A/N: My First Story!... on this user anyway. ;) This is my take on what the first ever hunger games would be like, from the point of view of a 14 year old girl from District 4.
My mind is twisting with visions of children dying, my brother dying at the hands of another kid. I watch him fall to the ground, bleeding. I scream his name over and over as if this will raise
him from the dead. I'm crying when the bombs begin, I glance up toward the sky and see one about to drop on me. I begin screaming but make no attempt to get out of the way. The
bomb an inch from my head, when the dream stops and all goes black but I'm still screaming when my
eyes pop open. I realize I'm covered in sleek sweat and there's a few tears running down my face. They aren't real tears, its just from the dream.I'm also tangled up in the sheets. I
can feel my heart hammering in my chest and I untangle myself and hastily wipe the tears away. I breathe slowly trying to calm myslef down. I've been
having that nightmare ever since they announced the creation of a new event called
The Hunger Games. The nightmares are the same but yet different each night. I'm still in the arena but each night I watch my brother die in a different, more horrific way. Then as I begin crying a different horror is about to kill me but before it can, I wake up and more often then not I'm still screaming.
I look next to me and find my brother Ares in the same position, he's tangled in the
sheets and he's still thrashing. He says he has about the same dreams I do but the positions are reversed or sometimes he's the one that has to kill me. He refers to the arena as the
place of nightmares and I understand why. I siletnly climb out of bed trying not to wake him, even though I know I should so he can stop dreaming. If I wake him though then I can't go and think by myself. I go to the window and open the shades to find the sun just barely
breaking onto the horizon. The nightmares ususally last longer than this so I'm not ususally up this early but today I was awoken early, probably because of the fact that today is the day
of the reaping. The first ever reaping. I push those thoughts out of my head as I get dressed. I grab a pair of jeans, a white longsleeved shirt and finally my brother's old leather jacket that he lets me wear because it doesn't fit him anymore. It was his when he was 10. I'm small for my age. Reaching only 5'1. I'm also pretty skinny.
It's a bit worn but that doesn't matter, not like anyone's going to be out at this hour.I put my hair up in a ponytail and slip on a pair of boots, before opening the door. The cobblestone streets are empty as I expected them to be, today everyone is off work because unless you are dying you must attend the reaping, and the skys very overcast, telling me it could rain at any moment.
There's a cool breeze that bites at my face turning my cheeks bright red and it blows some strands of hair from my ponytail into my face. I take a deep breath and am relaxed by the
scent of the water. I can't take it any longer and I run along the familiar to path to the one place I feel whole. The the one place that I can clear my head and really think. I don't hesitate before I take off my shoes, roll up my jeans and walk toward the water.
I am immediately calmed as I feel the icy waves run up against my a chill up my spine, covering my skin with goosebumps. But as quickly as this relaxation came, it left again, and it's filled with a sense of longing. I can't be calm here anymore. I don't feel that relaxation i used to. There's something different about it. Sadder almost. The beach is now just my place to escape, away from all the people in the
square talking about the Hunger games and what kids they think may be picked, it sickens me. The Hunger Games will be a death sentence for 23 innocent kids. People should be quiet and try to forget these games, pretend they don't exist. The worst part is that the
chatter will not cease today, if anything it will increase because today is the reaping. From
what I've heard, an escort from the capitol will come to draw the names of one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, and there will be
camera crews, fresh from the capitol waiting to document every horiffic moment of the reaping,everywhere. My stomach does a small flip in the pit of my
stomach as it does every time I think about the reaping, hunger games or the capitol. How they defeated us in the rebellion that started these games. These games are our punishment. Because of the dark days and the rebels we have these games. Sometimes I hate the rebels, they caused this! They should be the ones sentenced to death, not innocent kids! But then other times, I know they had a reason to rebel, they never imagined this, they thought they could win or they at least stood a chance. Right now I don't know how I feel about the rebels.
