Sunflower Seeds

Chapter One

       "Wake up, sleepy head!"

    Small hands shaking my shoulder. My eyes flutter open and I see Clara, my five year old sister, smiling hugely at me, her big, baby cheeks rosy. I pat her head, which makes her golden curls bounce, and I roll back over.

    "Ty, Momma said it's time to get up!" She shakes me again and skips away. I groan and sit up, rubbing my eyes. I wonder what time it is and when I have to go to work when reality hits me like a rock in the stomach. It's reaping day in District Nine.

    I force myself out of bed after I remember that I promised to meet with Niall in the Swamp this morning before we had to go to the Justice Building. Looking around my room, my eyes are drawn to the bleach-white dress on the dresser my Momma has layed out for me and the red ribbons she expects me to tie in my hair. I know the white is going to be a huge contrast against my tan skin, and the red isn't going to do much for my hair. I scowl at them, but go to put them on. The clock on my wall says 10:47, so I rush to make sure  I get to the Swamp by 11.

    I try to escape out the back door without my Momma seeing me, but her hawk-eyes immediatly spot me and she calls me over.

    "Don't tell me you expected to go out with hair like this." She says, hiding her fear behind annoyance. I purse my lips as she sits me in a chair and starts to undo my pathetic excuse for a braid. Her hands work my dull, blonde hair into nothing less than a work of art, a mix of a fishtail braid and a twist. Then she holds me at shoulders length to take me in. Her eyes are sad and scared but her face is as emotionless as a rock.

    "Well, you look presentable." She says finally.

    "I promised Niall I'd meet him at eleven..." I say, knowing it was probably the hour but suddenly not wanting to leave. Momma pulls me into a hug, and I wish I was Clara's age again, unworried about the strict laws of the Capitol.

She finally lets go of me and I hug my baby sister, and I finally tug on my work boots, the only shoes I have, and run out the back door.

    District Nine is on a huge stretch of farmland that goes on for seemingly ever. In school, they told us that Nine is in a place that was once called the Great Plains. The houses are all set about 3 acres apart but clump together in as you get closer to the Town Center. It's all silent except for the occasional bird. The Swamp is out by the edge of town, next to the Wall, but it isn't really a swamp. It's just an old, abandoned field that floods every spring when the rains come in.

    I finally reach the Swamp and head towards the old, collapsing barn that has become Niall and I's "secret hideout". We've been meeting here since we were kids. I remember the day we met very clearly; when I was Clara's age, I had thought the barn was my hiding place to go to when my parents fought, which was almost every night, and I ran there one particularly bad night in tears after my father hit Momma. He left us shortly after that and I haven't heard or seen him since. Niall was already at the barn - he, too, thought the it was his alone - and he comforted me. Ever since that day we've been practically inseperable. 

    I reach the barn and duck through the collapsing doorway. Waiting for me in a pile of rotting hay is Niall, all gussied up in his sunday clothes with a canvas bag in his hand. His usually messy hair is combed out and neat. He's chewing something, of course, Niall can't go even a single minute without having something in his mouth. His eyes light up when he sees me.

    "Took you long enough to get here." He says, spitting out whatever he was chewing on and scooting over so I can sit by him.

    "I woke up kinda late." I explain, plopping down next to him. "Whatchya got, there?"

    "These?" He holds up the bag, "Sunflower seeds. I think. That's what they look like, anyways. The guy I bought 'em from wasn't too clear." He pulls out a few and rolls the black and white seeds around in his hand before popping them in his mouth. "Want some?"

    "No, I don't think I can eat." I say, pulling my knees up to my stomach.

    I've survived six reapings, and Niall's survived seven, but I'm still terrified. My name's in that glass ball of death 24 times, and Niall's got his name in there 27 times. The odds are not in either of our favors, and it terrifies me. Niall notices my fear, and he wraps his arms around me.

    "It's gonna be okay, Ty. We've survived the past reapings and we can make it through this one." He says reassuringly. I don't know how he can always make me feel better, but somehow he does.

    I take a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. The air smells like Niall's seeds and rotting wood. The sky is blue and the clouds are fluffy. The day has been going well and there's no signs that it will take a turn for the worse.

    The Peacekeepers' whistle breaks the comfortable silence that has fallen over us, the whistle that signals the reaping. Fear leaps into my throat and my breath quickens but Niall takes my hand and helps me to my feet.

    "It'll be all right." He says, rubbing my shoulder. I nod. Tonight, we'll come back to the barn and celebrate the fact that we aren't going to the arena. I know we will.

~

    I rub my now sore, pricked finger as I get ushered into what feels like a corral with all the other seventeen-year-old girls. The reapings always start with finger pricks and blood drawings to make sure everyone in the district is accounted for, and then everyone is put in groups based on age and gender. I notice again that it seems almost everyone in this district is a blondie, but I shove the random thought out of my mind and look over to Niall. He's standing with the other eighteen-year-old boys, his face hard. It's a nice thought that it's his last year in the reapings. When this is over, it's just one more thing to celebrate.

    A skinny, pale-blue skinned woman with bright purple hair named Flaurina that we've had for as long as I can remember takes the stage, her neon-pink lady-suit almost flashing in the bright sunlight. I look over at Niall and he pretends to shield his eyes. I choke back laughter as her high-pitched voice fills the Center.

    "Hello and Happy Hunger Games!" Flaurina squeals. She starts to babble and I tune her out as she plays the film clip from the Captiol that we see every year. It's over too soon and my heart starts pounding as the glass bowls are brought out.

    "Shall we pick ladies first this time?" Flaurina giggles, even though ladies are picked first every year. She dances over to the girls' bowl and plays around with the slips of paper for a while. I bite my lip and start to pray.

    Please don't be me, please don't be me, please....

    Of course, the odds are not in my favor today. The odds were never in my favor.

    "Tytania Lousse!"