Reaping day. The only day that my older brother, Elias, wakes up before me. Usually he works in the textile factory, making Peacekeeper's uniforms, but today no one works. I always wake up before the sun rises and go to work. I'm the only one in all of District 8 who dances professionally in the Capitol.
I started at the age of 9, working in Madame Lourvoue's Costume Shoppe. Normally people don't hire at such a young age, but she made an exception for me, seeing as my parents both died six months earlier.
Sickness isn't abnormal in the districts, especially the lower ones and a horrible flu was going around 8. They never let it show they were sick. It wasn't until we got home from school that we even knew. I walked through the door, Mathus and Tomas screaming in their room. In the kitchen, my parents sat at the table, their skin pure white and their eyes staring off at some unknown point in the distance.
"Mom?" I shook her shoulder gently, but there was no response. I shook it harder, but still nothing. My heart began to race and I shook my dad, but they were gone. I ran in and picked up Tomas and Mathus, sitting them each on a hip and ran out the door to the factory. Elias was folding uniforms in the back. He took Mathus on his hip and we walked to the Justice Building.
We had to beg them not to put us in a community home. The only reason they didn't was because Elias had a job. But it wasn't nearly enough to take care of all four of us. The Captiol sent a package of grain and oil each month, but it was barely enough for a loaf of bread. We were starving and I needed to step up so I found a job.
Madame Lourvoue was an older lady with jet black hair that fell perfectly straight to her mid back. She made costumes for the Capitol for everything from small plays to The Hunger Games. The only other person who worked in the shoppe was her daughter, Helene, who was in her later 20s and had two kids of her own: Sean and Fransis. They were twins and one year younger than me, but I never really talked to them. They mostly stuck to themselves and no one really knew anything about them.
I worked mostly on hems and finishing details like buttons and zippers. I had to work all day, which meant I had to drop out of school, but we were finally getting by.
A couple months after I started working, Helene quit and I was promoted to seamstress which meant a slight raise in pay.
"I need you to come with me to the Capitol. There's a ballet opening and the lead dancer just got replaced." I nodded, not sure what ballet was.
We took the train into the Capitol, Madame Lourvoue walking fast through the streets. The ballet theatre was the most lavishly decorated place I'd ever seen. There were carvings of little men with wings made out of gold and two levels of seats made out of velvet.
We measured the new dancer, Madame taking notes in her book.
"I have a few more things to do. Why don't you wait backstage?" she smiled down at me. I smiled back, wandering backstage where dancers were warming up at barres.
The way their bodies moved so flawlessly and their legs reached heights I couldn't even imagine. They twirled and leapt through the air with ease and I knew I wanted to be just like them.
"Hey, what are you doing back here?" a tall woman with long blonde hair tied up in a bun and a black leotard and tights walked up to me. She smiled, her face soft and plain.
"I work with Madame Lourvoue."
"How old are you?" she gave me a knowing look.
"12." I lied, not wanting to get Madame in trouble.
"You're very pretty." she walked around me. "Tall, slender, long legs. Have you thought of being a dancer?" the question took me back.
"We don't really have dance classes in District 8." She smiled again.
"I'd like to teach you." my heart skipped a beat. "Every Tuesday and Thursday I have a class. I want you there." I looked down at the ground so she wouldn't see my disappointment.
"I can't afford classes." she laughed and I looked back up.
"It's no charge. I think you could be a great dancer; the best!"
That was it. I had fallen in love and it's name was dance. I started taking classes with Miss Katherine, taking the train to the Capitol Tuesdays and Thursdays. After a few months I was added to their performance troupe and it became my full time job. Madame Lourvoue was completely supportive and wished me luck.
At 16 I was one of their featured dancers and was making four times the amount of money. The days were long and the work was hard, but I couldn't see myself doing anything else.
"You're up early." Elias looked up from the table, a small smile on his face.
"You're up late." I smiled back, sitting down across from him. Elias looked just like my father, light brown hair that laid messily on top of his head and matching brown eyes. All of the girls thought he was cute and constantly bugged me about him. He would just laugh and go back to work. I looked like my mother with her dark brown hair and green eyes. My mother always had the most beautiful eyes and my father said that's what he first noticed about her. I never talked to any of the boys my age, but I didn't go to school with them so I never really had a chance. Mathus and Tomas looked out of place, both with almost black hair and dark brown eyes. My mother said her father had black hair, but I'd never met him. Most people in the lower Districts didn't live too long so most of the kids didn't know their grandparents.
