Dark Shades of Roses
A fanfiction by Sarah Shaw.
Hey Guys! So this is sort of new territory for me! It's a Hunger Games fic but with all new characters, I know tons of people do these things but they sound fun and should be a great way to try out some new styles and improve my 'skills' - such as they are! This is going to be a chapter fic focusing on three tribute girls in the 68th Games, who we are about to meet in this chapter! I hope you like them! Feedback would be very much appreciated - Enjoy!
Ooh also, if you're a visual person like me, I made a polyvore set for what the characters are wearing this chapter (just take out the spaces) reaping_000/ set?id=110616047
Ireland Lerark – Reaping
District 11
5:11 AM
/
Hallelujah, Hallelujah….
Reaping day is here again…
Sarcasm. Isn't it just the best way the pretend that you aren't afraid? Everyone has their own way of dealing with today; some people hide under their covers and pretend it isn't real, some people pray, some folk are even excited – or at least they pretend to be. Then there's me; hiding my paralysing fear behind a thin veil of sarcasm and denial.
I've been lying awake here for hours now, waiting for the sun to come up and listening to the rise and fall of my little brother's snoring, at least he's managing to get some rest. It's actually surprising how calm he's been in the days leading up to today. He's twelve now so today will be his first reaping. At my first reaping I was a total mess. There were tears, snot and lots of causing scene. I know it's sort of embarrassing but the thought that I could be seconds away from being ripped out of my life, taken away from my family and thrown into a torturous drawn out death sentence was way too much for little twelve year old me to handle. Although to be fair sixteen year old me isn't handling it so well either. I really should get some sleep but sometimes that decision just isn't in your hands you know?
Eventually though the sun rises and I hear my mother shuffling around in the kitchen. Soon she'll come and wake me and my brother and then there'll be no fighting it, the day of the reaping will officially begin.
Samara Almas – Reaping
District 1
7:30 AM
/
In my dream I'm a beautiful princess, you know like in one of those old story books you read when you're a kid? I'm wearing a gorgeous ethereal blue dress - to match my eyes, duh, and I'm waiting in a tower for my prince to come and get me. I know he's coming because he promised me he'd be back, and I know in my heart he will be... Any... second... now.
BAM!
The door to my room bangs open and I awake to the far-too-loud-for-so-early-in-the-morning sound of my sister calling my name.
"Mara… Samara… You have to get up, we have to get ready!"
"What?" I say, trying to blink the sleep out of my bleary eyes.
"You have to get up!" She yells and I groan and pull the blankets over my head. I have no idea why she's so worked up but it's not my problem.
"You just interrupted a very nice dream. I was a princess."
"Mara the reaping is in less than two hours and we have to be on time. This isn't like school you can't just walk in 20 minutes late!"
Oh right.
I take a deep sign and stick my foot out of the side of my bed, a sign of my intention to get up. Eventually.
Alydia Lewis – Reaping
District 6
8:04 AM
/
"Alydia, I can't find my hat have you seen it?"
"Have you looked on the hat rack? Where your hat usually is?"
"Ha Ha very smart. Of course I've looked on the-"
"Dad?"
"…"
"You find it?"
"…"
"So it was on the hat rack?"
"…No."
Mine and my father's relationship has always been this way. After my mother died I sort of fell into the role of taking care of him. He can't help that he's so useless and I don't mind being the responsible one, we both find comfort in our little routine. This morning I got up at 7:00 to cook up some eggs and fried bread – it's a little tradition we have to treat ourselves to a good greasy breakfast on reaping day. I try to keep conversation light over breakfast as I think my father hates this day even more than me. I notice his eyes look slightly glassy, so when I get up to go dress, I give him a little kiss on the top of his head as I pass. Thankfully it's never taken me very long to get ready, I've never been one of those girls who's obsessed by her looks. I just scrub my face with some cold water, run my fingers through my cropped brown hair and select a simple black dress from my meagre selection and I'm good to go. The whole thing takes me less than 5 minutes.
