Reaping Day
Katniss’s Point Of View
“Tommy just has his name in once and Isabella’s is only in there a few. There isn’t any logical way for either of them to be reaped, no worries.” Peeta assured me.
“That’s what I said on the day Prim’s name was reaped. I told her that her name was only in once, that she would be safe.” I whispered. I cry at night while thinking of that day. I cry thinking of Prim, my poor baby sister. She grew up so much while I was away at the Games and I came back only for her to be snatched from my grasp by the cruel, bloodthirsty Capitol. I still have the scars from the fire attack and I still think of myself as a fire mutt.
Effie and Haymitch’s daughter, Zorry, goes up to the stand and reads the speech that Effie had so long ago.
“And now for the reaping!” she calls out as she reaches her hand in the jar.
She pulls out the slip of paper. “And the female tribute is…” she opens the paper. I watch as her face falls, but she quickly recovers. “Isabella Everdeen!”
I guess that I went into shock but I quickly regained my composer. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” I scream out. The crowd goes silent as they all turn around and face me. I wait for someone, anyone to volunteer for her but no one does. Zorry gives me a sympathetic look and mouths sorry.
“And now for the male tribute!” again she reaches in the jar on the other side of the table. “And this slip of paper reads… oh, we must have a mistake!” she says.
Someone in the crowd yells, “There are no mistakes! Just read the paper!” Mutters of approval take over the crow, as long as their children are reaped there are no worries, it’s just another day in the cycle. If their children aren’t reaped the can go home, sleep even. The families of the reaped children go home and close their shutters, already giving up hope. District 12 has only ever had three victors, two of which are Peeta and I, the other is Haymitch. So technically, District 12 has only won two Games… EVER.
“Well I suppose I must read it. The male tribute is… Thomas Everdeen. I am sorry Katniss.” She says.
“Katniss? Katniss! Are you okay?” Peeta asked me. I wasn’t going to answer him. I went into shock.
Peeta’s Point Of View
There is no possible way that BOTH of our TWO children have been reaped for the Hunger Games.
Katniss has gone into shock, and I’m pretty close to it.
Someone set this up. There is no way that the first Games that our son would be entered in would also be the one that selected him and his sister to compete against each other… to the DEATH!
Either one or neither of them will live through this. I don’t know which one is worse. With neither of them, Katniss and I would surely die, but if one survived, that they may hold guilt, may not survive. So as Isabella would say, “we’re screwed.”
