73rd Hunger Games

Chapter 1: Reaping Day.

 I’m running through the woods of district 7. Or should I say being carried. There are giant bird mutts and dogs coming after us. We turn a corner and jump into some bushes. I am told to be very still and quiet by my father, and my mother guards me, after kissing my forehead. Suddenly, a bird mutt swoops down onto her legs and begins picking at her face. I can hear her painful screams. My dad tries to save her but another bird pins him down and starts clawing at him. I could hear all my families death screams, my parents, my grandparents, and all my aunties and uncles (except Auntie Johanna). All of them. Dead. I silently cried until the mutts disappeared. I walked around quietly. My grandparents and aunties and uncles were all dead. I started to sob. My parents, however, were still clinging onto life. My father’s legs were ripped off and my mother’s arms had been eaten. I sat in the middle of them, crying and sobbing and asking them not to leave me. My mum’s chest suddenly stops rising and falling “NOOOOO!” “MOMMY!” .My dad suddenly clutches my hand and places a locket inside my hand. “A mockingjay.” He faintly whispers, barely audible. Then is hand goes limp. “DADDY!! DADDY NOOOO!!”

I wake with a jolt. It was just a dream. No. It wasn’t. That’s how my family died. Everyone except Auntie Johanna. I burst into tears. It’s the only time I cry, Johanna cries too, because of her nightmares. She’s a victor, she won the hunger games and refused to be a muse. That’s why our families dead. I don’t blame her though. She didn’t want our family dead. I would have done the same thing. I don’t usually cry, only when I have this dream. Auntie Johanna cries sometimes too, at night, I can hear her sobs through the thin wooden walls. Johanna says that I’m brave, she said she knew it as soon as I showed up on her door step at 4 years old. I remember that like it happened yesterday. After my family’s horrific death, I walked on my chubby toddler legs, with tears in my eyes, through the woods of district 7. I don’t know how I remembered the way to her house, but when I got there I was so worn out I just slept on the concrete steps until she came out in the morning and found me. She knew what had happened as soon as she saw me, so she fed me, cleaned me and put me in bed silently without a word. Then she left me in the small bedroom. As soon as she closed the door I could hear her crying.  Ever since then we have been close.

I look over to one of my black walls and see my calendar. Then I see written on it: Reaping Day. Oh no. I look at my clock it reads 11:02am. Wow, I’ve sat here for 2 whole hours! I quickly wipe my tears away with the heel of my hand and jump out of bed. I run my fingers through my hair quickly and throw on my nicest clothes. My favourite black leggings with a black vest top and black boots. Some people say I’m a Goth I don’t think I am, but so many people think it, I think it must be true. I quickly brush my teeth and stare at my awful reflection. I am slightly tanned – since I live in one of the sunniest districts – But I have bags under my eyes so deep, they look a dark shade of purple and black. My short black hair sticks out at all end. I shrug at myself. I don’t really care what people think about me.

I walk down the empty hallway, full of empty rooms that we have no use for. I peek into Johanna’s room, she’s not there, as I suspected, she’s probably in the back garden, throwing her axes at the capital seal. We both hate the capital for taking away our family, but we don’t say anything or else we might be turned into an avox. I walk down the house steps slowly, thinking of my happy childhood – before my parent’s death. I used to be a happy kid, running around, laughing with my friends. Now I’m looked at like the isolated freak that shouldn’t exist. I hear a whizz, as I step off the last step, and see a metal coloured object fly past my face. Auntie Johanna’s axe. She does this when I’m tired to ‘wake me up’. It doesn’t even scare me now. She walks through the dining room door smiling but, as always, the smile is only half hearted. I smile my crooked smile too and say “Morning, I’m going for a walk in the woods.”

“Ok but be careful.” She replies, as always.

I step out the door into the bright sunlight. As I walk through the victors village I see former victors doing regular stuff. No one notices me though. I finally make it through and head up the dusty track that leads to the woods. No one is really about, except the snobby mayors kids. They run about in fancy clothes playing tag. They don’t have to worry about anything. Their names are only in the reaping once and the capital don’t hate them. One of the boys – Bark - comes running up to me. Oh boy. I think to myself. I wrap my fingers into fists. “Hey Gothie,” he says. I clench my fingers harder. “What you doing? Going to see your lame parents?” I clench my Teeth. Ignore him. I think to myself. “You know, I think they deserved to die, I mean they such wimps. They didn’t have one brave bone in th-“He doesn’t get to finish his sentence because I punched him in the nose. I feel a crunch and my hand is suddenly wet. His nose is now broken and bleeding. I hear him screams of pain and his father yelling at me to come back, but I won’t. I’m running towards my parent’s grave, tears falling freely from my eyes. I hate him. I think to myself. I hate everyone. I finally reach there and collapse on the ground sobbing. Begging them to come back to me. I must be here for a while because Johanna comes and tells me it’s time for the reaping. I stand and let her guide me to the town square. We get there just as the bell chimes. I sign in and stand with the other 14 year olds.

Sunset Autumn trots up on stage and introduces the mayor. He starts his stupid speech and I tune out. All I can think is not me, its not me. Me and Johanna thought I would be chosen at age 12, but we were wrong. Yet, every year we still worry that I may go into the vicious games to fight to the death. I didn’t realise that I was biting my finger nails until I tasted blood. My finger nails have been bitten so much that they were just scabbed over. The mayor has finally finished speaking and Sunset bounces out of her seat and stands in the middle of the bowls. I look at the girls. 3 slips have my name on it. 3 slips in thousands. I don’t have to sign up for tesserae, luckily. Sunset tries to secure her wig in place as she bends into the bowl and picks the unlucky name. Her wig has fallen askew now, so she tries to fix it as much as she can. She slowly opens the slip and reads a name I don’t hear over the pounding in my ears. I don’t know who got chosen until a rude girl pokes me hard in the shoulder. Sunset says the name again.

Oak Mason.