A Pact To Keep, A Game To Win

1

"Ladies first!"
The crowd draws a collective breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I'm feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me that it's not me.Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it's not me.

It's Madge Undersee.

I turn slowly to the girl on my left. Her face has lost all color and in her expensive white dress and light blond hair she looks quite ghostly. How could this have happened? Her chances had been so slim, she had never needed to apply for tessera, and she lived in town. She was the mayor's daughter after all! Even though that did not exempt her from the reaping, five names was nothing in a bowl of thousands- making her about as safe as a 12 year old whose name was in once. Why mine was in there twenty-three times. I had needed to feed my family somehow.Madge still had not moved, but her breathing had grown quite rapid and panicked. A white suited Peace Keeper captured her arm causing her to jump. Spinning her head to face me I saw all my fear and more reflected back. Grabbing my hand she squeezed it, eyes pleading.She wasn't exactly my friend, but besides Gale she was the next closest thing I had to one. We ate lunch together at school, sat together and partnered for sports activities, but rarely talked. We merely kept each other company. But there really wasn't anything I could do for her now. Was there?Tears welled up in her eyes as the Peace Keeper wrenched her away. Her frozen state had already caused enough of a delay and there was only so much air time left that the Capitol could dedicate to a poor District like 12.As she ascended the stairs to the stage it was the first time I noticed that her father, a tall, balding man, had risen from his seat of prominence and was frantically talking to Effie Trinket- the pallor of his face matched that of his daughter's, no longer a composed dignitary but another scared parent. This is why I never want to have children. The pain would be too much.

This just further proves that no one, not even the mayor can escape the pain inflicted by the Capitol.Effie simply brushed him off, turning to collect Madge, chin up as Mayor Undersee stomped over to Head Peace Keeper Cray prodding him with a finger, his face now red with anger- you could tell he was having harsh words with him, though they could not be heard. Cray just sighed and shrugged. There was nothing he could do. Even those in authority over us are powerless against the Capitol. I wonder if this could be problematic. If it really caught on that the Head Peace Keeper and politicians actually have no sway, people with rebellious thoughts, like Gale, could take advantage of that.Then suddenly as if just realizing this was being televised all over Panem and that he was causing as much of a stir as Haymitch Abbernathy (the drunken mentor who fell off the stage earlier), he made his way back to his seats; body composed but distress still written on his face. The citizens of Panem are getting quite the show out of District 12 this year.The tears were now coursing down Madge's cheeks, her fine gold Mockingjay pin twinkling in the afternoon sun. How betrayed she must feel. Never has she had to be fearful of being chosen. The chance of someone from town begin reaped over someone from the Seam was slim to none.

In all my life I've rarely seen it happen. It is what keeps us divided, why there is so little trust between the two parts of our district. Her harmless and now seemingly ironic comment to Gale and I earlier today when we sold her some strawberries, rang in my ears, Well if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I? She had even said it with a bit of a smile. But how could she have known? For all her life she's lived in her safe, secure, well fed little world, with virtually no fear of entering the Hunger Games. Except once a year her world is interrupted with the universal nerves of the reaping. Probably never to the same degree as the kids from the Seam. Once the ceremony is over life continues on just as unaffected as ever. Perhaps relieved no one she knew was reaped, but not this year. This year her world has been shattered."Well isn't this exciting!"My eyes were still fixated on Madge when Effie hurried to the boy's bowl, her spiked his clicking emphasized her annoyance- things always had to be right on time with her, and plucked out the first name she touched. None of the slow deliberation she had made drawing the girl. She quickly opened the slip of paper and called out into the microphone,

"Rory Hawthorne."
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