Never In Your Favour

Prologue - A reaping before it mattered

Down by the sea, centred in coral
Reclining in sand, lulled by a fish shoal,
Let the waves rock you, and drift into sleep,
And when you awake, may the water run deep.
Here is safety, here is peace
Here the waves, give life a new lease.
Here your dreams are cleansed and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Down by the sea, buried far away
A treasure of light, A sunken ray,
Let the moon hit the water as gone is the day,
When once more it's morning, let fear wash away.
Here is safety, here is peace
Here the waves, give life a new lease.
Here your dreams are cleansed and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.

Every district has its own unique lullaby; one that calms uneasy children, scared senseless by the prospect of impending death, into sleep. For districts one, two and three, this lullaby tells of Capitol glory. For district 12, the children are reminded of the meadows at home. District four has the beauty of the ocean as it's comfort. No other lullaby would ever make my sleep so deep and peaceful.
It was to this sound that I drifted into sleep on the eve of the 58th reaping for the hunger games, charmed by my mother's gentle voice. Although I was only seven at the time, my brother was, unfortunately 12, and so he was, for the first time, at risk. As a fairly established family of fishers, we had no need to take out tesserae, but nonetheless, my heart lurched every time I thought of his name, written on that one awful slip of paper. It would be ok. If he was chosen, someone would have to volunteer for him.

The morning of the reaping was grey, and a mist hung out over the ocean, clinging to it like hands to a boat in a storm. It was a welcome change to have a holiday: in district four, everyone helped out with the catch. I had, however, volunteered to help with the nighttime shark mutt watch: some of the creatures had been left over from the first rebellion, and they were always a threat. I was paired with a boy in my class called Finnick. We hadn't really spoken much, but I hoped we'd get along, as we would be working together for the foreseeable future.
As I gazed out of the slightly grimy window, I heard a voice call gently from downstairs.
'Come along Annie, or the peace-keepers will be round here looking for us.' My mother reminded me.
Crossing to my bed, I saw a neatly laid out, beautiful dress: sea green to compliment my eyes. I brushed through my long dark hair, and tied it into a low pony tail.
We all tried to look nice for the reaping.

As a little huddle, our family exited the house, and made our way to the central square, enduring the momentary pain of having our fingers pricked by the fully masked peace keepers. I shivered a little as I took my place in the ranks, wondering what it would be like if I was anticipating the prospect of my own name being called.
A tall, artificially pretty woman called Harley Findler, in a stiff yellow wig and garish pink lipstick shrieked, as usual, about how wonderful the games were going to be and how excited she was. There was a general buzz. We were, after all, a career district of sorts, and we usually had volunteers, so nobody was really worried.
I was snapped out of my musings by Harley's shrill voice.
'May the odds be ever in your favour! Now, of course, ladies first. The female tribute for district four isssss... Guinevere Barrow!'
A timid looking thirteen year old girl looked up and began to shuffle towards the stage. I imagined she would be replaced by a volunteer when they were asked for.
'Next, the boys!' Harley continued. 'The male tribute is... Drueg Triton!'
A firmly built 18 year old leapt into the air with joy, yelling that if anyone dared volunteer for him, he'd  throw a fit. All I did was breathe a sigh of relief that my brother had escaped. As expected, a tall 18 year old whose name faded into the blur of my elation, volunteered to replace Guinevere. Nothing mattered though. Starl was safe.
It was extremely rare to eat anything other than fish in district four, but as I walked downstairs and gazed at the amazing dinner spread before me, I saw that, in celebration, we were to feast on meat bought from a merchant who had been to District 12. I had never tasted anything so wonderful, though that may have been due to a lack of variety prior. At eight o'clock sharp, I headed out to the coast path to find my night watch partner.

He was sitting, legs dangling off the edge of the jetty, fiddling with a little piece of rope, tying knots in it and undoing them again with considerable speed. He had fluffy, sandy hair and cracked a very heartwarming smile as he saw me approach. Quite thin, he had a couple of teeth missing where he was probably waiting for adult ones.
'Hey!' He beamed. 'I'm guessing you're Annie Cresta, right?'
I nodded.
'Finnick Odair' he introduced himself, extending a hand which I took with a smile and a reply:
'I'm surprised they let two seven year olds manage the night watch.'
'Well we are only one boat of about 10, so we only have a very small section of coast. I'm sure we'll do great though because I'm actually eight not seven. My birthday was last week. I'm using my father's boat!' He said with an air of pride, gesturing to a nice, sturdy looking vessel moored to his left.
'Hop in!'
We chatted for hours, and although I'd usually get tired, we slipped into conversation so easily that the night passed in a moment. We talked about our parents, our hobbies, our favourite foods and everything in between. I told him about my brother, Starl, and I learnt he had a baby sister, Arabelle. By the end of the night we knew where the other lived, and were firm friends. I hadn't had many friends before, although Finnick found this hard to believe, as he said I had a kind heart.
I looked forward to seeing my newfound friend at the night watch every day, and many nights, if I was overly tired, I'd wake up in the morning to find a blanket over me, and Finnick making sure I was alright. We really were inseparable, and the best of friends.

It was the morning of my eighth birthday, 1 month later, and I woke up at five o'clock because I was so excited. I was going to have all my family with me, as they all had days off work. On top of that, the head of the fisherman's guild, Leta Ebb, was to stop by in the evening with a special gift. However, I was most excited by the idea that I was going to spend a whole day with Finnick.
He arrived at 6:30, a whole hour before I had asked him to, and said he was so excited to see me that he couldn't wait to come over. We spent the day by the sea - my favourite place. We even had a picnic with freshly caught fish. When it was finally time for dinner, we came home to find an abundance of candles, and a luxurious spread of food, with meat from District twelve. Then came the presents, and oh what presents they were! A beautiful layered dress from my parents, a new fishing rod from my brother, which must have cost the Earth, and, from Leta, a special type of nut from District 7, which apparently cost a month's pay just for ONE! I appreciated it of course, but it wasn't until I actually bit into it that I realised how amazing a gift it really was. It was like heaven had exploded into my mouth, and I knew right then and there that it was my favourite food. I adored it, and my face lit up with joy.
The final gift I received was from Finnick. He handed me a very small box, and inside, nestled in a little piece of fabric, was a beautiful sea green bead. It was a Thalassa Gem, the type of which was very rarely found on the ocean floor of district 4. He also explained the gift:
'I want this to always remind you of the ocean in our wonderful home, so if you're ever away, you can look at it, and think of everything that makes you happy. One day Annie, I'll buy you a whole necklace of these. You're my best friend.'
That night, I sat on my sofa, with my head on Finnick's shoulder, and he sung me the lullaby of District four. I felt... at peace.