Chapter 1 – Glimmer
"Glimmer…. GLIMMER! C'mon seriously now get your lazy behind out of bed! Mom said im not allowed lunch until you wake up and im starving!" my little brother Calico carries on moaning and groaning but I simply roll over and snuggle back into my duvet. It's not my fault he's hungry and besides, my bed simply so warm the mere thought of getting out of bed makes me shiver. Im totally not a morning person. The complaints get louder and I try to ignore him as best I can. He's probably a little on edge even though he's only 11 and doesn't even need to think about it until next year but still… I feel bad for him
After all, today is reaping day.
I glance at the clock, 12:15, I could probably squeeze some more sleep in but I want to make myself look as nice as possible for the capital cameras, even though most of the camera time will be spent on the two tributes they always do a sweep shot of the crowd and I want to look my best.
Reluctantly I hop out of bed and make my way down stairs. As I reach the kitchen I see that Calico has given up waiting and is helping himself to a big bowl of hot grain with bread and butter, after giving him a gentle but firm whack around the head for waking me up and for not listening to mum I get myself the same food, sighing slightly at the plainness of it, I mean its not like im ungrateful or anything, I know for a fact district 1 has more food than most but why does it have to be so dull! I hear that in the capitol they have hundreds of spreads to put on their bread of every different colour, imagine that! I sigh again and begin eating.
Once I've finished eating I make my way back upstairs to my bedroom. I open my closet and take out a dress I have been saving especially for today, a white dress that falls just above my knees in a gentle sweep. I put it on and take a look in the mirror; I can't help the smile that appears on my face at the sight of my reflection.
I have the same look as most people im my district, tall, light hair and light coloured eyes but there must have been something in my genes that made me, well, quite beautiful. I have blonde hair, like just about everyone here but mine falls to my waist in soft waves and is as bright as the sun; my skin is lightly tanned and completely smooth, im tall without being freakish and im thin without showing any bones and even though im thin is doesn't mean im without curves and right now this dress does nothing but highlight these curves, with its low neckline and tightness in all the right places.
These features are all very good but the thing that people really notice about me, the thing people literally stop and stare at are my eyes. There colour alone are some thing special, see everybody in district 1 has blue eyes of all different shades but my eyes are a shocking shade of green, they are the exact same shade as the emeralds we make jewellery out of and they sparkle like them too, that's were my name comes from, my mother told me that from the moment she held me she could see a glimmer of something special in my eyes.
I smile at my reflection once again then begin to head downstairs just as my parents come through the door, my mother sees me and let's out a small shriek of happiness, "oh glimmer, your so beautiful darling" she gives me a quick hug before calling my father "Gem dear come look at our daughter doesn't she look stunning!" my father is the next to embrace me in a hug after putting down the shopping bags that carry a special meal we always eat after the reaping that I always look forward to.
Another benefit of living in district 1 is that we already have an idea of who is going to be a tribute, after district 2, we have the most volunteers as the boys see it as a chance to show off their abilities and to prove themselves, and the girls all dream of capital life and the fortunes they will receive if they win. Iv already heard that two of the girls in the year above me are going to be volunteers and half the boys are saying it to, even though when it comes down to it only about five of them will actually volunteer but that's enough to stop people from being reaped. I don't think I will ever volunteer, its not that I don't dream of capital life the same way other girls do but I promised my mother I wouldn't, im her only daughter and she doesn't want to risk it. After my father has finished hugging me I look over and see calico struggling to do up the buttons on his shirt, I bend down and help him and he surprises me by throwing his arms around me, just because im nearly as safe as you can get it doesn't stop him from worrying, a give him a quick squeeze back and do up the rest of his buttons before straightening back up. I look around at by family and see the tension has finally pierced the air like it always does around and hour before the reaping takes place, just because we are a district that has volunteers and longs for capital riches doesn't mean we don't wish the games never existed, we still must watch 23 children get killed every year, with one of them defiantly from our district and it still leaves a mark on all of us. We all settle on doing our separate activities until father announces its time to leave. We all pack our things away and head out to the square.