My father (having found his hat) is waiting for me by the front door of our small shabby flat. He's frowning but when he sees me he smiles, I hope it's a genuine smile but I think he might just be putting it on for my benefit. I grab my umbrella and turn to face him.
"Ready to go Dad?"
"Ready to go Lyd." He says and puts his arm around my shoulders.
We're just out of the door when he speaks again.
"Wait! Just hang on a second, we forgot something."
I doubt that. I have an impeccable memory but I smile as my father fumbles with the door key and disappears back into our humble little home. It's a few minutes before he returns and I pass the time by staring at a particularly nasty patch of mouldy brickwork in our hallway. I really should clean the walls down by our door, we don't want damp getting in. I make a mental note to take care of it when we get back.
"Got it!" My father shouts and a second later he's back, a small bronze ring in his hand. I smile sadly and take the ring from him. Another tradition of ours, although a slightly more morbid one. This was my late mother's wedding ring; and every year I wear it on reaping day. My father says it'll bring me luck but the truth is really more grim, that if my name is called, at least I'll have my token on me.
Ireland Lerark – Reaping
District 11
8:06 AM
/
"Mother, it's after 5 past."
"I know what time it is dear."
"We have to be there by 8.30 for registration, even earlier really because this is Luca's first time and he won't know where to go or what to do and we don't want to rush him and for him to get confused, you know how he gets confused. Besides it's going to take us at least 15 minutes to get there so we really need to-"
"Dear, you know I can't understand you when you speak that quickly."
I sigh and glare at my mother through her reflection in the mirror. After breakfast she sat me down here in front of our tiny living room mirror, apparently dissatisfied with the job I'd done on my hair. She took out her own heavy metal comb and began her work, pulling and snagging smooth the tangles and knots my straight dark hair is so prone to. That was well over five minutes ago but I have a lot of hair and my mother takes her hair combing duties very seriously so I expect this could go on for quite a while if I let it. Which I won't.
"I think my hair is fine now. Can you go check on Luca? Make sure he's not wearing his pants on his arms or something?"
My mother gives me warning look, she doesn't approve of me making jokes at my younger brothers expense but she doesn't say anything. She just touches my face softly and disappears into the bedroom we share.
I rise from my makeshift seat of fruit crates and blankets and look at myself in the small dusty mirror. My mother has pulled my hair back into a sleek ponytail and I must admit it does look a lot better. I'm wearing a simple crocheted dress that my grandmother made me a few years ago that I wear it almost every time I have to look 'nice'. It's getting a little short now and I'm showing more leg than I would usually like but I brush it off, it's a warm day and half the people in district 11 will be wearing clothes that they've grown out of. I glance up at my skinny face and see dark circles under my chestnut eyes, it's pretty obvious I didn't sleep at all last night. I pinch my cheeks in the way my Gran-Gran used to when I was a child in an attempt to bring back some life to my face. It doesn't work but it does hurt. Ow. Thanks Gran-Gran.
Samara Almas - Reaping
District 1
8:30AM
/
"SAMARA!"
"WHAT?! I'm UP!" I scream. "God! Gimme a break..."
I've been up for an hour now I just haven't gone downstairs yet. Getting ready is a serious business, much more important that breakfast or talking to my annoying siblings. Who are being especially annoying today I think. I don't understand why my sister is stressing out so much anyway. We're a big family, we've been through reapings literally a dozen times and none of us have ever been chosen. Besides it's district one, even if we do get called there's always someone there to volunteer. The only thing there is to stress out about today is how you look. Everyone gets dressed up for the reaping, we are going to be on TV after all.
I'm pretty happy with my outfit so far. A strappy pink sundress and some rose gold heels, with matching jewellery of course. One of the perks of having a father who is jewellery merchant is that I easily have the most enviable jewellery collection out of all the girls at my school. I apply some strawberry lip balm to my cheeks and lips, scrunch up my blonde curls (for that extra bounce) and give myself a final pout in the mirror before heading downstairs.
