The Tributes from District 10

Chapter Three: Elijah

"Wake up sleeping beauty!" Gregor, my annoying older brother said. "Rise and shine and may the odds be ever in your favor, copying district ten's capitol ambassador, Magenta Reinaldo, silly capitol accent. I rolled over, clearly remembering what day it was; the reaping day. I sighed and pulled over the quilt over my head.

"Just five more minutes." I muttered.

"Nonsense." Said Gregor. He then riped of the quilt, and pored freezing cold water on top of my body.

"Yaoww!" I shrieked, letting my voice crack. Stupid puberty, I thought. Not only was a freezing up to bottom, I was soaking. Literally.

"Ha ha nice little prank to my lil' bro'!" Gregor said, slapping my back.

"Ow!" I cried. "Is it necessary to abuse me before the reaping?"

"Of course." That's what big brothers like me are here for." He smiled, giving me a noogie on my head.

"You know." He said. "You should really do somthin' with that hair of yours." "No chicks would want to sponsor you." I gaffed, and made my way to the old outhouse outside.

As I made my way down the stairs and out the door, I noticed our neighbor still out and about, looking after the cattle. This could be my last day ever here at home. I thought. Of course, I shouldn't jinx it. Pretty much anyone the ages twelve through eighteen could be entered in the Games. Luckily, we didn't need the tesseare. Only a handful of families in district ten use it.

Anyway, I entered the outhouse, did my business, and pulled out Greg's old razor. After shaving, I sighed as I looked at my refletion in the old cracked mirror. My looks wern't all that bad; I had light brown almost blond hair, and blueish-green eyes. My parents always said I was miniature size of Gregor, which believe me was a complement itself. I was 'round five foot 10, and had slight less muscle than Gregor. Gregor was over six feet tall, and had just as much muscle as pa. If not more.

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After a quick bath, I put on the annual reaping day outfit my ma laid out for me.

"That shirt makes you look fat, man!" Gregor said. When I finished buttoning down the old hand-me-down blue plaid shirt, I pulled out the old cracked mirror in our room and sighed. Chicks aren't going to like that I thought. Not that I was fat, just the opposite. Gregor had a lot more muscle then I did I guess. I grabbed a belt, and clipped it in my pants. I looked into the mirror and smiled. Much better, I thought. As I grabbed the comb from my brohter's hand, or should I say tried to grab it, he did one of those karate twist moves and pinned me straight to the ground.

"Ow!" I cried, when my ankle landed the wrong way.

"Ha ha squirt you would never stand a chance in the Games, especially if I was in it. He reached down, and scooped me up just like one of my sister's rag dolls.

"Aw let me go, man!" I cried, trying not to die of laughter. But Gregor just kept right on going down the stairs, until we reached the kitchen. My ma was french-braiding my sister's, Marda, long, light- brown hair and adding ribbons to the ends. I couldn't imagine my own little sister being in the games; she was only twelve, and weighed less than a feather. She was one of those little sisters who were afraid of their own shadows; and cried whenever the Peacekeepers came to take the livestock away, preparing of the slaughter.

I guess I used to be like that too, when I was her age. I was sixteen now, and didn't feel the need to cry anymore, at anything. Guess you get used to living in apprehension everyday. Gregor dropped me off on the kitchen table, making sure I wouldn't get up. As he started to tickle me again, my mom protested.

"Gregor!" She yelled, which wasn't a rare custom of hers.

"Sorry ma." Gregor said. "Just havin' fun with my ol' bro' here." He smiled, showing of his extremely straight, white teeth and dimples. My mom's eyes then relaxed and said,"

You just make sure you boys are ready for the reaping today." She said calmly. I sighed. My brother had that impact on people; could get away with anything. He always one of the popular guy's at school; always got the real pretty girls. He wasen't eligible to participate in the Games anymore, because he was nineteen. Now, instead of going to school, he worked longer hours on the farm, preparing to buy his own soon.

"Have somthin' to eat." Ma said. Ma wasn't the best cook in the world, but she did make pretty good scrambled eggs, which was a huge treat for us. Which was why we were having it today.

"Mhmm you sure make the best scrambled eggs mommy." Greg said, poring a huge plate full of eggs. Before the reaping, everyone tries to eat as much as possible, just in case if your name gets pulled I guess.

When Gregor finally got up and left the room, I got up, noticing the pain in my left ankle.

"Ow"! I whispered. Stupid Gregor busted my ankle. My ma and sis now noticed my pain, and quickly got up to examine it.

"What happened?" My ma said questionably.

"Oh me and Greg were just messin' 'round, you know, just guy stuff." I said. My sis seemed convinced, but my ma wasn't.

"You best be sure that your name isn't drawn in the lottery." My ma said ". "With an ankle like that, you wouln't stand a chance." Even though she was right, it still kind of hurt. After all, I have the same amount of chances of any other sixteen year old who hasn't had to sign up for the tesseare . Since I was sixteen, my name got entered exactly 5 times, which isn't really that bad. Some people who have signed up for the tesserae enter their names in 42 times. Just like Gregor did.

When my ma was finally finished with my sis' hair, pa came down, getting ready to load up the wagon. Since the town square is 'bout two miles off of our land, we normally take the horse and bugge to the reaping, which is pretty common for district 10 families. Some live as far as 50 miles off of town, and have to have permission from the Capitol to leave a couple days beforehand.

When my sis' finally got dressed and walked down the stairs, I could'nt notice how small, and innocent she looked. She didn't look close to twelve. Ten at the most. I then realized, what if her was chosen for the games? She wouldn't stand a chance, that's for sure. My pa then called for us, letting us know it was time to go. My sis' got a real scared look in her eyes, and slowly walked out the door towards the wagon.

"Here you go m"dam." I said, lifting my lil' sis' up into the wagon. She gave me a weak smile, showing of her perfectly straight and white teeth, just like gregor's.

"Here you go m'dam." Gregor came out, lifting me up into the wagon. My sis' let out a laugh, right when my folks piled into the wagon. Pa then started up the wagon, and let off. Leaving behind a trail full of dust.