Greetings viewers! I know it feels like forever since the 27th Hunger Games, but I know the wait will have been worth it. The 28th Hunger Games will be by far the best games we have ever had – this is a promise!
Well, now that is over, let's get to the good stuff. Let the games begin!
The crowd of excited, anxious viewers gathered around the grand city square. An air of anticipation could be felt by all, and anyone could easily tell that this day had been long awaited. Kids from ages twelve to eighteen had been roped into sections and they were happily talking amongst themselves – all but the rare few who looked nervously back to their parents. Most of them, though, looked as if this was their dream come true. Their parents, too, looked exited and hopeful that their children would be chosen to honor them and their district in the annual Games.
When the Capitol lady flounced up to the stage, she was met by a roar of applause. She beamed at the citizens of District One like they were old friends. And in her mind they were. Martina Merriwether had been the escort for District One for twenty-two years now. Her purple hair was the same shade as it had been when she had started out escorting, and it had become her signature color. Over the years, she rotated shades of purple, and this year it was a dark royal purple, closer to blue. She had a blazer and pencil skirt of this hew and tresses of the same shade. Dark purple lipstick covered her lips, making them look almost frightening compared to her bright, white smile. This was the best day of the year for her.
"It warms my heart to be greeted in such a welcoming way even after all these years!" she cried out to the citizens. They cheered again.
"Now, let's get down to business. And as usual, ladies first!" she trilled. A huge glass bowl was wheeled up on a metal cart by a Peacekeeper. She dug her purple fingernails into the bowl, reaching the bottom of it, mixing up the slips of glossy paper real well before selecting one. Finally she pulled one out, taking her own sweet time before carefully pronouncing the girl's name.
"Karri Selkirk!"
Before the selected girl had a chance to react or even make herself known, another girl called out.
"I volunteer!"
Martina grinned. This was arguably her favorite part of the reapings – when people volunteered. The drama was simply thrilling!
The volunteer was a girl in the back of the crowd. All the other seventeen-year-olds around her turned her heads but looked away quickly when she fixed them with a cold stare. The girl was a tall, slender, slightly curvy girl with a look of determination and nastiness in her green eyes. She had thick auburn hair that formed a perfect bob, framing her face in nice contrast compared to her fair complexion. Light reflected off it in an almost unnatural way, making it look too good to be true – hair that couldn't be possible without some kind of treatment or extra nourishment. She looked quite pleased with herself, which could easily seen by the mischievous smirk plastered on her face.
"Lovely! Absolutely wonderful! Why don't you just come up and join me, my dear?" cried Martina, waving her hand in a beckoning motion. The girl was already half way through the crowd of people, though. When she reached her destination, she looked contentedly out at her district as if she had been waiting to be standing her for her whole life… which very well might have been true.
"Could you tell us your name?" Martina inquired.
"Dazzle Lazuli." She said this clearly and straightforwardly, with so much confidence that Martina squealed out loud.
"Just wonderful! Ooh, I can barely contain myself! Why don't we have a round of applause for this year's female tribute?"
The population of District One responded with wild cheering and clapping. When it died down, Martina continued on with her ceremony. "Let's go on to the boys, shall we?"
As the bowl of boys' names was brought up, Martina met the eyes of a boy also in the seventeens group. He looked very much like Dazzle, except without the malice and with a little less scorn in his eyes. He did, though, look quite determined. When he broke eye contact, he gave a glare to the girl on stage like she had just pushed him over some invisible line.
"Okay, boys. Your turn!" Doing the same thing she had with the girls, Martina dug her hand deep into the bowl and took a long time to select a slip of paper. She could hear the anxious whispers throughout the crowd as they waited for her to announce the name.
"Shane Shap-
"I volunteer!" someone called out before Martina had even finished reading the name. The voice sounded desperate, afraid that he would miss his chance. When Martina found who it was, she saw that it was the same boy; the one who she had seen glaring at Dazzle.
"Marvelous! Please come join us!" The boy pursed his lips in a way that made him look just a little regretful at first, but then resumed his look of determination identical to Dazzle's.
He had the same reflective auburn hair that was just long enough to look really stylish, and the same deep green eyes, though fashionable black glasses hid his. He had the same features, but his were a bit less defined. He was also the same height. He could only be Dazzle's brother.
"Please introduce yourself, darling!" If she had scored siblings, this could be the most interesting of her twenty-two years of mentoring.
"My name is Beryl Lazuli."
"Well, I'll bet anything that you are Dazzle's brother! Is that right?" Martina could barely contain herself she was so ecstatic.
"Yes, that's right." As he said this, he glanced over at his twin sister and looked her straight in the eyes. Dazzle returned the look with one of resentment. She mouthed, you said you wouldn't, but Beryl pretended he hadn't seen.
"You wouldn't happen to be twins, would you?" asked the escort.
Dazzle took her turn in talking. "Of course, we're twins!" she said with slight annoyance in her voice.
"Isn't this exciting?" Martina asked the people in the crowd. They responded with cries of agreement and equal excitement. Martina took her place between the brother and sister and raised their hands high up in the air.
"Ladies and gentlemen of District One, I present to you your tributes!"
Flaximus Motive bounded up the steps to his place on the stage. Looking out into the sea of people, he knew this would be an exciting year. All he could see were healthy, strong, eager people who were genuinely excited for him to be there. Several kids met his gaze, some even smiled at him, and he happily returned it. This was his first year escorting District Two, having just been promoted after six years of escorting tributes from District Ten, where no one smiled at him at all.
