Uncharted Waters [1]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Mira Fairkin was still in bed, her legs tucked under her chin as she stared at the horizon. The first light of the day signaling the break of dawn had her closing her eyes as she took a deep breath of the salty air, calming her down just a bit. She tried to focus on the sound of the waves instead of her own beating heart, gripping her arms around her legs tighter.

This was always the case whenever it was the dreaded reaping day. Mira still got anxious, even if she had made it for five years without getting called out to participate in the annual games.

Mira thought it odd that she woke up a little earlier than usual. She was an early riser, but it was slightly different today. She would always wake up at the break of dawn so that she could come with her grandfather whenever he went to go fishing. She got used to getting up early because if she didn't, her grandfather wouldn't bother to wake her up and would just leave her at home, much to Mira's dismay.

Mira lives in a dainty house with her grandparents beside the shore where one can adequately appreciate the vast ocean outside the window.

Mira brought herself to finally leave the safety of her bed, making it before she washed her face and changed herself with a comfortable set of clothes. She walked out of her room to see her nana cooking while she braided her hair messily into a fishtail. She slowly approached her grandmother's occupied form, her back facing towards Mira. She bit her lip and quietly sat on one of the dining chairs, opening and closing her mouth like a fish as she failed to form the words she wanted to say.

"Nan?" Coraline Fairkin hummed in response without turning her back.

"Could I go visit Tom and Seanna before the reaping?" Mira bit her lip as she waited for her grandmother's response.

She saw her grandmother stop what she was doing and turned to look at Mira seated at the table, looking at her expectantly with her captivating blue eyes. Her grandmother was always so protective of Mira, only allowing her to go out whenever she had someone to accompany her. Mira knew that her Nana's protectiveness was because of her mother, her grandparent's only daughter who died a few days after giving birth to her.

She didn't know much about her mother because she was rarely brought up in a conversation. It was like she was something that shouldn't be talked about, like something that needed to be forgotten.

And that intrigued Mira.

All she knew was that she was a former victor, she died a few days after giving birth, and that she was very beautiful.

Another thing that she was well aware of, is that since her mother's death, they were forced to leave the Victor's village and move back to their old home where they raised their only daughter and now, their granddaughter whom they treated like their own.

Her grandparents were a sweet and nice couple who were respected or envied because of their beauty. The Fairkins were a very good-looking family who lived off fishing, just like most of the citizens of District 4. They were both still relatively young, appearing in their late 50s. One would often mistake Coraline and Hurley as Mira's parents if they did not know about the Family's background.

"Mira-" Her grandmother began but was cut off by her grandfather's voice.

"Let the girl go, Cora, she's already sixteen, we can't protect her forever." With that, Coraline sighed and nodded, making Mira stand up abruptly with a big smile.

"Thank you, Nana, thank you, papa!" She beamed and walked towards her grandfather to kiss him on the cheek. As she walked towards her grandmother with a toothy grin, Coraline could not contain the small on her face as Mira's smile had always been contagious.