Midnight Azalea-A Story of the 34th Hunger Games

Chapter 3-The Reaping

The line shortens until I must draw blood to take a fingerprint. I see Lenora a few lines down draw blood as well, and print. We move to separate crowds. I stand among the sixteens while she stands among the eighteens. we make eye contact and then part to view Cashatra Moracas, our host that will be announcing our deaths.

What if it's me?

"Ladies and Gentlemen," she announces. "Happy Hunger Games, and..." (We all mouth the words as we are used to them so much) ..."may the odds be ever to your favor."

Her Capitol accent disgusts me, spoiled brats they are, finding rich pleasure from unwealthy tributes fighting to the death until one of the pool of twenty four remains. I roll my eyes, but the color leaving my face as I realize I am on camera right now. Peacekeepers are training their guns on us right now. I can assure myself they could shoot one tiny bullet through my brain right now, and i wouldn't even feel it.

I imagine myself sinking N to the ground, a pool of blood behind my head, until the Treaty of Treason is over and I see Len, Lee, and the other one standing behind Cashatra Monacas. "Ladies first!" Cashatra says in her giddy voice. Exciting. How exciting watching children murder eachother brutally on live television! How exciting Cashatra Monacas, Capitol Scum!

What if it's me?

I now notice I've bitten my nails raw, and she's already drawn the name before I notice I can't do anything else to deteriorate my nails any further. I bite my cheek, anticipating the worst.

"Azalea Mist!"

Before I can process it, my inside of my cheek begins to flow blood. Now? It was me. And the shock leaves me motionless, but I must move to avoid getting shot on the spot. I maneuver my way around the other girls in my year and make it to the stage. I look out upon my home. I see the hills and orchards in the distance, and I spot my village, but not my house. The fields the crops everything. I see it all.

Happy Hunger Games for me.

"Everyone clap for our newest tribute!"

I hold back my tears and smile. I smile wide, smile so the other tributes that will be watching this later know I'm tough. I can be reaped.

But nobody claps, nobody does a thing. It's just silence. Cashatra is the only one clapping. I spot my mother in the distance, her snowy gray eyes and long brown hair much alike mine. Bruises on her cheeks and arms. My father. Brown graying hair, blue eyes, and a muscular build.

I love you.

This will be my demise, because right when the gong sounds I bet my life I'll die.

Bye life.

I almost forget the boy tribute must be called. "Now for the men!"

Again...super exciting were being sent off to our fates!

"Natiel Gabernensk."

I don't know him, but he's seventeen years old and the biggest one in his crowd. He gladly steps up to take the stage. And she holds up our arms, taking our hands in hers. "Please cheer for our tributes of District Eleven!"

Again...nothing.

Silence fills the void, and we are taken to the doors of the Justice Building. I take one last moment to wave goodbye, not knowing what'll happen next, and the doors shut behind us.

My only thought, aside from I'm going to die is the fact that one of us isn't going to make it if there's a victor from district eleven. And most likely that one that won't make it will be me.