The hunger games continued

Chapter 17- The reaping

I wake screaming, I sit up straight in bed panting and sweaty, Sonny stirs and then wakes, "are you ok?" she mumbles, I nod, "yeah everything's fine, go back to sleep" she rubs her eyes and yawns, "nah I can't sleep" she says sleepily, "what time is it?"

"I'll check" I get up and look at the clock at the end of the hall, nearly ten, we should probably be getting up now, "quarter to" I say walking back into the bedroom, "I'm going to have a shower" says Sonny walking out of the room, I go into my own bathroom and turn the water on, I slip out of my nightgown and tie up my hair, I let the warm water wash over me, I decide to wash my hair, so I take it out of its bun, I rub Shampoo into it, massaging my scalp, remembering how mom used to do this for me when I was little, after today I wonder if I'll ever see her again? I shake the thought out of my head, refusing to let myself think like that, I wash the shampoo out of my hair and do the same with the conditioner, I leave it in while I shave my legs and wash myself with soap, after I have washed all the conditioner out I hop out and dry myself with a towel, I wrap it around me and go back into my bedroom, I'm going through my underwear drawer there's a knock at the door, "come in" I answer looking up, mom opens the door and steps inside, "hi" she says shutting the door behind her, "hi" I answer quietly, she walks over and hugs me, I instantly start crying, "why are they doing this to us? we haven't done anything" she hugs me tighter, them holds me at arms length, she looks into my eyes and speaks as if she needs me to listen very carefully, "it's not your fault, Snow's son is seeking revenge, we rebelled against his dad and then we killed him, this is my fault, not yours, none of this is your fault" I nod, and she pulls me into her again, I hug her back and soon my tears have dried, "hey" she says, pulling away, "I have a surprise, come with me" she takes my hand and we walk down to Sonny's room and mom knocks, "Sonny, I have a surprise for you" she says through the door, after a minute Sonny opens the door, mom smiles and takes Sonny's hand with her spare one, we walk down stairs and go into the lounge room, "surprise!" she says gesturing to two beautiful dresses laid out on the sofa, "oh mom! they're beautiful! where did you get them?" I exclaim, going over to stroke them, "they were mine and Prim's" she says, smiling sadly, "oh mom" I say, hugging her, "it's ok, I'm fine" we go back upstairs to our bedrooms and clean our teeth, when I finish I stand in front of the vanity mirror, how can I look exactly the same as I did two weeks ago but feel like a whole different person? "Forest" says mom, interrupting my totally pointless thoughts, "yes?" "I've finished Sonny's hair, it's your turn" I nod, "ok" I say, "don't stare into that mirror too long, you might break the glass" she says with a cheeky grin, I smile at her and even giggle a bit, "I'm coming down now" she nods and leaves the room, I take one last look in the mirror and then I leave, checking the clock at the end of the hall, quarter past, we should hurry, the reaping starts at two, I run downstairs and find Sonny standing with mom, already dressed, "oh, you look beautiful Sonny! give us a twirl" she twirls and her small, knee length skirt flares slightly, then falls back onto her thighs, her white blouse has been ironed and the folds are neat, her long blonde hair has been done in two complicated braids down her back, she's wearing polished black shoes with crisp white socks, "you look just like Prim on her first reaping" says mom, tears springing to her eyes, which she wipes away quickly, "sorry, Forest is right you look gorgeous, ok Forest, your turn" I sit on a chair while mom works away on my hair, twisting and braiding all over my head, when she has finally finished I get dressed into the beautiful sky blue dress that has been laid out on the couch, I get mom to do up the buttons at the back while I put my shoes on, similar to the one I wore to the funeral but the heels are slightly shorter, I go to look in the mirror and get a total shock, I actually look pretty, "mom" I breathe, "I look-" just then the gong goes, I look at the living room clock, two o'clock, "mom" I cry, suddenly terrified, she hugs us both, "it'll be ok, you'll be ok" she says, kissing us, dad comes in then, "come on, we don't want the peacekeepers coming to get us" he says, I don't know whether he was joking or not but either way I still laughed. We set out after a few minutes of staring at each other. the square is already packed, we take our spots at the very front next to Fin after saying goodbye to mom and dad. a woman walks onto the stage wearing a fluorescent green peplum dress and matching high heels, her bright orange hair is piled high on top of her head like a bee hive, if I wasn't so scared out my mind I would have laughed at this odd person dressed like a backwards carrot with obviously no fashion sense at all, "welcome to the first Hunger Games since the last rebellion, before we begin let's watch a short film, made especially for this very day!" the white canvas sheet fills with images of flames and ruins, a man speaks about a person called the mockingjay, then pictures of my mom appears, I'm suddenly overcome with an anger so strong that I have to clench my fists to stop myself from having a violent outburst, a sudden scream fills the square when the video ends, every one turns in the direction of the sudden shriek. Oh no, it's dad,he's having another episode, "mutt! help she's a mutt!!" he screams running at mom, her face is full of terror and grief, I can tell it's hurting her, she shelters her face as he tackles her to the floor, a choked scream escapes her lips and a group of peacekeepers take a hold of him, dragging him of mom and beating him in the process, mom screams and wrestles dad from the police, "no! no! let go you're hurting him!" dad collapses after a while, bleeding and bruised, the peacekeepers drop him onto the cold hard pavement of the square and walk away, she cries and falls on top of him, sobbing, "attention!" chirps the strange woman standing in the stage that we had all forgotten about, everybody turns simultaneously and glares at the woman, she smiles then clears her throat, "well, um, why don't we carry on, yes?" no one moves or says anything, she shuffles around uncomfortably, "ok, now let's reap our courageous young tributes!" I'm so confused, how can she be this happy at a time like this? she taps over to a large glass bowl and sticks her hand into it, she pulls out a small slip of paper and opens it, "Sonny Mellark"

"I volunteer as tribute!" I turn, no, no, my mother walks forward with her head high, this cannot be happening, this cannot be happening, she takes her place on stage, her face blank, I don't know whether I should be furious with her or so sad I want to collapse as my dad did, "no Katniss" a weak voice from the back of the square calls, mom ignores dad, acting like she never heard anything, she's a great actress. "Ok, now to find out who our second tribute is!" I see mom give me a look that no one else would have noticed, a look that said, "please don't" and "don't you dare" all at the same time, I wait until the second name is called, "Finn O'dair"

"I volunteer as tribute" I say, my mom might have been able to win two games but she's older now, she needs me, "no For-"

"You can't stop me" I say, taking my place next to her, "well, it looks like we have two volunteers this year!" squeaks the excited young woman, "well, I suppose, happy hunger games, and may the odds be ever in your favour" yeah right, the odds definitely not in our favour.