I cry into my mother's shoulder.
"Please mommy, don't let them take me!"
"Shh. You won't get reaped. You're 13 now, Ania, it's alright. You won't get reaped. Lilian's only in fourteen times, and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of names in there. Don't worry, it's okay."
Her soothing voice calms me down as I drift off into sleep.
I dream of Lilian. She's fourteen, almost fifteen years old. She's everything to me.
I can't let her get picked.
...
I'm disabled in my leg. My right leg is paralysed at my knee joint, and it's hard to walk. Even though we're district 1, we're poor. My mom works at the factory shining shoes for shops in town. I'm a waste of time for her to take care of me. It's still two days before the reaping.
Without telling Lilian or mom, I sneak out to the town hall. "Twenty slips, for tesserae, please."
I neatly write Ania Ivory on each of the twenty slips. Twenty bags to bring home.
If I get picked, it's better if I go, better than Lilian.
"seven more, please." I say to the attendant at the desk. She looks surprised. I sign them, then use my sled to carry the bags home.
...
"What have you done!?" My mother screams when I tell her I got twenty-seven slips for tesserae.
"It's better me than her."
...
I get reaped. It's not like I was surprised. I limp to the stage and smile, wave, and shake the attendant's hand.
Lilian is crying and screaming, Mom is too. I'm shaking inside. It was for Lilian.
for her.