The Jenga Games (A Hunger Games Twist)

Jaxon

Hard. Struggle. Work. Needy. Demanding. Laborious. Exhausting. Harsh. Gruelling.Life as a farmer was cruel. You were expected to get food for not only yourself but the whole urbes even when the seasons bad. Its a burden to say the least.

The name's Jaxon Keel. I'm fifteen years old. I'm the youngest of 8 kids. I have seven sisters. I'm the only boy and it sucks."Come on Dorthy, " I said patting the cow and placing the bucket under her. Sitting I begin to milk her. Allowing the silence envelope me. It may be hard work but it was my favorite thing for it was relaxing, and it didn't include my sisters bothering me about random dumb stuff. Peace and quiet.

"Jackie!!!" Aria's voice rang through the air making my ears ring. I wanted to pretend that I couldn't hear her yelling for me but whenever I did that it never really ended well for me. Still I stayed silent as Dorthy let out a long low 'mooooooo.' I could hear her getting closer and I ducked my head hiding behind Dorthy. "Jaxon I know your here. Quit hiding, wimp."

Sighing I slowly raised my head staring into her dark brown eyes. "Yes?" I asked grabbing the towel and wiping off my hands.

"President Byle is making an announcement and we all need to be there to watch so hurry up and clean yourself. You stink," she said glaring at me with dislike. Turning on her heels she made beeline for the door and getting out of there before I could respond.  I found myself sighing a lot something I seemed to do very often. "Will do." I said to myself dragging the full bucket out form under Dorthy. "Thanks Dorthy." I patted her before lifting the bucket trying not to spill anywhere.

I wobbled out the barn and towards where we put the milk to purify it. I spilled a few drops that all seemed to land on me and not the ground. Putting it the bucket down I stretched my back and arms out. I got the milk started on the purifying then jogged back to the house cleaning myself off the best i could before making my way to the front room where everyone was already seated and ready. There were no spots for me to sit so I sat on the hard cold ground as the screen illuminated the room. President Byle came into view. Clearing his throat he began, "Ladies and gentlemen, people of Ferox, I have a new announcement. Starting this year, every urben will be forced to give up three boys and three girls to be placed in a toppling tower and fight to survive. Because there are only eight urbes, each will give six children form the ages 8-18. Everyone too young or too old will not have the chance to do so.

"The first choosing ceremony will be held tomorrow at 8 a.m. sharp. In every urben. Please understand that everyone will need to wear their finest attire for this occasion, and if not, they will be persecuted in the town square. I'll be visiting each urben to explain the rules more sufficiently."

We all stared at the screen hoping he would crack and smile and say he was joking. But that didn't happen then TV turned off and that was the end of the message. I could feel the fear consuming the room making us all shiver. Suddenly my mom erupted into tears followed by most of my sisters.

My fear and sadness quickly turned into anger. Unsure how to completely express myself I got up and I ran. I ran out of my house and into the forest. I ran and ran and ran. I ran my lungs and legs were burnimy but that didn't stop me. I ran because this meant four people in my family could be one of those 48 people. Because I might be one of them and that scared me the most. I tripped on a root and rolled down a hill pain shooting through me. I laid on the bottom of the hill gasping for air. Still angry I punched the ground making my hand sting. 'How could this happen?' 'What did the people of Ferox do to deserve this?' 'What will happen if I know someone who is chosen?' 'What happened to the peaceful lives we had now all it will be filled with is fear?' thoughts like those suffocated my mind. 'What will happen to me?...'

Chapter written by loveiswherethehomeis