Tobelaide's Mockingjay

Swim.

* HER POV *

I jumped..

My hair suspended in the air, arms and legs flailing.. Time stopping.

Splash!

What the hell?!
Suddenly I'm submerged in water.

The shock of the situation takes my breath away, the icy water engulfing me and trying to drown me into a watery grave.

For a moment I stopped.. Letting it sink me.. Feeling my mother urging me on back in district twelve.

I can't breathe.

My life flashes before my eyes.. My childhood, my home, Toby.

In an instant I fight back, clawing my way out of the water and throwing my head above the surface.
I wipe my hair away viciously, gasping for sweet air.. Black air.. To fill my lungs.
I flail about helplessly, trying to find something to hold on to.

If I panic, I will drown.
And that's how I survived.

I left all my feelings and emotions back on the podium, my eyes trained in the approximate direction of the Cornucopia.
Soon I start to dive ahead, plunging myself under the water, arms outstretched before me and my feet propelling me toward whatever I was about to encounter.

I ripped the water out from in front of me and threw it behind me, like my feelings and emotions.

I was put in this arena for the sole purpose of killing others my age, maybe even younger.
If I was to be a death machine, I could not afford to care.

Swim, breathe, swim, breathe... Gasp..

It felt so claustrophobic; not being able to breathe regularly.. Not knowing when I will arrive to the centre of the arena; the cornucopia.

I couldn't hear anything and even if there was sound, I wouldn't be able to hear it under water...
Everything was muffled and unclear, even the sound of my own splashing sounded so distant and vague.

I didn't stop.

I kicked my legs and threw my arms in front of me like there was no tomorrow.

Because for all I know, if I stopped now, there would be no tomorrow.