The Reaping
I apply the finishing touches of make-up on my face. I look in the mirror and admire my elegant blue and yellow striped dress and smile. I then check my hair royal blue curly hair and make sure I am ready for the reaping. This day always made me smile but it always would upset me because only 1 child could come back. At times I felt like crying, but I am always happy for the child who wins. I never understood the point of these games. The children who fight are all scared of dying, and no one ever comes out alive and still has their sanity. Most of the kids these days commit suicide because they always remember those haunting days in the arena. President Love walks up beside me and admires me in the mirror.
"You look beautiful darling. I can't wait to see you out on stage today." Love says to me.
I smile weakly and notice her eyes. They looked darker than usual. Is she stressed or is tired or….no she is just insane as usual. Yes my mother is President Love. It never felt right being her daughter but I always did what she said to just make her happy.
"Mother; do you think hosting another hunger games is right?" I choke.
"Honey if there is one thing I learned about being president it is no child deserves mercy, they are all brats and turn out to do nothing great anyway, so why not just let them die." Mother replies hatefully.
"Yeah." I say quietly.
I lower my head and she squeezes me tightly before going out on stage. She walks out on stage and greets the Capital. The crowd roars in cheers.
"Welcome! Thank you all so much for participating in this year's 150th Annual Hunger Games Reaping. First off I want to reveal to you all, the secret for this year." President Love says.
The crowd cries out in joy and claps. My mother always had a way of convincing the crowd to believe in what she believes in. A little girl walks out on stage and is carrying a bright blue box. She opens the box and Love pulls out the envelope that says 150th Hunger Games. The girl smiles and backs away while my mother opens the envelope slowly.
"On the 150th Hunger Games, only boys shall compete in the Hunger Games. It will be called the Male Dominant Sport." Love reads.
The crowd gasps and cheers as they find out only boys can compete.
"We have 1 bowl from each of the 12 districts containing all of the male tributes names. My daughter Amelia will be pulling out the names. Speaking of Amelia, why don't you come out here darling?" She says.
My heart sinks into my chest as I make my way onto the stage. The crowd cheers my name on as I hug my mother. She kisses me on the cheek and walks off stage. I give a fake smile and make my way over to the first bowl labeled District 1. I take a deep breath as I reach into the sea of papers. I pull out two names but don't read them yet. I walk over to the bowl labeled District 2 and pull out two pieces of paper. I do this with the other bowls until I finally reach the bowl labeled District 12. I reach my hand into the bowl and pull out the final two pieces of paper. I signal several people to come on stage and remove the bowls from the stage. They do so and bring out a large board for me to write the names of the tributes on. The crowd is silent as I turn the board away from them and begin writing down the names of the tributes from each district.
"You know, this is actually quite exciting! We will soon find out our 24 tributes in a matter of minutes." I lie to the crowd.
I nervously write more and more names on the board until I finish. I take a deep breath and turn the board around for the crowd to see. I begin reading off the names for everyone to hear. After I finish the crowd cries out in joy and I smile once again. I wave to the crowd one more time before leaving the stage. Back stage I find my mother again and she gives me another hug.
"You did wonderful sweetheart." My mother says.
I couldn't stand these lies anymore and had to say something.
"Mother; I don't feel like doing this anymore. I am not going to be hated by the families whose children have to participate in these games anymore." I say angrily.
"Oh dear you can't leave me now. Who will I get to help me with all of this? Besides those families deserve to feel hatred; especially since they tried to overthrow my power." Love replies kindly.
"Mother, you can't expect me to always be there for you. I have a life too you know." I cry out.
"I never knew you felt that way dear. If you don't want to then you don't have to anymore. I still need help though?" She replies.
"Mother! I am 19! I can do what I want now. I am packing my things when I get home and I am leaving." I shout at her.
My mother looks in the other direction. I know I have disappointed her now and hate myself for it. What am I suppose to do anyways? I begin to sob and feel tears falling down my cheeks. I hug my mother one last time. She pushes me away as I try to hug her. I gasp and choke back more tears. I run away from her and into my dressing room. I strip away my dress and find a shirt to wear. I climb onto the couch and pull my knees close to my body. I let all of my anger and sorrow out and cry into my shirt. Someone knocks on my dressing room door. I yell at them to go away but they continue to knock. Finally I get up and wipe my tears away. I look into to the mirror and notice my make-up has run down my face. I sob once again as I open the door. A large bulky man stood in front of it.
"Yes? What do you need?" I ask.
He doesn't reply but stares at me.
"Look if you aren't going to talk then leave me alone alright?" I say hatefully.
The man doesn't reply once again. I begin to close the door but he stops it with his foot. I try to slam it now but he pushes through and I fall to the ground. I gasp in pain and he grabs my arms. I struggle to pull away but I finally give up and he throws me on the couch. I try to scream for help but he silences me by punching me in the stomach. He pulls out a piece of cloth and a bottle. I know what he is going to do. I try to get up but he pushes me back down. I cry out as he puts the cloth over my mouth and nose. Everything suddenly becomes blurry. I begin to close my eyes just before a woman enters the room. She had pure white hair and wrinkles covered her face. She looked just like my mother. My eyes widen as far as they could as I realize it is my mother.
"Dear why did you have to disobey my orders? You will pay deeply for that." Love says. She smiles at my evilly before I shut my eyes completely.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will reveal the names Amelia said and will have the alliance list. You will not be able to know the bloodbaths until I actually start the story. Please feel free to leave any comments, whether it is grammar correcting of my story, your favorite character or characters and why, or just something positive about the story. I do take criticism well and respect any opinions the critics have, I will not tolerate however anyone who curses me out or my story, and I will not tolerate bullying of my stories. Thanks again for reading it! :)