The 91st Hunger Games
Note: Catching Fire and Mockingjay never happened.
I do not own the Hunger Games
I wake up. The nightmares of being reaped still fresh in my head. The thought of going back to sleep terrifies me. It is so scary that I get up, change and walk from my house to the Meadow for some air.
The reaping is today. I sit on the grass in the Meadow. The chances of me being reaped are slim, but possible. After all, my brother was reaped when he was my age. The reaping always brings back images of his death. I still have a few more hours of freedom before I must go to the Square and face the reaping.
I decide to sneak out of the fence and pick some berries. When I get to the fence, I stop and listen to see if there is the humming that means that the fence is on. There is no sound, but there usually never is. I slide under the fence and start hunting for berries. Immediately, I find some blackberries in my secret spot. I pick them before heading to the lake. When I get there, I find some Katniss flowers and pull them up so I can get the roots for soup. Finally, before heading back, I find some apples that have grown early. With my collection, I head back to District 12.
When I get home, my mother and sister are already up.
"Atticus, where were you?" my mother scolds.
That's a stupid. She already knew where I went. Everyone in my family does. It's obvious that I went plant picking, especially since I have a bunch of plants in my hand.
"What's the big deal?" I ask, honestly curious.
"The big deal is that the reaping is in an hour and you aren't ready!"
I see Lyra and ruffle her hair. She looks up and says "You better get ready."
I go into my room and change into my clean white shirt. I keep my jeans on because they aren't dirty and they are the nicest pair of pants that I have.
I walk out of my room as my mother is ushering Lyra out of the door. We walk through the Seam in silence. None of us feels like talking about the reaping when it is so close. We walk over to the sign-up desk and sign in. We then walk over to the sections for the twelve (Lyra) and fifteen (me) year olds.
I wait with the other fifteen-year-olds as Mayor Undersee steps up to the podium and begin his speech. He lists all of the disasters that led to Panem. He then lists all of the past victors from District Twelve. "The victor of the 25th Hunger games was the deceased Vera Simon. The victor of the 50th Hunger Games is Haymich Abernathy. The victors of the 74th Hunger Games are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The victor of the 80th Hunger Games is Laurent LeBeau. The victors of the 84th Hunger Games are Victoria Monroe and Titus Blacklight."
At this point, our escort, Effie Trinket steps up onto the stage and say "Happy Hunger Games District 12, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"
Ugh! Those Capitol accents are so annoying.
"Ladies first," Effie says as she wobbles over to the reaping ball with the girls' names in them. She reaches inside and pulls out a slip of paper. She then walks back over to the podium and reads "Chelsea Mellark!" After she says it, shock crosses her face. The same face crosses over all of the victors and the Mayor.
I don't understand it until I see the fifteen-year-old girl. That's when it hits me, she is the daughter of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. All of the victors watched her grow up. Seeing her be chosen must be torcher for them.
Effie asks for any volunteers, but of course no one comes forward.
"Aright then. Let's choose our boy tribute!" she said trying to regain her usual verve. She walks over to the reaping ball holding all of the boys' names. She reaches in and pulls out a slip. She walks back to the podium.
"Atticus Avilor."