Survivor

Chapter 1: The Reaping

Although a horrible event was about to happen, the weather was actually nice. At least, that's what Heather thought as she ran past the blooming flowers. However, despite the weather being wonderful and all, it was a silent day. The birds weren't chirping like they usually do, the people kept to themselves and even, the wind wasn't breezing like usual. It was as if every being knew the unpunishable crime that was going to be committed today.

School was closed due to the fact that the Reaping day was treated as a holiday. That baffled Heather as it was anything but. Now in the Capitol, it won't surprise Heather if they listed as a national holiday rather than a national penalty.

Heather continued to run, ignoring the ongoing pain she felt in her limbs. She was drenched in sweat, but she didn't care. Ever since Rust died and she had that conversation with Aeson, Heather began to train for the Hunger Games. After his death, the children in her school tried to befriend her but she harshly cut them off. The way they look at her as if she was some kind of a delicate flower about to wither.

Her behaviour worried both her brother and father. They thought that she avoided making friends because she was afraid that one of them was going to be reaped and killed. But that wasn't the case. She was afraid of replacing Rust, of dishonouring his memory.

She was still angry at the Capitol and District 2. That never changed. So she pushed all her anger into her training, imagining the face of the District 2 boy whenever she was practicing knife throwing. At first, Aeson didn't think that it was healthy that she was doing this. Thankfully, he soon realized how it helped with letting out her rage. Even if he didn't like the methods she used.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Heather came into a halt as she entered her District's cemetery. Steadily, she started to walk towards her father's grave. Generally, in District 12, dead bodies are cremated. But that depended on whether the people of the District wanted to cremate it or not. Usually, the dead tributes and coal miners that die during a mine explosion are buried here. Heather's father was a different case though. Everyone liked him, even the people from the Seam. The reason being is that he helped them without taking anything from them in return.

When she asked her about that, he said, "Heather, life has been generous to us, but not to those people. At the end of the day, it's not about what we have gained from life, it's about what we have done with it. I became a healer because I want to help people and I intend to keep doing that. It's only when you give that you realize the true meaning of happiness. Promise me that you won't be scared to do that when you get older. "

Heather had always looked up at her father, but since that moment she was really proud to call the man her father.

He died last year in his sleep. Something that suited him. By that time, Aeson was ready to take over as the healer of the district. Heather would have been too, but she was too focused on her training. There was also Blaze, her father's attentive student. He was the oldest son of the apothecary's owner and Aeson's brother-in-law. Heather didn't like him because of his views towards the people of the Seam, but he was mostly okay. Hopefully, when Heather is eighteen, she would be able to join them.

Sitting in front of her father's grave, she thought of today's events. This would be her fifth reaping, and while the kids from the Seam have a bigger chance of getting reaped, Heather didn't trust the Capitol to keep the lottery random. Normally, Heather would visit her father's grave at the start of each month to tell him of major events happening. This time, however, is so she could say goodbye to him. In case she gets reaped. In case she doesn't make it back to him.

"Hi, Daddy," she started. "I'm afraid that I don't have juicy gossip to share with you. Unless you count June fooling Aeson by making him think that her water broke. He falls for it every time. But I don't blame him. June is at the end of her third trimester. She could give birth at any moment right now. God forbid if she delivers the baby during the reaping. Knowing June, though, that's quite a possibility."