With five children in the family the Almas kitchen is always... lively... and this morning even more so. My mother and father are seated at the head of the table, holding hands over their toaster crumpets and beaming proudly at their children. My three brothers are next, they're all standing around the edges of the table, it looks like they've invented a game in which players whip butter at each other and apparently it's hilarious. My brothers are sweet but they're big dumb brutes, they're all like 6 foot or over, all with the signature Almas blonde mop and they're all local athletics stars. The two oldest are too old to be reaped now but the youngest boy, who is still older than my sister and I, is 18 so this will be his last year being eligible for the games.
"Boys, this is SILK so do NOT play your weird butter game near me."
"Lighten up Sam, it's 'The Butter Games!'" jokes my oldest brother and I roll my eyes at his lame pun.
They have evil looks on their faces so I hurry past them to the counter to 'grab a glass of orange juice' aka 'use my sister as a human butter shield'. Ah yes, my lovely sister, my double in every way. As annoying as being an identical twin can be at least she is the perfect size to be my shield. Marilyn (that's her name) is wearing a modest pale blue dress today but she's left her hair loose like me and it falls a bit shorter than mine, stopping just below her shoulders. I get on well with my sister most of the time, except when she's yelling at me to get out bed. She's definitely more highly strung than me but sometimes it's nice to have someone around who gets stressed out so easily, it means I don't have to get stressed out at all.
We're pretty much what everyone thinks of when they picture the perfect District 1 family and you would think that, being from district one, our family would be more focused on The Games. We aren't that kind of people though. My parents try and keep us out of the obsession that people in our district have about the fame and glory that comes from becoming a Victor. I mean fame and glory would be nice but I'd rather not have to kill people to get it you know? I guess what I'm trying to say is that my family and I aren't... what's that word people use for us? ... Careers.
A large glob of butter misses me and Marilyn by inches and I'm about to lose it on my brothers but my mother is ushering us out of the door, into the muggy warmth of the day and along to meet our fate, whatever it may be.
Alydia Lewis - Reaping
District 6
8:45 AM
/
I kiss my father goodbye at the registration desk and make my way along into the area sectioned off for girls aged 15. I'm biting my lip out of nervousness but I force myself to stop. Most of the year I don't let myself worry too much about the Games, to be honest I don't really have to the time to worry. I have the house to run and school work to do and my father to take care of. I swallow the sinking feeling I suddenly get when I think of my father.
He couldn't survive without you.
These are the kinds of malicious thoughts that always creep into my brain on this day. I try to fight them off with logic. My name is only in the minimum amount of times, I don't get Tesserae, my father works 60 hours a week cleaning up mouse droppings at the railway station to make sure I don't have to. As such it's very unlikely my name will be chosen.
Very unlikely.
Ireland Lerark - Reaping
District 11
8:55 AM
/
We made it on time. I managed to get Luca signed in and I made it to my assigned place in the throngs of District 11 teens. I'm standing with a small group of girls from my class, there are four of us all together. I wouldn't call myself unpopular but I tend to stick with just a few close friends, I don't really see the point of being friends with a thousand people if you don't really care about them all, you know? A secret isn't a secret if you share it with a hundred strangers only when you share it with the people you trust. We pass the time complimenting each others outfits and making nervous chit chat about this and that. I must keep looking over at where Luca should be (although it's impossible to pick him out in the crowds) because my best friend, Taya, grabs my hand.
"He'll be fine. We'll all be fine" She says, and I believe her. There's something honest in her smile that I've always liked about Taya, she's someone you can trust.
"I know" I say and give her hand a squeeze. "You look beautiful by the way, I've always loved that necklace."
She smiles and doesn't say anything else after that, but she doesn't let go of my hand.
Before we know it, before we have any time at all to prepare ourselves the District 11 escort is on the stage and we all fall silent.
