Perspectives

The Mayor's Daughter

For most, I am Madge Undersee, the Mayor's Daughter. For my classmates, I am also Madge Undersee, the only girl who hangs out with sour, taciturn Katniss Everdeen. For Rory Hawthorne, I'm Madge Undersee who lives in a large house with a big library. No one has ever been interested enough in me to look beyond these superficial labels in order to describe me. All throughout my life, I have been the shy, withdrawn girl in the background, with nondescript features who is easily overlooked and forgotten.

I believe that besides my parents, no one knows when my birthday is, what I like to do outside of school, how I spend my evenings. Not even Katniss, who is the only person I occasionally consider as a friend, knows much about me beyond the obvious. If anyone wonders why I spend my lunch recess with Katniss, the answer is pretty simple. I'm desperately lonely all the time, but during lunch I choose not to be lonely, alone. I am not sure what Katniss is getting out of the bargain, but she has never complained, and neither has she tried to move away. We don't question our arrangement, but keep each other company for reasons that neither of us has ever felt the need to fathom.

My meeting this morning with Gale Hawthorne and Katniss reminded me however, that in everyone's eyes I'm also Madge Undersee, the Town girl who never needs to take tesserae, and whose odds of getting reaped are next to non-existent. Gale made no effort to hide his disdain for me, and of course, I can't blame him for resenting me. I know that I am seen by all as being the most privileged girl within Reaping age, and perhaps even beyond it, in District 12. The effect of his words, however, only serve to stress into me the fact that I am also Madge Undersee, the rich, plainish girl with a forever unrequited crush on a handsome miner's son. My only comfort is that, at least, this state of affairs is known only to me.

The irony is that there is a great chance that today Gale Hawthorne might be proven wrong. I stand in the square in front of the Justice Building, the blazing sun doing nothing to warm the cold sweat that is making me shiver in this August afternoon. I haven't slept in two days, ever since that night when, as I made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water I overheard a conversation from behind the door of my father's study.

...

"What do you mean there are going to be surprises?" he had asked, his voice etched with an emotion that seemed to range between suspicion and fear.

"I'm telling you Mayor Undersee, I don't know the details," a female voice had replied. "All I know is that there is some tension in 8 and 11, and informed sources have told me that the Capitol wants to issue a reminder to all districts during this year's Reaping." The voice sounded vaguely familiar, and so did the accent, but I failed to recognise who the speaker was at that time.

My father had paused before asking the obvious question. "What sort of reminder?"

"The Capitol feels that the wealthier classes from all Districts are feeling safe, and that the tessarae system might be backfiring in this respect. President Snow has noticed that the Tributes from the outlying areas have been predominantly from the poorer classes, who in their destitution are always somehow kept under control," the woman explained. There was silence in the room and I moved my head closer to the door. "From what I've heard, this year's Tribute will not fall under the usual range."

The implications of those words were very clear to me as soon as they had left the woman's mouth. The "usual range" of Tributes from the outlying Districts was predominantly made up of 16-18 year olds from the poorer areas; in our case, obviously the Seam.

What this woman had meant was that this year, the Tributes would be young and/or relatively wealthy. The odds of me being reaped, as a warning to any rebellious District Mayors, were suddenly very much against my favour. I heard steps coming to study door and I leaped up the stairs, peaking through the banisters to see who the woman could possibly be, managing to stop myself from gasping with difficulty.