It was reaping day again and everyone was in attendance. There were lines of people all sorted by age and ready to see if they would be sent off to the Capitol to fight for their lives. For some it would be dumb luck if their name was called but for some the odds were definitely not in their favor. This was the first year Marley Rose was actually worried about the reaping. She wasn't worried about her own chances- she wasn't selfish like that- but she was worried for her younger sister Katie. A few weeks ago Katie turned 13 which made this her first year with one entry in the reaping ball. This was the first year Katie could be chosen to fight against her fellow citizens of Panem to be crowned the victor of the 74th Hunger Games.
Marley pulled at the hem of her light blue dress and glanced around her trying to see through the throng of people to glimpse her sister's bright blonde hair. She couldn't see her but then there was a commotion up on stage as Effie Trinket stood up on the stage and headed over to the large glass ball with slips of paper with out names on it. She drags her hand around the glass bowl making sure to "mix them up really well". Around Marley people stopped breathing. Their chests stopped rising and falling and their breath no longer made little clouds of fog as they exhaled. There was only one chance Katie would be chosen and that was out of hundreds of entries. It was almost ridiculous how much Marley was worried Katie would get chosen. Marley rolled her shoulders and released her breath in a loud exhale in the silence of the square outside of the justice building.
Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium a small slip of paper in her hands. Inside that slip of paper is the name of the kid who is either doomed to die or survive and win a house and more money than any person of district 12 could possibly dream of having.
"Ladies first!" She pauses hoping there will be some kind of applause or acknowledgement of what she was about to do but all she was met with was silence and a wet cough from an older man in the back of the audience. Marley crosses her fingers praying it will not be herself or her sister to be called.
"This year's tribute for district 12 will be… Katie Rose!" She sweeps her arm wide and settles on the small frame of my sister. Something in Marley freezes and she is routed to the spot. Katie swallows loudly and then tentatively takes a few steps forward. A path clears in front of Marley and she snaps out of her dazed confusion. Out of all those names Katie's is selected. The odds were in her favor and still she lost. This can't be happening! Marley ran forward pushing through all of the people who weren't smart enough to move out of her way. She stumbled twice but was able to throw herself in front of Katie.
"I volunteer!" Marley gasps trying to make her voice sound sure and strong. "I volunteer as tribute!" Marley says with more gusto trying to make herself seem older and in charge of the situation.
People gasp as they realize someone has volunteered to go into the arena. The Peacekeepers from district 12 glanced at each other. There hadn't been a volunteer tribute in many years and the protocol was a little rusty.
Effie Trinket glances around her unsure of what to do but she smiles and says "Lovely! But I believe there's a small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteers, and if one does not come forth then we, um…"
"What does it matter?" The mayor steps forward and puts a hand on Effie Trinket's shoulder. The mayor didn't know all of the residents of District 12 but clearly he knew me and my family. It was hard not to.
About five years ago Marley's father was working in the coal mines on the outskirts of the district when one of the gas lamps erupted, catching a nearby coal deposit on fire. The explosion which ripped through the mine killed 75 workers including her dad. The shock waves were felt all the way into town where Marley had been buying bread for her family. Everyone in the town instantly knew what had happened and those who had been asleep were quickly awoken to the sounds of terrified screaming. Wake up the miner's are dead! That was one of the only phrases that Marley's mind wanted to process at that time. There were other shouts too but Marley couldn't think of what they were now.
"What does it matter?" The mayor demanded again, "Let her come forward".
Katie was screaming hysterically behind Marley and trying to get her older sister to stop walking forward. Katie clawed at Marley's arm and finally through herself around one of Marley's legs like she was a five year old again.
"Katie let go." Marley says this a little harshly but the tears threatening to spill over onto my face wouldn't let Marley's voice sound any nicer. "Let go!"
A hand groped at Marley's leg and at the frightened girl who was trying to hang on for dear life. Marley looked up at the face of the person who was trying to help her and saw a sad Ryder Lynn. With one final tug Katie was released from Marley's legs. Ryder held onto her with one hand and extended the other hand up to Marley to help her mount the stairs. Marley accepted the hand and stepped onto the stage conscience of all the eyes following her.
"Well bravo!" Effie Trinket gushes with happiness. Finally her reaping session would have a little bit of drama. Effie was tiered of all the boring people dragging their feet up to the platform as if they were walking to their funeral and not about to have the nation's attention on you. "That's the spirit of the Games! What's your name?"
Marley swallows hard and speaks into the microphone. "Marley Rose." Her mother who had been standing in the back of the group let out another wail as she watched her child's face appear above the screen in the square.