But because of them, I could very well be on the train to the capitol, preparing to fight to the death
against 23 other tributes in a matter of hours. If I did get chosen I know I would not make it back. All the other tributes will probably be twice my size and weight. Will know everything there is about
weapons and how to slice someone's throat, I've heard that some districts are having the kids train for these games. I of course am not doing that. I'm not very muscular, but I can run
fast. So maybe I'll be able to just run from my opponents, not fighting though would never happen because I know they would somehow make me fight and to win a fight or the games I'll need not
only speed but power. One of which I don't have. I doubt I'd make it through the first day. I shake the thoughts about the games from my head. I have a slim chance of going, I only have
3 slips of paper with my name on it. There are thousands of kids who could be chosen. The odds may be in my favor, but who knows with this system. The odds could be entirely in your
favor and you may still be picked. I hear a shift of sand behind me and I quickly whip around to see my brother standing there in only his boxers. I see worry in his eyes but I don't know
if its about the games or about me. Maybe both. My anger flares, before the games I was always able to read my brother's eyes and tell his exact thoughts. Now I find myself thinking
about whether or not the feelings are about the games or about something else. "Are you okay?" I ask. I see some of his mucles relax, and he gives me a small smile. "I could ask you the
same thing. I got scared, I woke up and you were gone." I turn back to the ocean. "I'm fine. I was just thinking." I sit down on the sand and watch the waves and the stormy sky. It's
going to rain within minutes. Maybe they'll cancel the reaping. I shake my head they'd never do that. No matter what the weather they'll have that reaping. They'd find a way. Have it
indoors or something. "I figured that when I saw you were here but before that I had no idea." I smirk at him. "I thought it was obvious." He gives me a small laugh before sitting next to me and wrapping his arm around me in a protective manner. For a minute I'm
comforted, by his touch and his hug but that feeling quickly leaves as I notice the goose bumps starting to crawl up his arms and the rest of his body. It's freezing and all he's wearing is
a pair of boxers, I take his arm off me and remove my jacket and put it around him. He needs the warmth. When I place my fingers on his shoulders I notice he's shivering a bit. "Come on let's go inside, you're shivering." I don't really want to leave but I can't let him stay here in the cold.
"No I'll go you can stay out here. You just keep thinking, okay?" I just give a small nod and he stands but before he leaves he places the jacket back around my shoulders. I hear his
footsteps walking farther and farther away and then there's nothing. I can no longer hear his footsteps so I know he's gone. I'm able to sit in silence for a few moments before I hear a rumble
of thunder in the distance. I glance up to the sky just as the rain begins to come down, falling in heavy sheets. I put the jacket on but it doesn't help and I'm soaked to the bone and
freezing within minutes. I love to watch the rain but ususally when it's this cold, I race inside and sit by the fire. This time however I don't scramble to my feet in an attempt to get warmth,
instead I stay still, this will be as good a time as any to let my tears fall. The tears that I've been holding back for years. If I'm picked today I know I must stay strong. Not just for myself
but for my family. I also cannot let anyone from the capitol see me cry. If I get picked my face must remain emotionless. It's best to get it all out now, when the rain can be an excuse for
my wet face. I only planned to let out a few tears but when I start I can't seem to stop. I haven't cried in years and, every sad moment and everything that's made me
want to cry or hide or run away comes out. It feels too good and I don't want to stop. My emotions have been bottled up for so long that it feels as if with every tear I shed, a small
amount of weight, that I've been carrying on my shoulders for years, seems to float away. I never did cry about my mother's death, and that was because I knew she wouldn't want me
to, but it has been the one thing that has made me want to cry for the 5 years she's been gone. I had shoved that urge deep down trying to make it go away but
sometimes it would rise back up again and I'd barely be able to push it away again. I begin to think about her and my silent tears become sobs. I know now that my mother would've
understood if I cried. If she could've talked to me I'm sure she would've said, "It's okay to be sad and to cry but you can't cry forever and you can't always grieve, You have to move on.
