The Writer Games | Once In A Lifetime & World Edition

An Image Is Worth A Thousand Words: Conner Stansfield

The Gamemakers hadn't  even bothered to get it right. I laughed to myself. They considered  themselves so high and mighty. They thought they were all-knowing. But  they didn't even bother to get the picture in front of me right.

    It was obvious what  they were trying to do. The only thing particularly tragic that happened  in my life was Hailey's death. The two cars crashing into each other  had only a vague resemblance to Hailey's death. The only thing that was  even slightly similar was the fact that there was a car involved in her  death. Hailey was hit on her bike, not in a car.

    Still, it hurt. I  couldn't deny that. Any mention of Hailey's death was enough to almost  make me cry anymore. And I wasn't exactly at my best right now. After  almost a week in the arena, and the loss of two friends, I was liable to  laugh, burst into tears or punch someone in the face at any given  moment.

    I reached for the  bracelet from Hailey's funeral. It was plain, just a pink rubber  bracelet, but it reminded me of Hailey a little bit. But it wasn't  there. I panicked temporarily, I hadn't ever taken it off. My mind  rushed thinking of all the places where it could be: the beaver's  stomach, one of the oceans, in the wreckage left by the tsunami. Then,  as I felt the dog collar around my wrist, I realized with sickening  realization what had happened to it. I hadn't lost it, I abandoned it.

   I felt nauseous. How  could I have been so selfish? I was reaped to die, just like Hailey had  died, and I left it. I acted like she didn't even matter. I acted like I  didn't care. I had abandoned Hailey. I just left her, just like I let  Megan die.

     I remembered it so  clearly. We were all standing there, numb after Quinn fell into the  waters and drowned. Megan was crying, he was her Country Partner and  about the same age as her. I was trying not to cry, but I couldn't help  but think that I was responsible. If I had reached just a little bit  farther... No, he was going to die anyways. At least maybe I could  comfort Megan, like I always comforted everyone back home.

    "Even Cato cried when Clove died." I reminded Megan sadly.

    She nodded. "I need  to be by myself for a second." She said, her voice cracking. She hopped  around to the opposite side of the tree for at least the illusion of  privacy.

    She stood there for a  while, obviously crying. Then she stamped her foot out of anger, it  wasn't fair that Quinn had died. Then the branch cracked. The next fee  seconds were a blur. She screamed. I reached out my hand to get her. I  grabbed her by her wrist.

    "Megan!" I yelled, "Try using the trunk to pull yourself up."

    "I.:." She trailed off "I can't Conner. It's too high and I can't get back up."

     I started to slip. "Megan, you have to, I can't hold on much longer and the waters..." Megan couldn't die.

     "Let go Conner!" She yelled. "It's either just me, or the both of us."

    My grip was slipping too. "Megan, you have to get back up..." Tears started running down my face.

    "Promise me one thing Conner." She said. Without even letting me reply, she finished. "Win."

    Then I lost my grip  and she fell into the waters. The sound of her neck cracking wasn't  nearly as loud as the rushing waters or my cries.

     Just like when it  happened, tears rushed down my face. I was crying like a big baby. And  that's exactly what I was. I had to be the youngest person left here. I  wasn't physically strong enough to save Megan, not emotionally strong  enough to care about Hailey.

    I grabbed the knife  in my pocket and quickly cut into my wrist. Although I yelped in pain,  it felt good. I deserved the pain. It wasn't half of what Megan or  Hailey felt. I sank it in again, letting the blood drop onto the marble  floors. I forced the knife into my wrist a third time, letting the sweet  pain envelop me.

    I heard someone  laughing. If it was another tribute let them kill me. I didn't deserve  to live. I deserved to die like Megan and Hailey did. Maybe Perdu or  Emily could win then. They actually deserved to win. I sure as hell  didn't. I deserved to fucking die

    It wasn't a tribute  though. I looked up to see that the Gamemaker who was running this was  still here, and laughing at me. Rage bubbled up inside of me. Why did he  have a right to laugh when everyone else was in immense pain?

    "You sick bastard," I  started. "you laugh while I kill myself. You fucking killed them. You  killed all of them, they deserved to live! Nobody deserved to die here. I  may have dropped Megan, I may not have reached out far enough for  Quinn, but I sure as hell didn't kill them. You and all your fucking  Gamemaker buddies killed them, you just got us to do your dirty work." I  yelled at him. "I'm going to win these Games now. And then I am going  to kill each and every one of you Gamemakers. I might as well start  now."

     I took the knife  that still had my blood dripping off of it and threw it at him. He was  still laughing like an idiot. He probably was seeing everyone's  reactions to their paintings. The knife flew towards his neck, then  slowly reversed until it shot back at me. Damn, I forgot about the  electrical field bit. I ducked, letting the blade fly over my head. I  saw it slice the painting in half, then it disappeared. And it was the  last I ever wanted to see of either of them.