Chapter 1 Reaping
My name is Azaria and as of now I stand with a crowd of young women from District 7, waiting for the reaping to be over and, like everyone else, hoping that I would not be picked. There is always a small chance that an individual could be picked, but you never know when that small chance will happen. I've turned seventeen and will be eighteen soon, and once this reaping is over I won't have to worry about it any more, right? Wrong. My younger brother, Jaran, turned twelve this year. It is obviously his first time to be in the reaping and has every right to be just as scared as anyone else that turned twelve this year. I worry about him contantly because he is not as strong as he probably should be. He's thin from not eating much, dark brown eyes and hair parted to the side, and is mostly timid around new people. He can be resouceful and has kept us alive on some occasions when I couldn't get us something to eat. Both our parents died in an accident while cutting down trees and ever since then me and my brother have been living on our own at the edge of town.
As we stand through the repeated video from the Capitol I look over to the crowd of boys to see if I could pinpoint where my brother is. Like I had hoped he is standing at the very edge where I can easily see him. At the same moment he turns to to look for me and finds me almost instantly. Our eyes locked and I can see how frightened he is, but he hides it well. I give him a nod, telling him to stay strong. I dare not raise his hopes in telling him that things will be all right, that he can't be picked out of many boys just because his name is in for the first time. As the video finally comes to an end we all turn our attention back to the speaker, a rather outrageous looking man reminds me of a clownish dog. He wore a gold jacket that had fur on the cuffs of his sleeve and on the hemming jacket while dog-like ears stuck out from the hood. His face was white and he has something around his eyes to make them seem bigger than usual. He kind of acted giddy and jumpy and curled his fingers constantly as if they were paws.
Once the video was over the clown dog person started talking excitedly about things that I didn't bother to try and listen to. When he was done ranting about whatever that was when he said that he would get started with the drawing.
"As usual, one lovely young lady shall be picked first." Said the clown dog as he literally skipped to the girl's jar. Reaching a hand inside he swirled his hands around, making a loud ruckus that only managed to disturb everyone. Finally his hand stopped and whipped out a neatly folded piece of paper. He looked at his crowd excitedly, sticking out the tip of his tongue in an attempt to look comical only making him look ridiculous. Skipping back over to the mic he tapped it a few times with his finger and placed his face close so that he could be heard. He opened the paper.
As I watched him I kept my face emotionless with the only expression of fear that you could see was through my brown eyes. The only reason why I hope not to be chosen is because I'm the only one who can take care of my brother, and now that, if I'm not picked, I won't be in reapings anymore I will have to worry about my brother being picked. Squeezing my hands into a tight fist I stare at the blank back of the piece of paper in the clown dog's hands, willing him to say a different name yet expecting to hear my own.
"The female Tribute for District 7 of this year's Hunger Games is... Ariana Carlton." The name sounding so close to mind nearly made my heart stop and then had me gasping in relief. Of course I felt bad for the fifteen year old girl, but I was still thankful that I was spared this year. Sadly the girls parted, making an isle for the girl to walk through. A few of us reached out a hand to pat her on the shoulder, giving her their sympathies even though they knew it won't make her feel any better. As she slowly walked on, obvioiusly dreading the moment, I too reached my hand out to her. You could also hear a lone woman weeping mournfully as she said in a begging chant to not take her only daughter. Once she was up on the stage the clown dog man gave a little applause, shaking her hand and congratulating her and saying things like 'you must feel honored to be representing your District' and all that stuff. The poor girl, you could even see her eyes tearing up.
"Next are the boys. Are you ready gentlemen?" Like he did with the girl's jar the clown dog man swirled his hand in circles and eventually popped his hand out with a piece of paper. Once again my hands became fists as I unknowingly held my breath, this time praying that the name would not be my brother's name. One part of me kept telling myself that his name is only one out of many and it can't be him, while the other part kept saying that it could be him and if it is I can't do anything about it. As the clown dog skipped over to the mic he assumed the same position to read the name
"The male Tribute for District 7 of this year's Hunger Games is..." The ponding in my ears was so loud that I almost missed the name being called, but I knew that no matter what, even if people were screaming all around me, I would never had missed the name Jaran Crain being called out. My head whipped around as my eyes immediately landed on my brother's face, his mouth open in shock but his eyes showed deeper terror. Like they did with Ariana the boys made way for him. Jaran looked down at the ground, back up at the stage, and then without looking for me he took one hesitant step forward, and then another, and another. As he walked I followed his movements with my eyes and with my feet. Once he was out of the crowd of boys he was surrounded by an escort of Peacekeepers.
Even though there was no motherly wail or the shouted cry of a father to tell the child that there was someone that cared for them there was my desparate shout of volunteer as I broke through the crowd of girls. I knew that I couldn't take Jaran's place because the Games only required a male and a female, and no young man in his right mind would switche places for my brother's sake without having his own risk and fears, but I refused to allow my brother to participate in the Hunger Games. Not without me. I know that ever since I turned twelve I have always hoped that I would never be picked and always hoped that I could make it to my last reaping and wouldn't have to worry about being called. Now that day has come and was very quickly ripped away from me in the form of my little brother's name being called.
With everyone's attention focused on me I stood straight, keeping my head held high as I glared at the ridiculous looking man while I tried to not let my voice break. "I volunteer to be District 7's female Tribute. I will take Ariana's place in the Hunger Games." I said, glad that my voice made me sound as strong as I wished I was. I quickly stole a glance at my brother who looked back at me with large tears threatening to run down his thin face as he shook his head at me. I gave him a warm smile and then turned my attention back to the stuttering clown dog man.
"A-are you sure? Why didn't you volunteer earlier?" He shifted when he didn't get an answer from me. "Very well then, off you go." The clown dog man flicked both his hand at Ariana in a shooing motion. Ariana didn't need to be told twice as she rushed off the stage. Instead of heading straight towards her mother that was waiting where the parents were she came up to me and gave me a hug, whispering thank you's to me and then ran off. The Peacekeepers then escorted me and my brother up on to the stage. "So what is your name my brave girl?" The man said, putting the mic in front of me so that everyone could hear.
"My name is Azaria. Azaria Crain." I said, not really looking at the crowd of people in front of me. The clown dog man at least looked surprised as he glanced between me and my brother.
"So you two are brother and sister, how nice. Eager to kill him off yourself I bet." With that he moved me towards my brother so that we could stand side by side as he addressed the cheerless crowd before him. Jaran looked up at me questioningly obviously wondering why I would bother to take the place of someone else. I held his hand and smiled sadly at him. Even though he didn't want me with him I could see the relief in his eyes that I was there.
"At least none of us will be alone." I say. And for once, I lied to my brother. Because I knew only one of us was going back home and it was going to be him.
First chapter down, several more to go. Hope you enjoyed it and review and tell me what you think :3
