Chapter 1- Time to fly

The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon over the treetops of District 7 and Sparrow was already in the woods. She had always been an early riser and this morning was no different even if The Reaping was to take place later that same day. She felt more at home here than she did in her own house because here was where she truly felt peaceful. For a few blissful moments she could forget her sick brother. She could forget all of the responsibilities she had as her parents' eldest child. And most importantly, she could forget that today was the very day that the districts feared more than any other.

Sparrow lay against the trunk of a pine tree, high enough to see the sunrise properly. Why couldn't every moment of every day by this serene? She sighed. She doubted that she would ever see the day when fear and desperation were not the driving forces of peoples' everyday lives.

She was a fairly ordinary girl, fifteen years old with a slight, strong build from working in the forests from the moment she could lift an ax. Her family was luckier than most, she supposed. They could almost always afford two meals a day and had the luxury of feeling happy every now and again. But life got in the way. Oh yes, life could always be counted on to get in the way of happiness if nothing else. Her eleven year old brother had a debilitating illness that only Capitol medicine could heal and that they had no hope of getting their hands on. Her father worked day in and day out to give his family an acceptable life, free of starvation. Her mother had extreme anxiety from constantly worrying about her two children. Yes, the woods were certainly much easier to handle.

Now that the sun was fully in the sky, Sparrow supposed that she had better head back home so that she could get herself cleaned up for The Reaping. She leapt from her vantage point on the branch and began following her trail home. How she despised The Reaping. As she walked she grabbed twigs and snapped them, imagining them as Capitol citizens, imagining them as each and every person who believed that children killing one another is a form of entertainment. Her vision began to blur and she had to lean against a tree to steady herself and calm her breathing. She would not walk into the district, into her house, showing weakness. There was enough of that around here as there was. She had to be the strong one. She always had been and even though the Hunger Games were approaching that could not change.

After wiping her face one more time, she continued walking and soon found herself back to the center of her district. Her home resembled a ghost town on a good day but this early on Reaping Day made it feel like Sparrow was the last human in Panem. There was a heaviness to the air, a feeling of despair and hopelessness that settled on Sparrow's body like fog.

She continued on and soon spotted her one story home. She entered the front door and saw that her mother, Solstice, was indeed already up and buzzing around the kitchen. Her mother was a kind and loving soul who tried her best every day to make Sparrow and her brother feel comfortable but the strain of this job showed in her actions and behavior.

"Sparrow, sweetie, I was beginning to worry where you were! Breakfast will be ready soon. Go on and get ready for The Reaping," Solstice's voice faltered on the last sentence but she did her best to cover it up and kept moving about.

"Sorry mother I was just out in the forest. I'll go see if Lichen is awake yet and get ready afterwards."

Sparrow made her way to the back of the house where she shared a room with her brother. He lay there in bed, looking for all the world like a small, normal eleven year old boy without a care in the world.

She stood by his bed and gently shook his shoulder. "Lichen. Hey. Come on wake up we have to get ready and eat breakfast."

Lichen mumbled something unintelligible and cracked open one eye. "Sparrow come on do I have to get up now?"

"Yes I'm afraid you do. You don't want me to go to The Reaping all alone do you?" Sparrow smiled sadly, realizing that this joke was not in the least bit funny.

Lichen fully opened up his eyes and looked at her. The peaceful expression from before was gone and replaced by one of sadness and fear. "Promise me something Sparrow."

"Of course, anything you want," Sparrow leaned closer to her little brother.

"Please come back," Lichen whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

"What do you mean? Of course I will, The Reaping only lasts an hour at the most."

Lichen only looked at her, an anxious and wary look on his face.