The reaping still happens every year. It is completely different than how my grandmother and grandfather described it to be when they were a direct part of it all those years ago. They live with us now. Sometimes grandmother will wake up in the dead of night shouting from the night terrors. Grandfather lives to comfort her, hoping that he will find a way to bring life back into her hollow eyes.
Although no one has been drafted to the games in decades, and the twelve districts of my grandparent's past have been turned into united states, they still put up a fight every year. They dislike that what they call a horrible event has been turned a mockery by becoming a demonstration that people travel across the states to see. But even their negative attitudes regarding the reaping cannot damper my joy as I have been chosen to play grandmother Katniss at this year's reaping. It is the greatest honor that can be bestowed to anyone in my small town.
As I wake on the morning of the reaping, I can hear my mother adjusting my brother Cinna's costume. I lay in bed for one last moment of peace, but am quickly disgruntled by the rush of cool air after having the blankets pulled off of me.
"Rue, wake up! We're the stars of the reaping. Stop being such an Effie and get out of bed!" shouted Cinna as he fixed the messy strands of his hair.
I swung my legs out of bed and with one swift motion grabbed my set of arrows and prepared my bow to fire. Cinna, who inherited our grandfather's strength, grabbed my wrists and forced me to drop the bow. We laugh and smile, priding ourselves in the fact that if we were ever to have another Hunger Games that we would be the victors.
"Give me a minute to get dressed! That's all I need since grandmother is going to braid my hair. Tell mom to get ready to go!"
"Make sure you don't stir the pot, Rue. You know how angry she gets the day of the reaping. I don't want to have the day ruined because you decided to go after her."
Whenever I speak to my grandmother on reaping day I am always careful. Today I entered her living quarters at ease with palms open, so that she knew I was not carrying any weapons. This is another fear that she has. She is terrified that at any moment someone will suddenly attempt to attack her.
She braided my hair in silence. I knew this was her way of protesting Cinna's participation and mine. As a former citizen of Panem she gathers with others from her time on this day and they mourn the loss of the lives of those who participated in the Games and the rebellion. Once the braid is complete she walks in front of me and looks into my eyes as though I can relive the past through her steady gaze. Sensing my indifference her glance moved to the ground as she removed the sacred mockingjay pin from her blouse. As she pinned me with it she sang the song that her old friend Rue would sing at the end of a day's work. The eerie silence that came after was filled with warning. A single tear fell down her chin as she raised her hand in the Panem symbol for hope; three fingers up, with the thumb and pinky brought together.
The reaping happens exactly as it did when grandmother and grandfather were chosen. The only difference is that it takes place in a large arena, which is filled with observers. A video regarding the war is played, Effie Trinket picks names, and then peacekeepers take the tributes away. After the presentation there is a banquet with a Capitol theme that is filled with lavish food and drink. My grandparents are always honored, even though they have never attended. But tonight my brother and I were the guests of honor. Throughout the party I was plagued by image of my grandmother's sadness. Her song, well Rue's song, kept playing in my mind as though it was calling me away.
Upon returning home from the party, the sound of the song continued. In the night it forced me awake in cold sweat.
"You hear it too?"
I looked over and Cinna was sitting up in his bed, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
"I could hear it throughout the party! I thought I was imagining it, since grandmother sang it earlier." I explained to him my experience with grandmother, and discussed how impressionable it was. We discussed my sudden guilt at the party, to which Cinna responded with a look of distaste.
"Rue, do you think grandmother is trying to play a trick on us? That is something she would do. The whole family knows how heartless she is. She doesn't care for us at all."
"I don't believe that she would do this. She may be heartless, but she is not ruthless."
"Then you wouldn't mind following the song with me? It is coming from someplace. We just have to find it and make it stop."
In order to appease my brother I agreed to venture with him to find the source. Since the drawing of new state borders and the end of Panem, the mockingjays all perished; therefore we knew the source of the song was not the birds.
The sound of the song grew stronger as we headed towards the old meadow. Our grandmother had told us of this place, since it was imperative to providing nourishment to her family. We were unafraid to venture through it since the once electric fences were now simply there as more of a reminder of what once was. Cinna and I ran through the tall grasses crying as the volume grew unbearable.
Cinna then fell, tripping over a box. As he hit the ground the sound ceased. I offered my assistance in getting him back up and he pushed me away, embarrassed. Instead he grabbed the box, and wiped the dirt that covered the top with his sleeve.
"This is a joke."
"Move, Cinna! I want to see!"
He threw the box at me, causing the song to sound once more. It came from inside the box. I inspected the box, noting that it said 'Hunger Game' on the cover.
"I think it's a game, Cinna."
"How do you think it got here?"
"I'm not sure. It was definitely buried, but I'm not sure why."
We proceeded to open and the box and remove the board. It was a relatively small board, which came with four game pieces already set up and standing upright on the start square. At the center of the board there was what resembled half of a black crystal ball.
"The Hunger Game: a game for those who wish to return to a simpler time. You must roll your dice to move your piece, the first one to reach the end wins," Cinna read carefully. He nudged me, and I involuntarily began to read.
