To Be Home Again (Hunger games/Clove)

The Morning Of

I woke up first like I do every morning and wished I hadn't as it's reaping day also known as the worst day of the year. No one works or goes to school on reaping day so I let Maggie and Sylvia sleep in, slipping on some clothes and writing a note telling them where I was going before making my way out into the world. I wasn't sure what I planned on doing today but I had a few dollars in my pocket so the first thing I did was make my way over to our trading center. The sun had just risen over the horizon, casing a vibrant orange and pink glow over all of district 7. I've never been particularly fond of the place I live but one thing I can say is that if you catch it at the right time of day it can be quite beautiful.

On the way to the trading center I passed the square where the stage for today's reaping was being built and I groaned internally, just the sheer volume of peacekeepers in the area was enough to make me wish I hadn't gotten out of bed. I walked by quickly, making sure to keep my head down and before I knew it I was standing in front of the trading center. When I walked in I was met with the familiar scent of paper, there was a person who sold leather bound books right by the door so his face was always the first I saw. I nodded at his as a way of saying 'good morning' before continuing my walk thought the building. I passed vendor's selling everything from clothes to household items to food to makeshift weapons.

I stopped at a stand ran by one of my best friend's families, "morning Willow, hi Mr. Payette." I smiled at my friend and her father. "oh good morning Briar-Rose, what brings you in today?" Mr. Payette asked causing me to wince slightly, only a handful of people called me by my full name, most of which were the older people in my life and other than that, Sylvia when she's mad at me. It reminds me too much of my dad, Rose was his moms name so he made a point to call me by my full name. I shook it off and smiled, "I figured I'd come by to say hi and buy breakfast." I explained as Mr. Payette excused himself to help another customer leaving Willow and I alone once again. "okay Wil, what do you got for me today." I said, breathing in deeply as I looked over the assortment of baked goods before me.

"we have our usual breads, one topped with herbs and grains and for the special treat today we have apple and cheese tarts." she pointed to each item as she spoke. The apple tarts were expensive, more that double the price of the regular roles but since it was reaping day I decided to splurge and I bought one for each of it. I held the warm bag to my chest as I walked back across the square and all the way home where I found Sylvia and Maggie were already awake. Sylvia was stood over the stove, pushing scrambled eggs around a pan while Maggie stood at the sink washing berries. "oh, there you are, breakfast is ready." Sylvia smiled, scooping eggs into all of our plates before handing it to Maggie to add the berries.

"I figured we could have something special with breakfast so I went to the Payettes stand and picked us up these." I said kicking off my boots and walking into the kitchen, placing the still warm bag on the table. Sylvie raised an eyebrow at me, pulling the bag closer to her and taking a peek inside. She gasped, taking a deep breath from the bag before pulling out one of the tartes. "Bri, how much did these cost?" she looked at the perfect tarte in amazement before putting one on each of our plates and handing them to us. "all together, no more than a regular loaf would've costed and beside its a special day so it deserves to be started with a special breakfast... And by special day, I mean no work." I added a laugh at the end while she smiled. We ate in silence as we usually did, except today we were quiet because everyone was enjoying the tarts.

Sylvia was the first to finish as usual so she got up and put a pot on to boil, once it was finished she brought it to the bathroom to put in the tub then filled it the rest of the way with normal water. Maggie went first, then me and finally Sylvie, all the while we talked idly about what was going on at work and asking Maggie yes or no questions about school. Once we were finished we got dressed into the clothes we'd picked for the reaping. "who do you want to do your hair today Mags?" I asked as I finished doing up my dress. I looked up at her through the mirror and from where she sat on the bed. She thought for a moment before pointing at me. "okay, I'll get started on mine then, if you need a hand let me know." Sylvia smiled before leaving the room.

Maggie sat on the floor in front of me as I brushed her hair. "do you want one braid or 2?" I asked, placing the brush beside me and running my fingers through her long brown hair. She held up 2 fingers, glancing over her shoulder. "okay, hold still." I chuckled and got to work. We sat in silence until I finished and she got up to look in the mirror. She walked back over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, "you're welcome Mags, now listen. I know we have this talk ever year but the same goes, the chances are low but one of us might be reaped and if it's me I want you to be good for Sylvia, don't argue, listen when she tells you to do choirs, eat the things she makes; and most importantly just be good to each other, okay?" I said, holding her by the shoulders.

She nodded, the frown evident in her face as she fell back into my arms, squeezing so tight that i thought she'd crush my ribs and knocking all the air out of me. "30 minute warning just sounded, you might want to start on your hair Bri." Sylvia said from the doorway. I nodded and sent Maggie off before walking towards the mirror, brush clutched so tightly in my hand that my knuckles turned white. As I worked the brush through my hair I found that I was holding my breath in an attempt to stop myself from crying. There is nothing I feared more than going into the games and I was usually okay on reaping day but for some reason a pit had formed in my stomach and I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.