There is the usual spiel; the video that talks about the crimes of the past and enforces the idea that The Games are the one true way to wipe out rebellion and discord, a speech telling us how excited the President is for this years Games and so on. All of this goes by in the blink of an eye and my heart is starting to beat so loudly that I'm sure everyone around me must be able to hear it. I sneak a look at Taya as they bring the big glass balls with the names in on to the stage. I wonder if she's worried? If she is she certainly doesn't show it.
As usual the escort will choose a girls name first. He says something before he begins but I can't hear him, all I can think about is Luca, and myself, and how strange this Capitol man looks with his silvery hair and his gold lamé trousers. I'm focused intently on how shiny and tight his whole appearance is, when I feel Taya let go of my hand.
Samara Almas - Reaping
District 1
9:01 AM
/
My whole family piled into the white marble courtyard with only seconds to spare. My brother lost a shoe in all the pushing and shoving and we all found the whole thing to be absolutely hysterical. I mean can you imagine if he was reaped? He'd have to hop on to the train to the Capitol!
I grab Marilyn's hand as we push our way to the front of the crowd. I did not spend the morning making myself look this good for no one to see me. I try to make eye contact with the insect-y camera men in the hopes of getting a close up. The whole reaping experience is very different in what the television calls 'the more affluent' districts. It's a celebration here, everyone is so excited and people are laughing and climbing on each others shoulders and just having an amazing time. It's nothing at all like what you see in the recaps of like District 11 or some other depressing place where everyone is miserable. I would hate to be that miserable. I'm so glad I'm from a fun district.
I turn to tell Marilyn how happy I am to be from District 1 but as I open my mouth the speak she shushes me. The Escort and the procession of D1 Victors are climbing up on the stage and the raucous cheering of the crowd fades down to an excited hum.
"Marilyn, isn't Gloss hot?!" I whisper, making my sister and the surrounding girls giggle. That's another fun thing about reaping day, all the kids from school are here and all looking gorgeous! So usually after the reaping we'll all go and grab a bite somewhere, which usually turns into drinks, which usually turns into a party. Did I mention I love being from District 1?
They're playing the boring video now and I turn to a girl on my left who I know from school, I believe her name is Jade.
"So who do you think it'll be this year?" I ask, with all the volunteers and careers you sometimes can predict who's going into the arena before the reaping even happens.
"I'm not sure, I think Rider Harkins was talking about wanting to go in."
"That cute guy who hangs around the gym a lot?" I say.
"Which one?" Says Marilyn and we all burst out laughing.
"What about girls? You heard anything?" I ask.
"Nope, but I think we're about to find out." she says.
We've talked over all the speeches but it looks like it's time for them to announce the tributes. I take a quick breath and Marilyn and I cross our fingers behind our backs, it's a tradition we've had since we were little. Jade is still giggling as the Capitol woman reaches into the ball.
"The female tribute representing District 1 this year will be..."
Alydia Lewis - Reaping
District 6
9:05
/
Important events like this always tend to start late in District 6, which is ironic considering we're the transport district and as such should be used to getting things going on time. I don't really know any of the people here so I shuffle my feet awkwardly to pass the time. My sense of dread is growing with each minute that passes and I wish this whole thing would just hurry up. This whole day is traumatic enough, it's cruel to drag it out for even a second longer. Eventually though, the entourage of frightening looking people from the Capitol appear, the lights on the stage go up and the 'show' begins. Now the moment is here when two peoples lives are going to be taken away from them forever. I just hope one of them isn't me.
They speed through the speeches and don't bother with the video at all. Perhaps the hold up was because of technical problems, or perhaps they just need to make sure we're on schedule for our broadcast. I don't spend too long worrying about it.
Don't let it be me.
The mantra begins in my head.
Don't let it be me.
The escort is on the stage
Don't let it be me.
He's reaching into the ball
Don't let it be me.
"Ireland Lerark"
"Samara Almas"
"Alydia Lewis"
Me?
It's me?!
It's me.
So that's it! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Review and let me know!
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