Hi all, Iluminouss here with a story I'm pretty excited about! I've been planning this out for more than a month, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it just as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Full disclosure, I know this prologue is very short, but the next chapter is much longer and will be more "story" like. For now, enjoy this sneak peek of what's to come, and feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism :)
Disclaimer: The following story is based of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. I do not take credit for the concept explored in this story.
I stabbed Titus Harlow three times. Once for every tribute that he had brutally murdered.
The first knife I rammed into his thigh, like he had done to his first victim. The second into his shoulder. He wouldn't yield a sword again. The last went straight through his left hand. The hand that was covered in the blood of the tributes that were no more.
I wouldn't kill him. I didn't want to. I had never taken a life, and today wasn't going to be my first. I didn't particularly like him, though I couldn't help but feel that he had a heart in there, somewhere. Thinking back, I often consider that under different circumstances he would have turned out differently. That maybe his kindness wouldn't have been used as a tool, that the anger would've been used to fuel hope instead of rage.
But I guess we all want to be a hero. I can't blame him.
At the end of this, there would only be one victor. The other twenty three would be no more. Eventually their names would be forgotten, drifting off with the wind. And while their names would fade, one would burn on. They would be known as a victor. A survivor. A hero.
That's what Titus had aspired to be. A hero.
He knew what he wanted, and would do anything to get it. He fought to be a hero with his life. He sacrificed the lives of others. And ultimately, he'd failed. The sacrifices? For nothing.
He wasn't a hero.
Why? Because he had failed to realize the truth about what it meant to be a hero. So as you read on, dear stranger, think carefully about who you'll be. The hero of your own story? Or the hero of theirs?