The Hunger Games: My Story

Chapter Two

2 o'clock. That is when the reaping begins. Emily is as safe as she can be. There are 15 slips of paper in that ball that say Cassandra Belcourt. My fear for her being reaped has gone down, there is only one slip that says Emily Belcourt. This is her first reaping, she's only 12. I climb out of my soft comfortable bed, and walk to my sister's room. There she is, looking so peaceful and healthy. But only if she was all the time. She got very ill after contracting the flu. She has a very weak immune system, it might get even weaker. I walk to the end of her bed and whisper,"Eme, it's time to get up." She stirs for a moment and moans. "I don't want to be reaped Cass." She has called me that for the longest time I can remember. She couldn't pronounce my name correctly, so she started calling me Cass. I called my father Daddy. That is, before he was executed after trying to leave the district. My mother grieves about him every now and then, but most of the time she calls him a fool. Coward. Weak. Disturbed. She says she is glad he is gone, but when she says it, I can see pain in her sparkling blue eyes. My father had black hair and grey eyes, and my mother has fiery red hair and blue eyes. So I guess I can pause and ponder about how I got my auburn curly hair and emerald green eyes.

"Eme, come on! It's reaping day!" I say, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. She finally shoots up and says, " Cassandra I don't want to be reaped!" I stare into her fear filled grey eyes. "Emily.....you won't." "Yes I will! I will!" She sobs, and collapses on the bed. I don't know what to do. I slowly walk to her and sit and hug her for awhile. She's like a slug for the next twenty minutes. She doesn't really move, but I finally bribe her out of bed with chocolate. Emily takes a shower before me, and when she gets out, she's a bit calmer. "Cass," Emily says as she fixes herself some oatmeal,"Do you think I'll be picked?" she asks. I shake my head, trying to reassure her. "Eme, the chances of you being picked are so low. Very low." That puts a little bit of hope into Emily. "Really?" she asks, her eyes sparkling. I nod, and she grins from ear to ear. " I'm going to go feed the plants," she says. "They need quite a bit of help because last time I fed them was yesterday. She slips out of her chair and pushes her oatmeal towards me. "I'm all done with it," she says. "You can have it." I laugh. "No way, sucker. I'm going to have strawberries in the garden. She shrugs. "Whatever. At least I'll get some protein," she says. "I'm sure strawberries have protein," I say. Emily shrugs again. It's clear that she doesn't want to talk about our discussion anymore. I watch her water some plants when my mother comes down the stairs. She has some sort of drink in her hand. "Hello, Cassandra dear," she says. She obviously didn't get any sleep last night. Her blue eyes still have a sparkle, but she has bags under her eyes.
I look around, to see if Emily is out of earshot, and say, "Emily's really worried about being picked." My mother nods. "I know, dear," she says. "She wanted to sleep with me last night but I said no. I think she has no chance of being reaped, but all we can do is wait."
My mother is right. All we can truly do is wait.