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I hear my name called and the square goes quiet. I slowly walk through the crowds of people who look like me, with dark skin and hair and brown eyes, dressed in their reaping clothes. I walk up to the small stage in front of our little JusticeBuilding, all eyes on me.
My escort, Tara, is waiting for me. She's a skinny woman with blue hair down to her knees and jeweled eyelashes, a true Capitol freak. She announces my name again and asks for volunteers, searching the crowd with her eyes. My three younger sisters (two-year-old, Janice, four-year-old, Rose, and six-year-old, Plum) are too little and I would refuse if they did. My two brothers (three-year-old, Han, and five-year-old, Xack) can't because they're boys. My two best friends, Cherry and Peach, show that, in some situations, friendship has to stop somewhere. I don't even know why, outside of the Career Districts, they even bother to ask. No one wants to walk right into their own death, right?
No one bothers to even say anything and I can almost hear the mockingjays. Except mockingjays pick up a human's song, and considering there is none, I can't hear the mockingjays. Tara breaks the silence when she announces the boy tribute. Oh no! It's Thresh! Thresh's family and my family are really close. His grandmother knew my grandparents when they were growing up and since they passed away, she's come to love my father and mother like her own children. His sister, Melisa, loves me and my siblings and loves to play with us. And out of my big family and his little family, Thresh and I are the closest. Thresh and Melisa's parents passed away when I was just four. They caught pneumonia and died in a few weeks. I was so young I don't remember them well.
He helps me with everything and I do the same with him, except there is so little that someone who is five years younger can do, so it's mostly just his "school problems" which means, "Who should I challenge at chopping down trees today, Rue?" Thresh usually cuts down the old, dead trees and sends them away to District 7. Thresh is a smart, and handsome young man, whom I love like a big brother. Believe it or not, there is a brain behind the brawn. He is top in class and was supposed to be out of school this year. He shouldn't die like this. He had so much left to do. He should have been able to marry, have children, and gone into a successful business of chopping down old, dead, fruit trees. But I know I can't do anything about it. This is just how the Capitol works, in its own sick and twisted way.
Mayor Hansyel reads the Treaty of Treason and the anthem plays one more time.
"Happy Hunger Games!" Tara announces, "And may the odds be ever in your favor!" She makes us shake hands and I look into Thresh's eyes, but I can't tell what he's thinking because his expression is so passive he might as well feel nothing at all.
Peacekeepers usher us inside and take me into a separate room, where I will say goodbye to my friends and family. Just in case it's the last time I'll see them. Because it probably will be.
First, Cherry comes in. "Rue!" She runs up and embraces me. Then she sits down, "Rue! I can't believe this happened! You're just twelve! How many times did you have your name in there anyway?" Cherry is a merchant's daughter, we only became friends after we were forced to do a class project together in our second year of school. Her father sells us clothing. He sold my family the very clothes on our bodies. She doesn't have to have her name in there too much for the tessarae, whereas I, a laborer's eldest daughter, has to take care of my younger siblings when my parents can't, so I had to take as much as I could, also considering I'm the only one old enough to. Yes, I'm only twelve, but I had my name in that evil bowl fifteen times!
My whole family, except for Janice and Han, have to work in the field, but sometimes, it's still not enough for a family of eight. I had to take the extra risk if it meant keeping my family fed and healthy. I can't even think about stealing something from the trees. The Peacekeepers would catch me and execute me on the spot. Then who would help my parents? I have to find a few spare berries and nuts in the meadow near our home, and even that's not enough.
"Cherry," I tell her, "You have to promise me one thing," She nods her head, recognizing my request, "Play with Janice, Rose, and Plum every day and bring Peach along." Cherry and Peach love my sisters and vise versa. If I do die, I want my siblings to have someone to entertain them. And for the littlest ones, tell them about their big sister.
