I never felt more free than when I was making a delivery. I felt like the Queen of District Nine as I wove in and out of alleyways and jumped over fences. I was the ruler of those drab streets, the freedom bringer to the oppressed peoples of the district. District Nine was, despite the poverty that was seemingly more and more common each day, urban. I loved the alleyways that divided the buildings in the square, and the yards of the upperclass homes. The closer to the grain fields you got in District Nine, the poorer things got. The homes near there were shacks. I remember many of the residents referring to it as the "Crescent". An elegant name for a rather poor area of the District. I leapt over a few ramshackle fences of the poverty stricken homes. The fantasy ended as I found myself at the guardhouse near the amber sea of grain. Two peacekeepers were sitting inside of it. Their tall frames turned towards me as I came up to the gate. The peacekeepers were the assassins. They were out to end my reign as Queen of the District Nine streets. They stared at me for a moment.
"Delivery for Albertus Esurio…" The basket in my hand instinctively raised. Albertus was my father. A lowly farm hand. I was his daughter, born on a cold January night. I worked for my family's small cafe in the center of town. I was the delivery girl. The job kept me on my toes and it forced me to explore every nook and cranny of District Nine. My dad told me frequently that I was the fastest courier in all of Panem. His claim was unfound, even though it made me smile that someone thought of me in that way. One of the peacekeepers came out of the building and walked over to me. My skin began to crawl as the brutal man circled me once. His name was Lash. He constantly worked the guardhouse outside of the fields. I had heard he once snapped the neck of a boy would had tried to steal grain from the fields. Lash silently poked around in the basket I was holding. He pushed a few pieces of bread around before waving to the other peacekeeper at the guardhouse. The large gates cracked open and I quickly ran inside, eager to escape the peacekeepers presence.
Once again I was the Queen of District Nine. My feet clomped against the ground as I sailed through the fields. The golden stalks blurred around me as I sprinted through. It gave the wonderful illusion of sprinting through a golden tunnel. I stopped at an intersection in the massive grain labyrinth, listening closely for the sound of the workers. They always ate lunch at one of five places, rotating it each day. If I was right, they would be at the edge of the field. I turned and began to sprint once again. The wind tumbled through my dark hair. The ponytail it was in tickled my neck. I slowed down and carefully pushed aside some of the reeds before slipping out of the field. The sun beat down on my pale skin, causing it to redden slightly.
"Ambrosia," My fathers heavy voice broke through the warm air. My named floated delicately form his mouth, he said my name as though he might break it if he said it too loud. He had been a farm hand his entire life. His large hands calloused and mangled. The skin covering his body was a deep brown color, like bread that had been baked just a little bit too long. I smiled at him and laid the basket in front of him. My father had aged quickly over the past few years. I watched as his wrinkled face bit into the pieces of bread. I stood there for a moment and watched him chew his food. "Delicious as always dear." His voice soothed me. My heart was pounding still from the run here. I always found that I pushed myself whenever I had to make a delivery to my father, it killed me inside to think of the old man waiting for me to arrive.
"Bring anything for me?" I spun around and found myself staring at the hazel eyes of Talon Goldluck. I had known Talon my entire life. We had gone to school together and had become quick friends. We met when we were five and now, eleven years later, we still weren't sick of each other. He smiled widely at me and tugged my ponytail playfully. I yelped out in pain before standing on my tippy toes and fluffing what little blonde hair he had. His hair was almost bleached from the and his body tan from the golden sun. I remembered the first time I met Talon. I was being bullied by a few girls from the grade above us. They had been taunting me about my pale skin when Talon had stepped in. Even at the young age of five years old he was kind and courageous. Talon's tall body stepped to the side and it obstructed the sun, allowing my fair skin a seconds release from the heavy sunlight.
"Here," I reached into my pocket and withdrew a baggie. The clear baggie held a single oatmeal cookie. I sneakily handed it to him. Talon devoured the cookie before giving me a playful slap on the shoulder. "Alright, I gotta run." Talon knew why. "I have to help mom prepare for…tomorrow…" My voice faltered as I said the last sentence. The next day had been the reapings.
The next day would be the day my life changed forever.