Another Tribute

Zalea - The Reaping

District 11

Zalea Wren

Age 16

The Reaping

I awake and find that tears are rolling down my cheek. I sit up slowly and turn to my left to examine the rest of the bed. My mother and father lay extremely close to my brother, Cane, cradled tightly in their arms. My other brother, Thorn, is sitting in the old wooden chair two feet from the foot of the bed. He is asleep, but I'm assuming he had nightmares and woke up at some point.

I slowly ease out of the bed and tiptoe the three feet to the kitchen. I wipe my eyes to get rid of the salty residue the tears left behind. I slowly step over the creaky floorboard and reach for the candle. I light it as silently as I can and then walk back towards the bed. I open the armoire that sits to the right of the bed. I grab a pair I clean pants and a light purple shirt that only has one small hole in it. It will be good for what I have to do this morning. I walk back to the kitchen and grab my jacket off the table. I step silently out into the silent night, candle in hand.

I stand out side and watch the sun rise. I cannot leave the house otherwise I will get shot by peacekeepers, so I just sit and wait for the sun to appear and illuminate this dreadful day.

As soon as it rises I walk back inside and start preparing breakfast. I should say I try to make breakfast. We only have a little grain and oil from the tesserae left. I want to bake some bread but there aren't enough ingredients. Instead I make oatmeal; aka grain mixed with water and then warmed up. As soon as the so-called oatmeal is done I wake my family.

We all eat our food. I give Cane a little bit of mine because he looks too skinny. My mother cleans up the kitchen and tells me I must get ready.

I go take a bath in the cold water we were able to scrounge up. I only take one minute to clean up because cold water is awful. I tell Thorn he has to take one too.

I go to the armoire and find the dress I wore last year. It is a faded white dress with flowers covering it. I grab the belt I always wear and wrap it around the waist. I put on my sandals and go see my mother.

"You must do something with that hair of yours." She tells me.

I go brush it, leaving it naturally wavy, and braid a small section. I wander back to my mother and she approves of my outfit. My father looks over from where he is helping Cane get dressed and stands up. He comes over and places a ring that has been in our family for ages on my right ring finger. He smiles and tells me that he wants me to have it as a token if I am reaped. I hug him and tell him thank you.

After everyone is ready, we walk to the square. They had the preliminary drawings yesterday and I was chosen. They narrowed down the reaping to about 7,000 girls and 7,000 boys. They want to make sure the children reaped are at the square and not in the separate areas for viewing. My brother Cane is only 10 so he isn't in the reaping. Thorn is 17, but he wasn't chosen during the preliminary reaping.

This is my first time being reaped to be reaped as I like to call it, but Thorn has been reaped to be reaped one other time.

We make it to the square and I check in. Then my family goes to stand in the viewing area, and I am left alone.

I walk to the designated spot for 16 year olds but don't see anyone I know. 11 is so large I only know about 15% of the population.

Mayor Perthshire walks onto the stage followed by the always exuberant Calliope Rosen, our escort. After Calliope finally sits down, our victors walk to their seats. Seeder and Chaff walk across the stage with a morose look in their eyes. Mayor Perthshire gives the same speech about the Dark Days that he always does. Calliope looks like she might spontaneously combust from excitement as she waits for him to finish. She practically dances across the stage when it is her turn to speak. Calliope gives a short speech expressing how grateful she is for being here. She finishes her speech, and I swear you can hear a pin drop. Everyone knows what comes next.

Calliope announces "Now it is time to choose this year's tributes!"

"Ladies first!" She saunters over to the large bowl full of names. She picks one up and rushes back to the microphone.

"Zalea Wren!" She screeches with excitement. I stand rigid with fear. I have to participate in The Hunger Games. I walk to the stage mechanically, unable to show any emotion. I make it onto the stage and turn to see thousands of relieved girls. I hear Calliope mumble something about me but I ignore her.

"Time for the boys!" Katri announces. She hurries over to the boy bowl. "Maizen Pitaya!" A boy, who looks to be about 16, walks to the stage with a blank look on his face. He is tall, almost 6'2", has dark brown hair, and an olive complexion. As he comes to stand on the other side of Calliope, his piercing blue eyes land on me.