Rue's Fight

Chapter One - The Reaping

Chapter One - The reaping

I wake in my room, a small box shaped room with only a bed, drawers and little rays of light shining into the dark place. The house was silent, along with everything else in this part of District 11. Of course it would be silent, today is the reaping day.

I slowly change, and head out into the fields where I work. We get a half day today, as the reaping begins at 2pm, where one girl and one boy tribute will be picked. Its my first year, so I'm not internally worried. My family, which is my Mother, my two younger brothers Leo and Jeff, and my youngest sibling, my sister Alyssa, are slowly starving, just as I am. I applied for more tessarae to gain more grain and oil, for us to live off.

My father left my mother just after Alyssa was born. I don't know why, but Mother will never tell me. She likes to hide herself in her own protective shell whether the topic arises, so it doesn't often. I need her here, I could never raise this family in my own.

I head to the fields, where we grow our crops. These crops are sent away to the Capital, none of it comes to us. If we want out food, we grow it or trade what we have for it, my family have never really had the need to trade. Mother is one of the school dinner cooks, so she sneaks food out. Yet, its never enough to live off. If she takes too much, it won't go unnoticed and then she could lose her job. And, its all we live off.

I only get paid little for my work in the fields, as I am a child in their eyes. What they don't see is that the children get more work done than the adults, who get paid far much more because of their age. Even, the peacekeepers that watch over us, don't say a word against it.

The peacekeepers are here to keep us under control, to watch us. Make sure we aren't secretly planning a rebellion against the capital in secret. Its a strong system, but very weak. It was nearly brought down once before, and I believe it could be brought down again.

They need not worry though, when the hunger games was created as a warning against rebellions, it scared us all right. Out of all the 12 districts we have been affected the worse, I believe. I have never been outside district 11, it is forbidden, but here we are starving, we are living in filthy conditions, and people here die regularly from the cold. We can't afford medicines, and we cannot afford to train doctors and nurses, the system of health in district 11 is simple.

If you don't recover, you die.

In the fields while my mind has been elsewhere, I realize I have began to sing. I do it regularly without even thinking, its for the mockingjays. They are birds that are the offspring of Jabberyjays and mockingbirds, that repeat human musical notes, its beautiful to me. But, you must give respect to the bird, for it to repeat your song.

Others join in, and I see the peacekeepers start to pay more attention. They don't like us joining in with the mockingjays, as a mockingjay is a creature the capital didn't intended to exist. The jabberjays were meant to repeat human conversations, during the uprising against the capital, but their plan failed, and the birds were released to die off. But, the mated with mockingbirds, and lived on.

They never stop us though, as there is nothing against it saying we can't sing to them, and in a way, it makes me feel proud. They could take my life, my family and my home, but they can't stop the mockingjays singing to me, and my response. It's almost a victory to me.

Eventually, we are allowed to head home to prepare for the reaping. My mother washes my hair, and has chosen a green dress for me to wear.

" You look just like your granny."

I never got to meet my gran, she died before I was born. But, everyone tells me she was a wonderful woman, so full of life, and so gentle. So, I'm happy to have taken after her, and appear similar to her. There's not many people in our family worth mentioning to be honest.