Elias and I never talked about The Hunger Games or of what could happen, but we both knew. This was the first year he didn't have to worry and I didn't have to worry for him. He was 19 and Mathus 11. I was the only one in the drawing today and I felt relieved.
"Do you want some tea?" I asked, putting some water on the stove.
"Sure." I sat back down, waiting for the water to boil. We were both silent, the sun rising outside the window. The Reaping was at two and it was mandatory for everyone in the district to attend. It would be televised to all of Panem and the two Tributes would be shipped off to the Capitol to fight to the death. Only one victor could emerge and they were almost always from the higher districts. Most of the kids in Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4 trained for The Hunger Games and considered it a great honor to be chosen. I thought of it as a curse. To be taken away from your family and friends and forced into an arena and forced to kill or be killed. It was the Capitol's way of showing their power over the Districts.
Elias and I walked to the town square, Mathus and Tomas hanging onto my arms. We all wore our nicest clothes which wasn't much. I had one of my mothers old dresses which was a pale pink with white lace on the sleeves and hem. Elias wore a button down shirt and pants and Mathus and Tomas wore his old Reaping clothes. We weren't trying to impress anyone, but everyone dressed up. It was kind of expected.
"Come on guys." Elias pulled them away, their eyes filled with tears.
"Don't worry about me. There are thousands of other names in there." they smiled, giving me quick hugs.
"You be careful." Elias gave me a nervous smile then walked to the viewing section while I made my way to stand with the other 16 year olds. There was a stage set up in the square where the mayor, Geoffrey Lampski, past winners, Cecelia and Woof and Tammie Runner our District escort sat. As soon as the clock struck two the mayor began his long speech about the games and then introduced the past winners and Tammie who took the stage. She had pure white hair that fell in curls down her back and strange purple tattoos running from her eyes to her hairline. She was tall and skinny and wore a lime green dress suit with pink accents.
"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor." it was the same opening statement every year and every year it seemed to lose some of its enthusiasm. She rambled on about the Dark Days and how we should be thankful for the Capitol and all it gives us. "Now let's start with the girls." She reached into the huge Reaping Ball and pulled out a slip of paper, unfolding it. My heart was beating so fast it was like hummingbird wings in my chest. "Annalyse Sunders." everything went silent and all eyes turned towards me. I met Elias' eyes in the crowd, his handsome face hard and worried. My legs carried me to the stage and before I realized what was going on I was standing on stage, Tammie congratulating me.
"Now the boys!" she reached into the ball and pulled out another paper. "Alton Vanderson!" a boy walked up to the stage, his face serious and blank of all expression. He was tall and muscular and at least twice my size; probably one of the heavy lifters from the factory. We were instructed to shake hands. I turned towards Alton, taking his hand and shaking it. His hands were rough from years of work and his grasp was firm. We turned back to the audience as Tammie thanked everyone and we were ushered off the stage into the Justice Building and into separate rooms. Now we got to say goodbye to our families. We had an hour to say everything we needed because we knew we probably wouldn't see them again.
Elias walked into the room and I immediately ran into his open arms.
"You're okay." he reassuringly rubbed my back as tears fell onto his shirt. "Don't cry, Anna. You can't let then see you cry." he wiped away the tears with his thumb.
"You have to take care of them. Don't let them worry about me." he nodded. "Make sure they know I love them."
"They already know that."
"And don't let them take any tesserae." he nodded again, pulling me back into his arms.
"Don't worry about us." he kissed the top of my head. "I want you to have this." he pulled something out of his pocket, handing it to me. "It was mom's."
It was a small gold locket with her initials, RS, carved into the top. Inside were two tiny pictures of my mother on one side and my father on the other.
"Dad bought it for her."
"I can't take this." I held it out for him to take back, but he shook his head.
"When you're in that arena, they'll be there with you." I smiled, hugging him one last time before the Peacekeepers forced him out.
I slipped on the locket before I was ushered out to the train. I was happy Elias told me not to cry; there were so many cameras and any sign of weakness would make me out to be an easy target. I might not have been a fighter, but I wasn't going to let them think I was weak. And I wouldn't let Mathus or Tomas see me cry. I had to be strong for them.