"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all of the glory, do we? Come one everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" Effie Trinket waits for applause but never get it. She looks to the area where the betters are sitting but even they are silent and looking at their shoes. There is silence but then slowly one person at a time the crowd raises their left hand and places their three middle fingers to their lips and then extends their hand out to Marley.
The people have spoken in their own way. They do not agree. They do not condone. They all agree all of this is wrong.
Marley is in danger of crying even more now that she has the whole support of District 12 behind her. Katie's crying has now quieted into sobs but even she has extended her fingers out to her sister. Haymitch staggers across the stage and throws his arm around Marley's shoulders. His breath reeks of liquor and it appears by the dirt around his face and chin that he has not showered in several days.
"Look at her. Look at this one! I like her!" He stumbles with his words and clutches at Marley for a few seconds as he regains his balance. "Lots of… SPUNK!" The last part of his sentence is annunciated to a point of hysteria. "More than you!" He releases Marley and stumbles toward the front of the stage. "More than you!" He points into the camera and stops his foot down on the stage with a fury of bangs. His foot is about to come down again when he totters forward and falls face first off the stage. A few Peacekeepers rush forward and take him away on a stretcher.
"What an exciting day!" Effie Trinket thrills trying to get the ball rolling again. She crosses to the other ball and stands in front of it as a photographer from the Capitol comes forward and snaps a picture of her with her hand in the glass ball. "But there is more excitement to come! It's time to choose our boy tribute!" She puts her hand into the ball and swirls it around to mix up the paper. Marley doesn't have time to wish for her few friends' safety before Effie pulls out the name. "Jake Puckerman!" Marley curses quickly and moves out of the way of the stairs. Jake comes forward and takes his place on the other side of Effie. She grasps our hands and holds them aloft. No one cheers their eyes are all cast downward. The mayor steps forward to the podium and began to read the Treaty of Treason which was read every year.
Marley spaces out and considers what she could have done wrong in either a past life or the present one to deserve such mockery from the Fates. She had once dated Jake when she had first got into high school but had quickly realized her heart was not in the relationship so she broke things off with him. Later she found out Jake had cheated on her and Marley vowed to never date anyone else again. Her closest friends all had boyfriends and girlfriends and Marley was constantly the third wheel. She didn't mind though she was content with flying solo until the boys at her school realized they needed to settle down with one girl eventually.
The night of the mine explosion, the Rose family (what was left of it) had come home to find a full cooked meal on the table with no note of who could have left it. Together they sat down and prayed for the safety of all the trapped miners and prayed that their father had not suffered greatly while he died. Marley hoped with all her might her father hadn't seen death coming. She wished Death had just snuck up behind him and then enveloped him in a black cloak and removed all the pain her father had had to go through.
The meal saved the Rose family from buying food for a little more than three days. They had portioned it all out and found the meal to contain several small luxury items that they wouldn't dream of buying. The Rose family wasn't poor by any means but they did not have money to buy things like honey, cheese (real cheese not made from goat's milk), some moderately sized loaves of bread, and a few sprigs of domesticated mint leaves. Marley knew where to get the majority of these items but the bread was not made of the dry grain a person could buy with tesserae. It was exactly at that moment that Marley realized who could have purchased that meal. District 12 had only two bakeries in town one of which was closing soon due to poor bookkeeping; the other was run by the Puckerman family.
Jake's bakery was the only one still open at the time of the explosion that would have been able to bake bread with the Capitol's high prices. It was the Puckerman family that helped Marley and her family live off of having no paycheck for about a month.
Marley's eyes shifted over to glance at Jake and she was relieved to find he was not staring back at her. Effie Trinket grabbed each of their hands and held them aloft. The crowd was still silent as Effie turned us towards each other and brought our hands forward to grasp in what was supposed to be a friendly grasp but both their hands were shaky and his palms were sweaty. Marley tried to not look so frightened but found she could no longer muster enough energy to do anything but look at her shoes.
Marley hopes it will not come down to the two of them because she knows she could not force herself to kill Jake even if he begged her to. There will be 24 of us. Odds are someone else will kill him before I do. The odds were in Marley's favor but then again the odds have not been very dependable as of late.
So I realize most of you followed this story either because you ship Quinn and Sam or somehow you just like the idea of this story, but I have to say now that Quinn's not a major character in the story I find it difficult to write about those two as a couple. So I will continue the story but with two new characters that joined Glee last season: Jake and Marley. I hope you still follow this story as it will follow most of my original ideas from the first story. Anyways, reviews are always welcome and greatly appreciated!
~cold as ice