𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞
── the reaping
𝕱or most people, they never had to face their fears. If you were scared of deep water, you simply did not enter the sea. If you were afraid of heights, then you did not go to high places. But, if you were afraid of death, then there was nothing that you could do.
Death was an inevitability, something that most of us had come to terms with long before we ever saw a human experience it.
When I was four, I had watched my father help a cow give birth, only to find out that the calf was a stillborn. I didn't remember much of it, just that the calf's large dark eyes had been staring unseeingly above it and that it's tongue lolled from it's mouth. When you worked with animals, this was something that you became used to swiftly.
I didn't see a human die until I turned eight. It had been one of the elders that had helped look after my mother when she was young. We had all stood around her bedside, watching as death hovered above her and waited to take her beyond. It was quick and simple. The elderly woman took a deep breath, and then there was nothing.
It was peaceful and I could not understand why people were so scared of death. It seemed soft and warm.
It wasn't until I was ten that I understood why people were scared of death. My parents had never told me, keeping the truth from me for as long as they could before I had to find out. I had watched with horror as children, mere children, beat each other to death with a variety of objects, trying to win a game.
It had come down to two careers, one from district two and another from district four. They'd fought and it looked like the girl was going to lose, until she dove into the water, clambered up beside the Cornucopia, threw her trident at the boy's chest and then beat him to death with a rock until the cannon went off.
I had felt sick, watching as the cameras zoomed in onto the sixteen year old's face as she let her head hang low.
It was only then that I truly began to understand the horrors that came with death, the fear of being picked to take part in a fight to the death with limited chances of success. I hadn't noticed that the event I was dragged to once a year, a few days after my birthday, was the same one that picked children to fight.
When I reached twelve years old, I was forced to stand with my classmates, waiting to hear who would be picked from the age groups to stand and represent their District. It was something that no one wished to happen to them, each person hoping that it would be passed off to the next person despite how guilty that made us feel.
Then, with each year that passed, we would sit and watch as people we knew were butchered in fairly horrific ways for the entertainment of the Capitol.
Every year, I had watched and prayed, hoping for it to never be me and so far, I had been lucky. My name had not been called, and as I entered my final year, I could only hope that this luck continued onwards. As soon as this fateful day was completed, I could relax until such a time as my own children were called forth to participate.
The food that I ate just before my final reaping was rolling in my stomach, making me just as nauseous as I normally was before all of this. At one o'clock, I had to be at the main square in District 11 to be checked in and accounted for, like I was nothing better than some herd animal. The tinny sound of the alarm rattled through my ears, bouncing around inside my skull as I tried to keep my breathing even.
Despite having been completing the same ritual for near to six years, the alarm still shook me to my core.
My parents never walked with me to this, always waiting in the crowd and hovering there instead. They didn't like to see my face whilst I waited for the name to be called, preferring to congratulate me on surviving when I reached them.
Camera crews and peacekeepers lined the side of the square, looking down on us as if we were meals for them to devour. There were ropes already out in the centre of the square, cordoning the twelve to eighteen year olds off based on age and gender. It felt like some sort of auction for meat.
Most of the parents stand at the back of the square, chewing on their nails or looking away, pushing against each other to try and search for their children in the crowd. A few teenage boys jostle past me, looking like they wanted to get this over and done with quickly, and I sighed and fell back slightly.
A hand slid into my own, clutching onto the sleeve of my dress and I turned. Beside me stood Rue, a small girl who I had come to care for dearly. This was her first reaping, already dress in a fluttery dress of pale blue. Most of the times, Rue worked in the orchards, climbing the trees and picking the fruit from the top, but she often snuck into the milking parlour to steal some of the milk that I would keep for her. In return, she'd sneak me little fruits.
"Are you nervous?" I asked softly as we passed a peacekeeper.
"A little. What if I'm picked?"
"You'll be fine, baby bird." I cooed, the nickname that she'd been called by most of the teenagers in the town. "They're just going to take some blood from each of our fingers so they know who we are and then we're going to go and stand in line."
"Alright." She murmured, clinging onto my hand as we drew closer to the table.
"Next." Rue stumbled forward, giving her hand to the Capitol official. The woman grabbed it tightly, yanking her forward to take a prick of blood as Rue whimpered. She turned around, shooting me a look with wide eyes, but I smiled and nodded, trying to tell her that it was alright.
I was next, holding my finger out already for the blood to be taken. This was my sixth, and final year, in the pool of names so I was far too used to it.
"You're done." I brushed past the table, holding my hand out for Rue to grab once more. We drew closer to the pens, and I gave her a gentle push in the direction of the other twelve-year-old girls.
"I'll see you afterwards."
"Promise?"
"I promise." I smiled, before nodding her onwards. Watching her go, I backed up until I found the group of eighteen year olds. We barely talked, sending each other nervous nods, before turning our attention back to the Justice Building. A temporary stage was set out in front of it with chairs laid out for the most important of them.
In one sat the Mayor, who looked grim at the situation going on. Two years ago, his son had been called and had never returned back. In the other seat, sat our Capitol escort. Aurelia. No last name, just Aurelia.
She had been District 11's escorts for almost as long as I could remember and she was, as per normal, dressed in a gaudy outfit that glittered and shone. She looked like a sun against the dark grey of the rest of District 11.
Her costumes had always amused me.
This year, theme seemed to be sunset, though I couldn't tell for sure. Aurelia's dress was a gradient, that went from orange to a dark blue as it reached her shoulders, glittering with gems and stones. A spiky headdress rested on top of her golden curls, as if she was the sun that we should all orbit around. It was pretentious, but the Capitol was a gaudy place.
She stepped forward, teetering on her heels, before she tapped the microphone and smiled.
"Welcome!" Aurelia trilled, her amber eyes scouring the audience, with a grin that was just too big to be real. My heart seemed to beat louder in my chest. "Happy Hunger Games and, may the odds be ever in your favour."
And so, it began.
──⭒─⭑─⭒──
Hiya,
So, here we meet Mitzi and I really love her, and her and Rue's relationship. This is set to be an interesting book, and I'm super excited for you to meet all the characters.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx