The Arena

I reached my hand out to try and grab the falling girl, to tell her not to jump. Her eyes met mine and in an instant she was gone. There was no need for this, she needed to live, I was the one who was supposed to die. Not her. The cheers rose from the crowd, a sure sign that they approved of the death. A cannon fires and confetti falls from the sky. Round one goes to me. I look up at the head gamer and in obedience I bow to him. This was the life I now lived. One where in a minute my life could be ended, one where if I lived I was expected to bow and seem grateful to the one who put me here as a chance to show my pride for my home village. But everything in me told me to jump as well. to just run off the cliff, what else was there for me to do but wait to die. 

I walked through the iron gates that lead out of the arena and back to the cages where we all live, the tributes. We are each chosen from a village and sent here, most are criminals and by criminals I mean they stole bread to eat or hunted for meat, those were crimes. Some were bread for just this chance, however the rest of us were chosen because we spoke out. Because we refused to let the life that we were promised die, we knew we were entitled to a better life, and we were not going to taking giving it up on the ground. Once I reached my small cage of a room the doors slide open and I was greeted with a bath and some clean clothes. 

"Did you know her name?" I ask one of the other tributes I share a room with. 

"I think her name was Rose, she was from the York village," says Talea.

Over the past few weeks as we prepared for the fights, Talea and I had become friends. She was a quiet girls from a village only 3 days journey from mine. We understood that this was wrong, that there was more to life than fighting and blood and death. Where we lived there were trees of the most brilliant greens and Mountains that had reds and purples and blues, there was water to drink and fish to eat. But here, there was only flat land and high buildings. Yes the building were beautiful, but compared to Mountains nothing was the same. 

"How did you do it? I thought you were going to lay down your weapon and refuse to fight," Talea asks.

"i did that’s the thing," I says with my unbelief and frustration coming out. "I tried to make myself an easier target, but instead she ran for the cliff stop said "you need to win" and jumped." 

"She killed herself for you? That doesn't make sense."

"Believe me I know, I thought about jumping myself for a second, but there was something in her eyes that told me she meant more than she said."

The buzzing sound telling us it was time for lunch broke us out of our train of thought. We headed out of out room and walked down the long dark and damp corridor to the mess. Most of the other tributes were already eating by the time we got there. 

"A round of applause please for Nicole, I hear Rose was so scared she just jumped." shouted Darius, a handsome man from Olivander who at the moment was looking at me in a rather odd way. The others looked at me and smiled. A wave of uneasiness washed over me. 

After getting my slop plate and drink, all of which consisted and tasted of the color gray, I headed to the table with some questions for my now adoring fans. I knew that something had been planned, but I chose to keep out of it. I wanted to die in the arena if I was never to see home again. Talea had told me they planned something a week ago and were going over the details and once they figured it out they would let her in on the details, well I guess that never happened. 

I sat down next to Darius and handed him my extra roll. 

"What's this for," he asked throwing me a smile. 

"I want to know what is going on. Why did Rose just jump and why aren't you guys surprised to see me?" 

They all look at each other, weighing the options, they know somebody could be listening in on the conversation, but after a silent conversation they decided it best to let me know.

"We are all going to kill ourselves so that you win. There will be no fighting, no blood and the Runners will get so angry that they will have nothing to do but end having the competition for fear that every year the tributes will just lay down arms. Mind you we are all on the same page here, we all agreed except you and Talea, but by the looks of it Talea is on board. I was thinking when I face you I might sing Kumbya and then drown myself." 

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