𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩'𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩 || 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜:

𝙿𝙾𝚅:𝚅𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙰

I wake up to hear the blaring sound of my alarm clock. I sit up and slam my first on the clock. I rub my temples, trying to heal the ringing in my ears. Today seems colder than normal. Darker than normal. Today was the day, today is the reaping. The day that is every parent's nightmare, the day that is made of every child's fear...

   I sigh as I roll out of bed to get the dreaded day started. I walk across the floor, the wooden floorboards creaking under my weight. I open my room door to head into the kitchen. My mother is standing over our kitchen island preparing breakfast. She looks so peaceful despite today's possible outcome.

  I walked over to her sitting down on a kitchen stool. I reached over the counter to grab some of the salmon toast she had prepared. She looks at me with her deep golden eyes, "Good morning sweetie, how did you sleep?" I look up at her as I continue to eat, "I slept well, it's not every day I get to sleep till six." My mother smiles at me, understanding the situation. My family doesn't sleep in very often, we live in the 4th district. The district that is known for the great fishing business. My father Bennet Sky was the Victor of the 46th Annual Hunger Games and mother was 44th victor. their fame is great for their seafood restaurant. Every morning before the sun would rise my father would usually take me out on the boat to go fishing. He would teach me about the so called 'necessities' of life. He taught me how to be balanced, how to be kind, but most importantly how to SURVIVE. Today was different, today survival was the trophy that dangled in front of everyone. Everyone wanted to take hold of it, but not everyone could. Today, 24 children will be chosen to participate in a death sentence.

My father walks out the restroom, with his hair gelled and slicked back. "Verena, do you want to take a short walk on the beach with me?" I smile at my dad nodding happily. "Yeah, of course. Let me grab my jacket first." I rush into my bedroom to grab my jacket to get ready for the walk. I get outside and slip on my boots and run to catch up with my dad. We start walking out of the Victors Village and make our way towards the beach. We pass the neighborhoods near the coastline. The streets are usually bustling this time of year, since it is summer. But today was a stark contrast of the every day.  

As we get closer to the beach we are greeted by the beautiful sunrise. I open my arms wide to embrace the warmth of the rising sun. The feeling of peace washed over me, which was hard to find especially on reaping day. Me and my dad walk down the wooden stairs to get to the sand. Our shoes squish into the soft sand. I bend down to take off my shoes. My toes disappear into the sand. We continue to walk on the beach until we reach the shoreline, where the waves crash. We arrive at a large log, we both take a seat.

  My father's voice interrupts my thoughts. "Rena, I wanted to give you something before The Reaping." He turns to me and holds out his closed fist. He opens his hand to show a small sheathed filet knife. I laughed slightly, "Dad, how would that help me? I don't plan to filet my way out of the reaping." My father puts his hand on my shoulder, "Rena, think of this as a reminder of where you're from. We are wealthy, yes, but we are still humans who rely on food, water, and air. We are all the same. You will be the same person wherever you go, and so will I. Remember who you are. Remember your values. Fight for what you believe in. Let this remind you of that." I pull him into a tight hug. "Thank you dad. I won't ever forget." I take the knife out of my hands and put it in my pocket.

I started to walk back to our house by myself since my father ended up having some type of important meeting with a friend. Why would my dad give me a gift before the reaping? Gosh, is  he telling me that I'm getting selected? Shoot. But how would he know so quickly? But why would he know? My thoughts come to pause as I make a left into Victors Village. Andrew leans against the opened metal gate staring at me. I've known Andrew for years. His family supplies our oysters. Ever since we were young kids we'd see each other at the dock, and when we'd have free time we'd go to the beach together. We'd go to the beach everyday together no matter what. May it be in the morning or at night. If we couldn't meet at the beach then he'd meet me outside Victor's Village. He's only two years older than me but he looks like a grown up. He always gets eyed by girls in our school, which I find hilarious. He is very uninterested in getting married. All he cares about is food and swimming.

"What are you doing Andrew ?" I try to walk past him to get inside the gated area. He grabs my arm stopping me, "I wanted to see you before the reaping." I look at him slightly shocked at his odd kindness, "Thanks. It actually means a lot." He smiles at me slightly before opening his mouth again, "Don't be nervous, you'll be fine, we'll be fine." He pulled me into an unexpected hug. I gave him a soft squeeze back, I never expected anything like this from him. Even though Andrew and I had known each other for years we never really expressed our emotions to each other, we were just always there, together. We finally let go of each other as I elbowed him lightly, "Hey, now. Let's not get too emotional. Neither of us have gotten picked yet. Let's leave the crying till then." He laughs, backing away, saluting to me, "Yes ma'am." I wave as he makes his way back home.

I walk back towards my house passing by the other Victor's houses. District 4's most well known Victor is Finnick Odair, he won at age 14 last year. It's crazy that we're the same age, but how we're in such different parts of life. I swear he seems familiar. I heard he won his games by receiving a trident as a gift. I guess that's one of the perks of being a capital favorite. I don't see him around very often. He is always in the capital. Maybe I'll have the pleasure to meet him some day.

I arrive back in my house, my mom sits in the living room eagerly waiting for me. "Rena I already ironed a dress for you. Let's get you ready." I nodded as we walked to my room. I see laying on my bed a beautiful white dress with blue embroidered orchids. I untie the back of the dress and slip into it. My mom helps me tie the back up, then starts braiding my hair. She puts it up in a messy bun. She leads me to the mirror to look at my outfit. "Verena, you look so stunning!" She starts tearing up as her hands remain on my shoulders. "My girl, I love you so much. You make me so proud." I turn my body so I can face her. I give her a big hug as my eyes start to sting with tears. "I love you mom. Everything will be ok." She nodded slightly as she walked me to the door where my dad waits for me. He gives me a final hug, before I attend the nightmare, The Reaping.