District 6
The sound of a train pulling into District woke Hattie from her light sleep. Her eyes blink rapidly trying to get the gritty feeling that sleeping caused to go away. Hattie sat up in the bed she shared with three year old brother and deftly climbed over him letting him sleep until she had to get him ready for the ceremony later.
The seventeen year old moved across the studio apartment that was directly above the train station. She lived there with her baby brother Aible because it is what she could afford it on a railway repair-mans salary. Hattie moved across the room towards the closet to collect what she was going to wear to the 71st reaping.
She pulled out a blue and white striped sundress and a pair flats along with clean undergarments. The teenager looked over her shoulder at her brother making she he was still asleep before stepping into the bathroom.
Hattie stripped herself of her pajama's and looked at herself in the mirror taking in her body and face: hourglass figure, muscles from lifting a sledgehammer 5 hours a day, a tan form being in the sun for just as long, pouty pink lips, brunette hair with blonde streaks, and striking emerald eyes.
Shaking her head and turning away form the mirror she steps into the shower stall and turning on the cold water, saving the warm water for her brother. Shivering she squirts some generic scented soap into her hand and began to wash the dirt and sweat from her body.
She stepped out ten minutes later, still shivering Hattie dried off and began to dress. Her hair though, was still wrapped in a towel to keep her clothes from getting wet. The brunette slipped her bra and panties on first and then her dress, the skirt falling right above her knees. She slipped her flats on her way out of the bathroom and took the couple steps to the kitchenette in the lower left corner of the apartment.
Hattie pulled the last of the eggs and bacon from the fridge and set them on the counter next to the stove. With a pan already on the stove, after turning on the gas she grabbed a box of matched and with a single strike she lit the burner. Not wanting to waste any gas she quickly began to cook only leaving it on to make sure the bacon was thoroughly cooked and the eggs weren't runny.
Plating the food and setting the dishes on the dingy dining table they have, she moved back over to the bed to wake up her brother. Sitting on the edge of the bed next to his head, she gently ran her fingers through his fine red hair. "Aible honey, it's time to wake up," she says softly.
The young boy groans and squirms under the blankets, "But 'Attie I do' wanna get up," Aible mumbles into his pillows.
She grins "Well then I'll just have to eat your bacon and eggs too." That certainly got the boy moving as he quickly slipped out from under the blankets and dashed toward the table.
"No... you no have my bacon," he says with a mouthful of food in his mouth.
She sat down across from him not really eating more like picking at what was on her plate. "Aible honey... do you remember what we talked about last night?" she asks as she watches him devour his food.
He nods so fast that she got whiplash just watching him, "I did... you told me that I had to be the bestest I could be and ... and stay with Ms. Marsha during the whole thing," he says a grin on his face as he remembered what his sister told him the night before.
Hattie nods and sets down her fork and gets up to take his empty plate to the sink after dumping her still full plate. As she cleans the plates she looks out the window to see peacekeepers and District six citizen milling about down below as everyone got ready for the reaping. "Aible it's time to get in the shower," she says as she finishes the dishes and wipes her hands.
The seventeen year old grabs her brothers clothes and ushers Aible into the bathroom. Setting his clean clothes on the counter and turning the warm water on for the boy, she kneels down and helps him out of his pajamas before turning around.
She lets him bathe himself as she tugged the towel from her head and brushed her long hair until it was smooth. When her long locks were completely dries she takes a couple pieces around her temples and braids them back and then braiding them together. She did her makeup a more natural, the boldest thing being her cat eye.
As she clasps her 'A' necklace around her neck, Aible steps out of the shower, taking the towel in her hand she wraps it around the boy. Quickly checking the time, seeing that they have to be down at town center soon, she dries Aible off and gets him dressed.
After making sure the two of them were decent, Hattie ushers the two of them out of the apartment and throughout town. Making it to the massive line and seeing Ms. Marsha, Hattie kneels down and kisses her brothers cheek as she pulls him into a hug. "Now you be good for Ms. Marsha and I'll see you at the end of the reaping," she whispers pulling away from him.
The older woman steps forward and takes the little boys hand leading him to the area for younger children and the elderly. Hattie watches until she can't see them anymore and steps in line. It moves quickly and before she could comprehend it she was giving the peacekeeper her finger and standing with the other girls her age.
Hattie's attention moves to District Six's escort Lorelle as the capital clown makes her way across stage. "Hello district six, isn't it such a lovely day for a reaping," she says in a high pitched voice that everyone in the capitol has. Lorelle announces the Mayor and lets him have a couple words before the traditional video is played form everyone to watch.
Hattie blankly watches the video her thoughts moving to her brother and hoping that he'll never have to go through this. When the video ends her attention goes back to Lorelle and the two bowls being placed on either side of the woman.
"Now ladies and gentlemen it is now time to pick our tributes," the escort says a smile on her face. "Ladies first." She moves to the bowl to her left and dips her pink hand into it and swishes it around a couple times.
Lorelle pulls a strip from the glass bowl and unfolds it her purple eyes reading the name be for reading it off into the microphone. "Hattie Madoff."
The seventeen year old freezes and looks around her before her eyes land on Ms. Marsha and her little brother.
Okay so I've been planning this fic for awhile, which is why I haven't touched anything else because I could only focus on this and finally getting everything ready to write. But I do want your opinion, should I continue this or complete erase it off the face of the planet and never attemp a Hunger Games fic again.