The First Hunger Games (On Hold)

Chapter 1

I woke up, my heart hammering. Sweat stuck the hairs of my fringe to my face, and I was breathing heavily. I looked over at Alyss, she was so tiny and sweet, as sweet as any twelve year old would be. Maya, my eighteen year old sister, was the strong girl of the family, even in her sleep. She looked like the slightest sound or touch of her would wake her up instantly and punch the disturber. I looked down. I was the middle child, 15 to be exact. I interlocked my fingers, and looked at the ceiling.

My life was in a wreck right now, but I shouldn't be worried. I shouldn't, I couldn't, and I wouldn't. I had to be strong, for Alyss's sake, and I knew that if anything happened to Maya that her world would shatter. Shatter into a million tiny pieces, and no amount of trying or pleading could get her back fast enough. She was still recovering from her cat's death, she witnessed it. A Peacekeeper shot poor Lonnie through her head, and Alyss screamed and cryed. The Peacekeepers in District 1 have no mercy, and I was scared to know about the other Districts. I breathed slowly, and placed my feet on the cold, wooden floor. I stood up, and tried not to make a noise, for Maya's sake. I walked past my father's bed, and I looked down, not wanting to see him. He had nothing to do with us, he never cooked for us or talked to us. Maya was our support, she worked her way for food and clothes.

I placed some clothes on, a warm top, and warm pants, that stuck to my legs and let the thinness of them show. I put on my shoes, worn leather lace up boots up to my knees, in a soft shade of grey. My top was black, and my pants were grey-ish, and it was hard to not think of me as a shadow. Technically, I was, but I still had to go anyway. I opened the door, trying to make no noise. On the way walking, I sorted out my fringe and tied up my hair in a ponytail. I set off to the market, to see what I could get off people. Nobody noticed me, to them I was merely just another person in District 1. I haggled with people, and left the market with some money, beef, bread and some lettuce. I opened my house's door, knowing that Maya and Alyss would be preparing for my arrival with food for breakfast on our Sunday.

"Morning, Zai. What have you got?" Maya asked, a small smile plastered on her face.

"Money, beef, bread and lettuce. Nearly got some berries, but, you know, this is District 1." I actually had got some berries, and some rich kid took them off me.

"Good, good. I'm still trying to make Alyss wake up." This what was our morning thing, Alyss was a sleeper. Maya could never wake her up, and it resulted in water being thrown. But Alyss was more awake than usual, and I knew why.

"Alyss, don't worry. The Reaping... Your name's in there once.... And we're going to be fine. There are so many other people in District One... Just don't stress."

"Azairah, you mask your feelings too well, I know you're scared too." Alyss was deep, and she resisted the impulse to call me Zai, the nick name Maya calls me. She was more mature too.

Here's my family:

Alyss, the sweet, twelve year old girl, who is already grown up. She's mature, sweet, and very sensitive.

Me, Azairah, I am the 15 year old middle child who deals with life and is treated like a shadow. I'm non-existent, for all people care, and the only people I love are Alyss and Maya.

Maya. What can I say? She holds us up. She cooks, cleans, makes us go to bed on time and makes sure we do sleep. She haggled people, better than me, and got us money and food. Maya has this way of staying in your mind; you can't forget her, no matter how hard you try.

My father, Alejandro. He stays where he is, immobilised, doing nothing, just sitting, not moving. Like my sister, we can't retrieve him. But unlike my sister, he won't recover. When our mother Crystal died, his heart shattered. His world shattered. He had lost a piece of his soul, half of it, actually, and that half is one we can't revive. No matter how hard, he just does nothing. That's why Maya is like our mother now. She cares for us and helps us. I wish I could say good things about my father, other than he loved our mother and cared for us. Now, his world is destroyed, and we can't fix it. Not with everything that's starting to happen.