Of course you'll always miss them but you'll always have a piece of them to carry with you in your heart. They will never be gone completely." I lift my head, and hastily wipe my tears
away on my shirt sleeve, which doesn't really do anything since its already soaked, stand up and brush the sand off me. I wade in the water for a few minutes to calm myself again. The sea is so familiar to
me. It's my second home. The rain is still falling but not as heavy as before. I love the rain. That's why I love my name. Rain…. I think. I step out of the ocean and run back to our house
knowing my brother will get a bit worried if I don't return soon. I open the door and walk to my room. My brother and I have our own rooms but since they announced the games I find
myself sleeping in his bed. I can't sleep alone anymore. I don't go to my father because he's not there. He isn't home very often but he still takes good care of us, always makes sure we
have enough money to get the things we need. But it's my brother who really cares for us the most. I see my fatheralmost every day for about an hour or so. And when I had nightmares as a child
he couldn't comfort me the way Ares could and he still can't. So when I sleep in Ares' room I'm always able to be calmed down. Which is good because each night I'm engulfed with
nightmares from the moment my eyes close. Whenever I wake up screaming from something that I imagine happening in the games Ares is always there for company. He always tells me
that it was just a dream and that I should try to get back to sleep. Lie, I think. These games are real. All the things in my dreams could happen in the arena. If I'm picked the tragic ends I see could be mine or even his.
I never go to sleep when he tells me I should. I just hug him and stay in his arms. Of course he has dreams like I do too and whenever he wakes up screaming, covered in sweat or
tangled in the sheets I'm there to comfort him. If I'm picked as a tribute, I'd want him to come with me. I mean I don't want him to go into the place of nightmares where he could be dead
in a matter of days, it's just if I am picked I'd want him to be there to comfort me, protect me. I snap out of my thoughts as I walk into the bathroom to get cleaned up for the reaping at 10:00. I'm
required to be clean, have my hair done and dress in something pretty. I particularly hate the dressing up part. We could be sentenced to death why should we be dressed up? I emerge
from the bathroom with a cloud of steam enveloping me for a moment before quickly disappearing. I shiver as I begin to dry myself off. It's always freezing, to go from a nice warm bath to
a cold bedroom. My arms are always covered in goosebumps. As soon as I'm dry I wrap myself in my fluffy white bathrobe and take my time choosing my dress. I end up with a knee
length light blue dress that matches the color of water and it sparkles in such a way that appear to look like a fresh raindrop. My mother had designed the dress and she had begun to
work on it right before she died. I only finished the work for her. I slip into my shoes and stare at myself in the mirror What shall I do with my hair? I have to think for a moment before i end up just putting it back into a ponytail. I brush it a bit before looking back at my reflection. A few stainds of hair have fallen out, I leave them be. A give my
hair a few more brushes before I exit the room in search for my brother. He has transformed from the shivering boy I saw on the beach this morning to my brother again, but knowing him
he'd call himself a god. He's wearing his black dress pants, the one's he only uses for special occasions, although I wouldn't call this occasion special, a black tie and his white dress shirt,
his sleeves are pulled up to his elbows, and a few locks of his hair falls into his eyes. My brother and I have about the same hair color but the similarities stop there. His eyes are a chocolate brown
like our father's and my eyes are like my mothers. They are a misty blue and pretty much match the color of my dress. "Well don't you look handsome." I say as I put he puts his shoes
on. He gives me a once over before smiling. "I was about to tell you the same thing." I give him a smile and suddenly his face turns serious but there's a slight mocking in his eyes that
lets me know he's not totally serious about whatever he's going to say next. "Which in your case is pretty rare." He remarks.
"Shut up!" I say giving him a light punch on the arm. He gives me a pained expression. "Ow that really hurt!" I roll my eyes at him.
"Oh stop it! It didn't hurt that bad. Come on, if we don't hurry we're going to have the peacekeepers after us." Not that I want to go there. If it were up to me I'd stay home, locked up in my room or maybe down by the ocean. But the peacekeepers will be coming around soon, making sure everyone attends.
He opens the door grabs my hand in his and we walk out the door together. The rain has stopped but the sky is overcast. Perfect weather for an occasion like this. He walks me to the square and with every clack my shoes make on the cobblestone, I know I'm one step closer to a possible death sentence….
A/N: Please excuse any editing errors that may have been in there. I tried revise it but I may have missed a few things or put things in the wrong spot. But please Review and feel free to give any constructive critisim. ;) Thanks!
-TheNewRain