Life or Death

The Reaping

Jane' pov
            It was a normal day, except one thing, everybody was excited, maybe too excited. I opened my curtains to the blinding daylight of the morning.  My mother rushed in and ushered me off my loft bed and to my closet."Oh dear, what should you wear?" My mum muttered as she dug through my messy closet.
           "Why are you so panicky, it's just like every other day. Right?"asked, sure of the fact that I didn't miss anything.
           Mum gaped at me"Uh, no. Today's the reaping. Now thank your lucky stars that there's a one in a thousand chance you'll be picked," then her voice was very hushed"everybody knows it's rigged."
         After that it was silent. Mum chose a pink tank and a black pleated skirt for me to wear, and then she put my golden blond hair up into a bun. My brother has been training for the reaping ever since he could walk. It scares me that he actually wants to be reaped, just so he can prove himself to everyone. He doesn't need that though, he's got the brains to last him to about the penultimate day, but soon he'd have to rely on strength, which, yes he does train, just not that well. When we got to the town square, everybody was talking about how if they win the games, they'll spend their money on this, or that, or whatever. It felt like I was the only person who didn't want to be a part of the capital's sick games. Then, the annoying dude who always calls out the names walked onto the stage."Hello everybody! Today from our female pick is......"he gently reached his hand into the ball and gingerly held up the tiny slip of paper " isssssssssss, Jane Rudgaurd!"
             I looked around, hoping maybe somebody would volunteer, but no, I slowly made my way to the stage and stood before the crowd. My mouth went dry, my vision started to get blurry, my palms were sweaty. I looked down at the crowd below me, then that's all I remember. The whole rest of that day was a blur.