The Daughter of Wheat and Water

II

The square had filled up in half an hour. My family arrived at the busiest time. Fear was everywhere. Father turned us all around and made us all hold hands.

" My children, you are the bravest people I have ever met and if anything happens, I want you to know that I am the proudest Father in the whole district. If something happens we will deal with it then but know lets all just enjoy each others company."

I looked over at Sage. That was Fathers reaping speech. He said it every year. Exactly the same with the same facial expression but we all knew he meant it deeply. 

" Alright..." said Mother "Heath you stick with me, everyone else, you know the drill. Aspen go with Sage, he'll help you"

And that being said, everyone scattered like wildfire. 

I followed Sage and Aspen and the twins came running right behind. Rye came up to me and I pulled him into a hug and before I knew it Kai was on me too. 

"Stop!" I said laughing. Everyone turned around and stared. I get it. The reaping is no laughing matter and Rye, Kai and I knew it perfectly. After a while of sticking together we were split up into age groups. I made sure I knew where everyone was. Rye and Kai were with their friends, Aspen was next to Al, who had come to watch and Sage was with his many female admirers. 

While I was still looking over at my siblings, Terra came up from behind me and gave me a bear hug. 

"I'm scared s**tless. Aiden what do we do?"

I looked at her sorrowfully. I knew exactly who she felt. I looked over at the where the over 18s stood. Terra's parents didn't even bother showing up. I looked back at her and said...

"Terra... where are your parents? Are you alone?"

The next thing she said is something I will never forget. 

"Aiden... I don't want to die"

I pulled her into a hug and we stood like that until Ophelia Brackney started speaking into the microphone. 

"Hello and welcome to the reaping of the 66th annual hunger games" she said loudly and proudly into the microphone. I liked Ophelia because unlike other escorts she actually looked depressed to be hosting the reaping.

"Alright, I'm just going to cut to the chase, here's a short video from our honorable..." I caught her rolling her eyes when she said that and it put a smile on my face. "... leader President Snow!"

The video played like it did every year, reminding us why the games exist and blah blah blah.  When the video finally finished, I looked at Terra and when she looked back, she looked like she had seen a ghost. It was time. The reaping.

"Alright"said Ophelia. She actually looked quite sad. She stood there for a few seconds until a peacekeeper tapped her on the back. I took a deep breath and whispered "here goes nothing".

Terra took my hand.

"As for traditions... ladies first"

Ophelia walked over to a huge glass bowel and hoovered over it for half a second. Her hand dived into it and she fingered through the little envelopes. She picked one up but then put it down again and picked up a few few different ones before she settled on one shiny bit of paper with a purple seal. 

She walked over to the microphone. 

"Come on Aiden, you've got this... deep breathes" I said to myself

Ophelia opened the envelop delicately.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... our female tribute from District 9 is..."

The silence lasted forever. Time stopped. I felt my heart beating at 5000 beats per minute. 

This is it, I told myself. My heart was telling me that i'd be safe and I could live normally for a few more years but my brain was telling me that my time was up. I blinked and time started again.

Ophelia looked over at the peacekeeper and he nodded back. She moved closer to the microphone, opened her lips and then my mind went blank.

"... the female tribute from district 9 is ...."

"Aiden Oddison"