,I almost let her go, serves her and her parents right. As I saw The terror in her eyes I felt all my bitterness melt away as I did the unthinkable. “I-I volunteer! I VOLUNTEER!!!”
I run out of my pen, practically shove Zenna out of the way, and run forward onto the stage, panting slightly. “I volunteer… as, ah, District Three’s tribute.” I’m way out of breath, I was going to die anyway, what way I died didn't matter, as long as I died free.
“And… what is your name?” Merry asks, looking slightly uncomfortable that a Three has put themselves forward.
I look out to my District, and say my name with more confidence than I probably actually have. “Runa Gates…. My name is Runa Gates.”
So how do you guys like Runa? My friend says Runa wasn't her favorite tribute, but still a good one in my opinion anyway.
The next chapter will be written by me and it will be updated Tuesday!
Thanks for reading,
~A.K.A Anonymous