Cherry swallows hard and looks at me solemnly, the most solemn I've ever seen her. Most of the time, unless the Hunger Games are going on, we're all joking. I need some humor in my life right now. "Of course I will." I see tears begin to flood her eyes, as I feel some tears of my own. Then, before I know it, the Peacekeepers come in and tell us that time is up.
They start to haul her away and I scream, "Wait! No!" I try to reach out to take her hand but a large Peacekeeper blocks my way.
"Rue! Don't worry Rue! Just remember, nev-" They slam the door shut and I don't hear the rest of what she wanted to tell me.
They open the door again, but this time it's Peach and her family, her father and 4-year-old brother. They are my neighbors and I've known them since birth. Peach was born just a day before me. Her mother was childhood friends with mine. Her mother passed away a couple years ago in a harvest accident, which is the most common cause of death here, in District 11. She was up in a tree, trying to pick a high orange, when a sound in the distance startled her and she let go. She fell and broke her neck, then died in the hospital a few hours later.
I stand and run over to Peach. I squeeze her until I can see her eyes almost pop out of her skull. I let go and then hug her brother, then her father.
"We just wanted to see you alone, so we can, you know, say, umm..." she hesitates, then continues, "I'll miss you."
"I want you to do something for me. I want you to have Ben(her brother) play with Han and Xack every day," There's really no use telling her that. They're best friends, the three of them, they already play every day. Now I tell her the catch, "And I want you and Cherry to play with my sisters every day too. And when they get old enough, tell them about me please."
She looks at me, tears glinting in her eyes, "If it means I'll be helping you," She begins to cry then hugs me. "Oh, Rue."
I kneel down, so I'm face-to-face with Ben. "Hey, buddy. Would you want to play with my brothers every day?" He nods his head vigorously and I kiss his forehead.
Then I look up to Peach's dad. "Thank you, sir." That's all I can think to say. I hug him.
"Wait, Rue!" Peach pipes up. She holds out something in her hands. There's a rue flower, a cherry, and a large peach. Her voice is shaking now and I feel salty tears run down my face. "Together forever." I hug her for the last time as Peacekeepers pull her family away. "Goodbye, Rue!"
"Goodbye," I mumble, staring at her gift in my hands.
The next people who come in are people I knew would come, even though her grandson and her brother is coming with me. It's Thresh's grandmother and Melisa.
"Rue," his grandmother hobbles over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "I've known you since you were a babe, and I've loved seeing you grow up. Even though you're going into a competition where you might have to kill my son, I wish you luck." She places her hands around me and I do the same.
Thresh's grandmother was always like my own, considering I can't remember my real one. Then Melisa comes over and hugs me too. "Good luck, Rue."
They both say goodbye and leave without being told. I didn't think so many people would want come see me. But the last group is a group that I knew would come no matter what, and I hurry to wipe my tears.
My family walks in and I see all five of my siblings crying. I tell them to stop because it's not worth it and it won't help, right? Then I feel the tears coming back on and try my best to stop them. They ask me if I will come back.
"It depends," I tell them, because I don't like to lie. "But I promise I'll try." I poke Janice's nose and she giggles, which makes me smile. Then I tell them, "Hey guys, I have a surprise for you."
Their faces light up, "What?" They all say in unison.
"Well," I answer, "Cherry and Peach are gonna play with the girls every day, and Ben is gonna play with Xack and Han!"
I see my parents smile in the background. All of my brothers and sisters seem excited and happy about this, and I can tell they don't know what I mean, and it's a good thing too.
My mother walks towards me and gives me what I know is a token for good luck. A necklace that I made when I was younger, woven from the long grasses that grow near our home with a hand-carved flower, the one that I am named for, hanging from it. I love this necklace and can't believe I left it before the reaping. I put it on and pick up Peach's gift.
Then the Peacekeepers come and kick my parents out of the room. I hear Janice start crying somewhere out in the hall and cherish it because it's probably the last time I hear it.
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