"Tributes beware: you must not begin unless you intend to complete the game. The consequences of the game will only vanish once a tribute has reached the end and sings the song of the mockingjay."
"I don't want to play, Rue!" Cinna shouted as he stood up. In standing, he accidentally kicked the bottom portion of the game's box, which held the dice. His action sent the dice flying. The dice displayed four small dots. We looked at each other and then at the game. One of the game tokens was slowly gliding across the board, and stopped once it reached four spaces. Cinna and I continued to sit in silence as something began to appear in the black sphere.
"I grant you a faulty treasure of the past, a hero of questionable caliber. Regard him as a resource," I whispered.
"What do you think that means?"
Suddenly the wind picked up, and the grass around us began to sway. We heard a loud noise, almost sounding off like a warning, and a strange aircraft appeared. The bottom opened and out tumbled an older man will long blonde in a plain outfit and a knit hat.
"Sorry about that, tributes. Now tell me, what's going on and who are you?" The words were almost slurred as they came out of his mouth, which was most likely a result of the clear liquid he took a drink of upon ending his sentence.
"My name is Rue, and this is my brother Cinna," I stammered as I spoke. I did not know how to explain this situation to myself.
"Nice to meet you kids," the man replied as he hastily shook our hands. "I don't suppose you two would happen to know anyone else by those names now, would you?"
"We were named after friends of our grandmothers," Cinna answered firmly. I was grateful for his confidence.
"Now that I take a good look at you, you seem to look like people I used to know-"
"Who are you?" Cinna was now becoming impatient. He was never one for smalltalk.
"Haymitch Abernathy at your service! First tribute from District 12 to ever win the Hunger Games!"
"Our grandparents are Katniss and Peeta!" I blurted out.
"Well isn't that peculiar. Anyhow, I am here as your guide for the game. President Snow trapped me in it many years ago for aiding in the rebellion. I cannot get out until the game is through, so we might as well get the game rolling."
Still in a daze, Cinna slowly handed me the dice. We were unsure of whether we should trust Haymitch, even though the game told us to. Regardless I took my turn, and landed two spaces after Cinna's.
We peered into the center of the game for the next riddle. It said, "Make haste as you go, gather what you will need. This will be your last chance and challenge is guaranteed."
Before we could even discuss what this meant a small parachute fell from the sky. Attached was a small glass bottle. Inside the bottle there was a note for an invitation to a feast at the hall where we had held our reaping banquet earlier. As soon as we finished reading the note we began to hear trucks rolling into town and marching. The three of us ran to the gate, and saw men in head to toe white security armor carrying weapons.
"Do you think they're planning on hurting anyone, Haymitch?" This was the first time I had ever seen Cinna demonstrate fear to a stranger.
Before Haymitch even has a chance to answer the men begin shouting at people to move out of their way or they will fire. An air horn is announcing the arrival of the peacemakers. If these are the peacemakers than I do not think we are in good hands.
"You two better get a head start on getting to that banquet for some supplies before they blow up the whole town." Haymitch spoke to us but his eyes were on the peacemakers whom had already begun to fire.
Cinna and I immediately started running as fast as we could while yelling to Haymitch to meet us there for the next turn. Once we had arrived to the hall, two armed peacemakers pushed us away and refused entry into the building. We were unafraid. Cinna looked at me and then swung at one of the peacemakers, who then fell into the second.
"Go get what we need, Rue! I'll hold them off!" Cinna's distressed yell sent adrenaline throughout my body. I ran into the hall and grabbed a stranger's backpack and filled it with food and water. As I was about to walk out I realized we had no weapons, so I ran into the kitchens to grab a knife for each of us. While in the kitchen I heard Haymitch and Cinna threatening peacemakers, and then silence. They had boarded the door to the hall.
"I'm going to take my turn!" Cinna began to take his turn only to have Haymitch snatch the dice out of his hands.
"Four players means four players, kid. It's my turn." Haymitch rolled the dice and the phrase began to change almost immediately.
"This task will be easy, but proceed with caution. One allows you to continue, the other ends the game for all."
Two berries appeared. They were identical, except for one had a spot.
"Easy, eat the one with the spot. It looks grotesque, and therefore no one would want to eat it, so that will be the one that lets us continue," I said with confidence.
"On the contrary, girl. That's what they want me to think. I'm going to eat the regular berry," Haymitch responded.
I did not have a chance to retaliate. After he swallowed the berry the earth began to shake violently for a few seconds, and then stopped. We were fine.
"But what now, Haymitch? It's the fourth players turn and we don't have a fourth player," I commented in a sharp whine. I was beginning to become anxious about the world outside of the hall.
"Your grandmother Katniss needs to play."
"She'll never agree to that, Haymitch! Don't make her do it!" Cinna was always very protective over our grandmother. She was always equally as cold to him as she was to me. But Cinna never noticed.
"She's the only one that can sing the mockingjay that will allow this sorry excuse for a game to end! She did it once, and she can do it now. We need her."