The story is now complete! So for anyone already reading this, remember that there is a scroll bar in the chapters menu. So yes it is complete.
For anyone new, Hope you like this intro/prologue!
Up, down, up, down. The two wooden hulls slapping the waves. A slightly torn sail, full in the billowing wind. I should be at the front. Poised on the slippery beam, warning of the shallow reefs. But no. I'm safe at the stern. Facing backwards, ready to catch anything that escapes my fellows at the front. No spray, no waves. Just the same rocking, up, down, up ,down.
Obviously there's no fish to get, they're all being skewered by Clypse and Argen. It's no wonder newbies get this spot. Then again I'm not the type to kill the fish, their eyes send sending silent whimpers. Much better to scale the mast and ignore the death that goes on over the nets bellow.
There's a splash and I know someone's lost their footing on the slick beams that keep the two hulls from wandering their own separate ways. Nobody makes a fuss and I'm actually glad because I finally get to do something. I lean over the stern and grab his hand as bramble bobs by. It's only his second year on the water but he's already one of the preferred sheet handlers. The fact that he was scouting today further proves that whoever organized the jobs must have been high or something.
I pull bramble up because his balance is questionable. He nods a thank you and teeters back to his position. On any normal day we would have exchanged a few words, but everyone is quite. We all know tomorrow two innocents will be sentenced to their deaths.
It's easy to remember the day they announced this year's quarter quell. The letter reading was mandatory viewing, and as always you'd have to be off in the head not to be horrified.
The words where stated so matter of fact, that it took a few moments to understand them, but once I did, the words stuck. "In honor of the 100th hunger games and 4th quarter quell, this year children will be eligible for reaping from the age of eight, each having equal chances of becoming a tribute." They are still ringing in my ears.
Now I'm thinking about all those eight year olds that are going to be slaughtering each other in the arena. Well, not just them, everybody else has the same chances. I do the math in my head and theoretically there should be two to three of them in the games. That is, discounting volunteers. There's going to be a lot of those now that all those little brothers and sister are eligible.
I break away from my thoughts but they quickly suck me back in. I've noticed that the noise of tridents hitting the water is rhythmic, not the usual enthusiastic race to impale anything that moves. They still do but I can tell I'm not the only one thinking about tomorrow. Clypse is in a state of mourning. She's got younger twins that are nine. Lucky me, I'm an only child. So I'm not worrying about myself. I've never needed to take tesserae, Both my parents are working in our family business. We're not rich in any way but we get by relatively well. When that all knowing slip is drawn, my name has an incrementally small chance of being written on the smooth paper. Somehow the thought doesn't cheer me up because if I'm not going, someone else will. Plus there's no female careers this year. Lucky boys. Everyone knows Thales Flannery is going to volunteer this year. He's been training for the quarter quell since he was a toddler. He's eighteen now and most of the district expects him to be coming home after the games. That's the only reason I remember his name.
A bell tolling startles me and I accidentally dig my fingernails into the wooden planks. I'm not sure why but It doesn't really matter. I stand up and recognize that our boat is headed towards the docks, it's not just the familiar landscape but the bell means we're free for the rest of the day.
By the time we're securely moored, there's a hint of black edging up the pink sky. It's not even six o'clock but the days are still relatively short after the long winter. Once everyone has finished taking care of their equipment we group up to say our daily goodbyes. But none come. I'm left thinking solely of tomorrow
=P as we go, I get better at writing. Even so, please review! I love my faithful reviewers that never cease their criticism and encouragement. Even a simple "Liked it" or "A smurf could have wrote something better." would suffice.
=D keep reading! and if you are going to, I would advise adding it in you're favorites, not because it's your favorite, just because I've posted the last/second last chapter and the story won't be appearing on the first page after this, you'll have trouble finding it.