The TV turns off by itself. It has served its purpose. Life officially sucks. As if life isnt bad enough on its own, there's the capitol. I can't quite make a direct comparison between the devil and the Capitol, because the devil lives in hell and district 12 is hell, not the capitol. People die every day. Like my dad. All that's left is my mother and younger brother. I was forced into being the man of the house at too young of an age. But as much as life sucks normally, it somehow just got infinitely worse.
The TV was on because of the reading of the quarter quell. We would never watch it otherwise. What would be the point? To watch Capitol propaganda? To watch the Hunger Games, the very thing we try to avoid? Yeah right. So it stays off with the exception of mandatory viewing times. Like just now.
Every quarter quell has a twist. Well supposedly every one is going to have a twist. Seeing as there has been only one so far it's hard to say all; while one for one is a hundred percent, there's no pattern yet.
But anyways this year's quell is even worse than the first. In the first the tributes were voted upon by their own district. That Game was all the outcasts of the districts. None of them knew how to fight as they were all the poorest of their district, which led to mostly Gamemaker-related deaths. Not that I would know first hand of course. That was well before I was born. But this is what people have told me. This year, "because twice as many district citizens died in the rebellion as Capitol citizens" as the president puts it, twice the amount of tributes will be sent to the arena. Twice as much death, twice as much blood, twice as many families grieving over their losses.
As of my chances aren't bad enough. At sixteen I already have an automatic five entries. With my tesserae I have twenty entries. More than a lot of people. I wish so much that I could be one of the rich families that only has one entry per year! But there are so few of those; they are practically nonexistent in district twelve. Luckily my brother isn't old enough to enter his name yet. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything bad happened to him. If he was in the Games he would not last a day. Such a nice little brother, but in no way the type of person that could win the games. No way could be kill.
The only thing that keeps me going is my girlfriend and love of my life. Kelli. Kelli Donner. We have a strange relationship. She is eighteen, well older than me, which is practically unheard of, but she is. She doesn't have to worry about getting reaped, at least not anymore; last year was her last. We spend all of our waking ours together, we would like to share our slumbers as well but our parents would never allow it. Thinking of her gives me a feeling inside that I just can't describe. When I see her my day takes a turn for the better. Without her life would truly suck.
-Morning of the Reaping-
Well, today is the big day. The day I've been dreading ever since the president announced the twist for these games. The past weeks haven't been fun. Everybody's thoughts were turned towards the quell. Except for mine that is. I tried to enjoy the time I had with Kelli before I might be reaped.
District twelve never has a volunteer. This just shows me how smart we are. We know what the Capitol wants the games to be. I can't help but think that the career districts either don't know simple math or are too arrogant to care. I'm thinking the second. Not that I'm not arrogant, nothing could be further from the truth. I am surely arrogant. I am sarcastic. I can annoy people with ease. I'm not always an easy person to be with. Quite often I'm someone nobody would want to be with in their right mind. Except Kelli loves me. Even with all my problems, she still loves me. But even if she could, I don't think she would volunteer for me. Love only goes so far.
I go over to my fellow sixteen-year-olds. Some look scared. A few are outright terrified. But most are just nervous. Tapping feet. Scratching necks. Blinking hard. All are telltale signs of nervousness. I try to stay calm, to make myself looks stronger for the cameras if I happen to be picked. But I know that if I do get picked I won't be able to keep this face for long. I, like any other, will probably just collapse in disbelief if I get chosen. I'll fall to the ground, sobbing and screaming. That's what every district twelve tribute has done for as long as I can remember. The other districts call us weak. I'd rather be known as weak than as a bloodthirsty maniac.
The strange woman from the Capitol comes up and gives us the same speech that we get every year, about the rebellion blah blah blah. It gets old. She should throw some random stuff in their just do that people will actually listen to her, cause nobody actually does. She says "this year boys first!" This catches my attention. The first boy she calls is someone. I really don't care. As long as its not me than it's not matter to me whatsoever. She reaches around in the ball for the second name, grabs and pulls it out. She unfolds it, reads it then announces to everyone "Haymitch Abernathy!"
For a moment I'm shocked. I make no noise. Make no movements. Hardly breathe. Then I remind myself that the games have just begun, and walk to the platform. The capitol lady looks me over and seems please by what she sees. I am a fairly good looking boy, large enough muscles, a nice smile.
"Now on to the girls!" she says with gusto. Again, the name of the first person means nothing to me. She reads the second then announces "Maysilee Donner!"
No. It cannot be. Kelli's only sister. The love of my life's only sister. She cannot live if Kelli and I are to love each other for all our lives. But she cannot die if Kelli and I are to love each other for the rest of our lives. If she is to die because of me, Kelli will never forgive me. Life is truly hell.
A/N: So I thought of this idea and I really liked it as I haven't seen any about Haymitch's games yet. Anyways this will be a fun story to write cause I have some antics in mind for him. I'm going with the idea that the force field trick wasn't the only reason his games weren't shown ever again.
So, please review!
