Sunshine - A Hunger Games Story

1| Sunshine

There's too much sunshine here. The rays of the sun eat at my flesh, cooking it against my painstaking attempts to stop it. Sweat drips from my forehead, forcing me to wipe the back of my hand across my eyebrows every few seconds.

The tall grain stalks mock me as they sway back and forth, letting the sun stare straight into my eyes. Plants can just sit there soaking up sunlight and making use of it, but even grain has a limit. Too much sunlight and it shrivels up and dies. The blinding sun, along with the flat fields flowing past the horizon creates an inescapable blanket of heat.

Even the people here are too sunny. Despite the harsh conditions, long working hours, and poverty the Capital has forced us into, a smile is still the easiest thing to find. Maybe after grain fields.

A loud bell chimes. The end of the work day.

Instantly people start stepping out of the fields and making their ways down old gravel roads. The white powder and rocks clashing against the workers' dark skin and their brown work boots. A man with salt and pepper hair pulls off his gloves and wipes flakes of the old cloth lining off on his trousers. The man next to him takes off his wide brimmed straw hat and spins it around in his hands. The two of them converse nervously in hushed voices.

The first man, the one with salt and pepper hair, is Joshua Fleming. A family friend. Dark skin and deep brown eyes that, since I was young, had noticed seemed to trap light rather than reflecting it as most others did. Joshua has always been a light hearted man. He told constant jokes, knew all of the best games, and tickled me and my siblings when we were younger. He sort of fills in the fun uncle title.

The second man is my father. A strict man who always follows the rules. My dad, Mark, comes with tan, sun-bitten skin, callused hands, and sun-bleached brown hair.

My dad and Joshua have been friends for a long time. I think my dad said: since they were both twelve. When they first were eligible for the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games, a competition created by the capital that requires 2 kids of ages 12-18, one female and one male, from each of the 12 districts, to fight until a sole victor remains. All twelve districts of Panem provide a certain commodity to the capital. The people of the capital live in luxury while the workers in the districts live in various levels of poverty or barely above poverty. I live in district 9. Grain.

As I make my way through an intersection, I turn off the main flow of traffic and duck behind a small tool shed. There, I find Tyson Fleming. He's Joshua's son. We've been, more or less, best friends since we were little.

"Ready?" I ask, startling the boy previously looking the opposite way.

"You scared me," he exclaims. "Are we still-" he cuts off, lowering his voice and looking around to make sure no one is listening. "-doing the thing tonight?"

"Yeah. Of course." I roll my eyes at his antics. "Why do you have to make it seem like we're plotting a murder?"

" 'Cause it's against the rules!" He says, still whispering. Tyson's a nervous Nellie, always has been.

"Just- come on," I grab his hand and tug him along, out into the old gravel road and down into the town.

A few blocks from the nearest houses, people start lining up. The inspections. Before they let any of the field workers back into town, they pat us down to make sure we don't steal any of the crops. A dozen Peacekeepers stand in a line under an archway, each with their own line of people. Two stand behind with night sticks, ready for any violence or misdemeanor.

Up ahead, a frail woman covered in a layer of grime, gets patted down. The woman's sun hat sits crooked on her head and her hands shake at her sides. As the Peacekeeper's gloved hands get done searching her body, his eye's flick up to her head. Two halves of a corn cob tumble onto the ground as he lifts her hat off. Out of instinct, the woman makes a break for it only to be stopped by the two Peacekeepers with night sticks. The two Peacekeepers throw a few punches at her leaving her bloody and bruised. Then they drag her off, presumably to the town's detention facility.

The people in the crowd, including myself, silently watch. There's not much we could do. That is, without suffering the consequences. It happens every few days. Another person, another starving family. It always ends in another flogging or zapping in the town square. Just another way for the capital to assert their dominance upon the districts.

After a thorough pat down, Tyson and I make our way into town. We follow the side streets along the edge of the town, winding through back alleys and such to our destination. As we do, the number of people dwindles to none, leaving us in an eerie silence.

Finally, we come across the rail yard. Two trains are currently stationed, a couple Peacekeepers unloading commodities (such as clothing, vegetables from District 11, and fancy dresses for Elouise, one of our two Victors). Other Peacekeepers stand around as guards. All except for one: the chief, Jaxson Paine. He is conversing, off to the side, with a fancy capital lady.

Tyson and I crouch down behind a bush, scouting out the area, before sneaking up further. Once we get in a close enough range to hear the chief, Jaxson, I crouch down behind a column next to a row of dying flowers. Tyson does the same.

"-Humphrey Stewart" Jaxson says. I recognize that name. Someone I've heard of before, but I can't quite place it.

"No problem. I can assure you, he won't trouble you much longer." The Capital lady sneers. She wears a puffy neon green dress with fake wings coming out of her exposed shoulder blades. Bulky brown boots laced up her calf and shiny dark hair slicked back into a ponytail with green and yellow ribbons laced through along with a surplus of make up and chemicals smothering her face to finish off her outfit. "You said he had a girl?"

"Yes, just turned 12, first year in the pool for the reaping. Name's Shelly Stewart. 'Little twirp's following in daddy's footsteps."

"It'll be no problem. I can pull a few strings. The Capital is always happy to give purpose to the games." The games? Does she mean the Hunger Games?

Jaxson pulls out a wallet and passes the woman some money. "We wouldn't want any rumors being spread against the capital, do we? Nonetheless, an uprising."

"Oh, we couldn't have that." She exclaims with a hint of sarcasm.

"Silly things such-" Jaxson leans into the woman and whispers something inaudible. Afterwards they both lead back and laugh at each other. The woman places her hand against Jaxson's chest as she leans back and laughs.

After her laughter dies off she looks longingly to him, searching his face and biting her lip. Her hand slides up to cup his cheek. She leads up and plants a kiss on his lips and slips back into her previous positions. "It's been a pleasure."

"Oh, seeya-" Jaxson breathes out as the woman walks away.