Not This Time (Hunger Games)

Chapter two ~Carmen~

Carmen Oceana

  The name’s Carmen. Carmen Oceana. I belong to district 4, the fishing district. Some districts envy us because they say we get all the good stuff, but on the contrary, last night I had soggy salmon! I mean seriously! We’re the fishing district, we work our butts off to feed the other districts and what do we get in return? Soggy salmon. But that’s aside from the point. What I’m getting to is my absolute favourite day of the year… Reaping Day.

  When we were younger, my good friend Noah and I always dreamt of what it would be like to win the Hunger Games. We’d win the games, and move into the Victors Village. Living two houses down from one another, we’d visit each other almost every day and... And maybe… just maybe we could…we could move in together and maybe one day get… get married? I know it’s a silly thought but it’s still possible, right? Never mind.

For 4 years now, we had all volunteers, and we’re going to try to keep our streak this year as well. Even though it’s the quarter quell and even if no other girls volunteer, I will. Some people call me heartless, but I beg to differ. I’m the middle child (13), yet my older brother and sister, Opal and Raymond(twins at 18) don’t even seem to care about my younger brother and sister, Elise (7) and Joel (4), plus everybody always depends on me, so I always get all the family responsibilities (And I mean all the family responsibilities).

   If you’re wondering about my parents, there’s not much to tell. My father left us when I was 5 (probably found a friend and is living it up to the Capitol for all I care). My mother, well, she was brought into a “home” after she attempted to commit suicide, (isn’t it ironic that it happened right after my dad left?) and we’re only allowed to visit her once a month. So everything pretty much comes down to me. The only thing that I look forward to in a day is my friend Noah’s jokes. No matter how dire the situation is, he can always cheer me up.

My sister, Opal, stormed into my room (followed by Raymond, as usual). As she tried to make as much noise as possible, she yells in my ear. “CARMEN OCEANA!” I sighed. “What, Opal?”                                                                          “Stop day-dreaming and get ready for Reaping Day!”                                      I sighed again. Big sisters can be such a pain.

  Once she leaves my room I grab a nice, bluey-green dress off of my bed and blue flip-flops to match. I stick some sea-shells in my hair and, finally, I’m ready. I head down to the town square where Rosie Thornspike (our district escort) was standing. She was wearing a green afro with real white roses in it. She also wore a white, frilly, strapless top and a green skirt.

  As usual, she started the draws with a high pitched speech about how the Capitol saved us from starvation and how lucky we were to not end up like district 13. Burned and broken. Although I still believe that there are some survivors in district 13, I never mention that to anyone in case I get brought to the Capitol and whipped, or even worse, killed for denying the “truth.”

  Following the speech, she says “since the ladies have so much more sophistication and poise, we will draw their names first! The first name drawn is… Vera Cray!” Aw! She looks like she would enjoy being in the Hunger Games! If you can imagine the look of pure happiness, cute and innocence plastered on the face of a 12 year old girl, you can picture her face. Well to bad for her, we need volunteers! “I volunteer!” I yell. The crowd goes wild at the success of having volunteers for 5 straight years in a row. I can see Noah and my younger siblings clapping extra hard. I smile and wave to all my adoring fans! (At least I think they adore me)

   “Now we'll draw the boy’s name! The lucky tribute is… Don Stane! She pauses for a few seconds “Oh,” she cries when nobody volunteers for him. “No volunteers?” the crowd boos! I can practically feel their hatred. “Well O.K then!” Oh, Don. I've always hated him. He insulted my family. He said he understood why my dad left us! I still can’t forgive him for it. That'll make the kill more easy. The only reason my dad had to leave was because he was a jerk and didn’t care about his family. (At least I volunteered!)  Good thing Noah didn’t volunteer, I'd be heartbroken if I had to kill him. He doesn’t know it yet, but he has had a crush on me ever since he first saw me. Which was when we were like, six? Something like that. (Hey, I don’t need to keep track of things like when the love of my life and I first meet!)

  I step onto the stage. Don’s expression was a mixture between sadness and surprise. Sadness because he got chosen, and surprise because nobody even bothered to volunteer for him. It was almost as though everyone wanted to watch him die. That moment I felt like slapping the idiot across the face. So I did. This didn’t get a very good reaction from the crowd. Even Noah looked shocked, and he’s used to my rude, violent outbursts. But I did not feel sorry. Getting chosen for the Hunger Games was something honourable, not something to be sad about. I’ve been training for this moment all my life. I guess the term they use is a “career tribute.”

   My eyes searched for the only other girl career tribute I knew of. Opal. She looked as though she swallowed something sour. I couldn’t resist yelling “I’d like to thank my sister, Opal Oceana for teaching me everything I know. Me and her trained side-by-side for days. Without her I would have never been prepared for this honourable event, and would have never volunteered.” The crowd cheered, and I watched her slink away, a smile spreading slowly across my face.

   I turned to shake Don’s hand. I was kind of hoping it would fall off. Too bad Don was to small and stupid to train for the Games. I almost felt sorry for him, but then I reminded myself “Hey, Carmen, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!  It’s not your fault that he’s weak and puny, it’s his families fault. But mostly his, I suppose. So stop feeling sorry and get back to planning your battle strategy!” The first place I would be heading to  would be the Cornucopia’s bloodbath.

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AN: So this was written by @KieraMarsbarsFrowen !!!! Our writing strategies are kind of different I can see.... Thats cool. I have noting to type here...

Oh yes, I have some of the cast set up. I don't have all the cast set up yet though :P

Bye... ~Kam