"Greetings, citizens of District Two! It is my pleasure and honor to be here in your lovely home. I look forward to many years of being with all of you and getting to know you and your district well!" Cheers were heard all around the city square. His smile grew to a full out beam. It felt good to be appreciated after all these years.
"Well, shall we get to the good stuff? Alrighty! Let's start with the girls!" He walked over to a glass ball on a stool to his right. He reached in and instantly pulled his hand back out with the first slip he had touched. He cleared his throat quite audibly and dramatically before unfolding the piece of paper.
"Kyra Livingston!" he said, pronouncing every syllable perfectly. Heads turned toward a tall girl standing in the seventeen-year-old section of children. She flushed, looking more like she had won an award than had been reaped. She nodded slightly and made her way up to the stage with graceful strides. When she reached it, she stood next to Flaximus and smiled a bit to the group of her district citizens.
She had a tan complexion and dark blonde hair that she had up in a braid on the top of her head. Her light hazel eyes sparkled a bit, making her look like she was going to say something very interesting and funny. Her dimples and the slight smile on her face made her look like someone you would want to get to know.
"Let's have a round of applause for our gorgeous female tribute!" said Flaximus, and the crowd did so enthusiastically. People seemed to be excited for Kyra to compete into the Games – and this seemed to be a good thing. People were smiling and whispering in approval to each other. Kyra seemed to be well liked in her district.
"And now for our boy!" Flaximus stuck his hand in the bowl of boy's names on his left side. Looking like he was excited to find out who the tribute would be, he chose quickly. He wasn't so dramatic in the unfolding of the slip this time, either. When he read it though, he did so just as theatrically.
"And the male tribute is," the crowd held its breath, "Marcus Kingston!"
A small cry from a girl somewhere in the crowd was heard. But nobody seemed to notice. Marcus Kingston, a thickly built boy of eighteen with coppery hair and pale brown eyes, didn't move for a moment. Actually, he seemed a bit confused at why people were looking at him. Then he seemed to process what had happened and smiled a bit like, Yeah, cool. Sounds good. He looked around at his peers and then progressed to take his place next to Kyra. When he got there, he reached over and shook her hand enthusiastically, which she returned gracefully and with a smile.
Flaximus took the opportunity to then wrap the ceremony. "Well isn't this just perfect? You two are already allies!" he joked, earning a laugh from the crowd. Then he turned around and flashed the people of District Two a bright white smile. "Let's hear it for this year's tributes!"
Being right in the middle of three career districts, District Three was very much contrasting to its neighbors. Though it was just as wealthy, it was not flashy, not too out there, and not well known for turning out victors. Surrounded by factories, it also wasn't as beautiful as some of the other districts. And the citizens of said district weren't thrilled about welcoming Claudiom Templeton, the colorful, loud Capitol man, to their home.
As he tripped up the stairs leading to his place on the makeshift metal stage, he tried to raise the level of excitement within the population, but it was futile. The ashen skinned, resentful-looking people stared blankly back up at him. All his presence meant was that two more of their district's children would leave and not come back. Still, the clumsy, obnoxious man pretended to like them and their home.
"It's so good to see you! I have looked forward to coming back to your, er, unique district since this day last year!"
He should have just stopped pretending. District Three was arguably the home of the smartest people in Panem. They saw right through him, needless to say.
Sensing that it was pointless to continue his false compliments, Claudiom sucked in his cheeks and said, "So, let's start with the girls." The people watching him didn't even react. Their stares simply told him without word that he needed to get this whole thing over with and then leave.
Trying to do so, he bounded over to the glass bowl containing the names of District Three's girls ages twelve to eighteen and promptly knocked it over, shattering it into millions of pieces and sending the slips of paper spilling everywhere. In an effort to shrug off his blunder (that was airing on live television, don't forget), he laughed out loud.
"Clumsy me! I'm always making a mess of things!" No one laughed. So, he just decided to continue on with the ceremony. "Would you mind handing me that piece of paper, child?" he asked a girl of about twelve, kneeling down on the edge of the stage and gesturing to a folded piece of creamy white paper that had fallen apart from the rest. When the child handed it to him, he stood up and straightened his stiff jacket, attempting to recapture his dignity. Without trying to make it anymore special – he had made it memorable enough already – he read the name out loud.
"Trillium Bither!"
Trillium Bither had been zoning out but when she heard her name called, her mouth dropped open and her brown eyes doubled in size. She reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears nervously. She was obviously trying to be brave, but her efforts went to waste as she shuffled up through her friends and neighbors. A boy a bit younger then her - her brother - tried to reach out to her, as if to stop her, but she kept her head down until she reached her destination. At eighteen, she was pretty, but not extraordinarily beautiful. Her ashen skin matched that of most people in her district, and her wavy black hair fell about halfway down her back.
She kept her eyes straight ahead, like she knew she would lose the bit of control she had over herself if she met anybody's eyes.
"All right, time for the boys." Claudiom Templeton obviously wanted to get out of there as much as the residents of District Three wanted him to go.
He read the name with little energy. "Jeffry Beppler."
"Wait! I volunteer!" The boy's voice sounded desperate. Claudiom looked up, startled. He wondered if this was a brother, close cousin, or what other kind of person that would volunteer. He didn't get this too often.
The boy had already started towards the stage. "Uh, okay," said Claudiom. "Come on up," he added pointlessly.
The boy had practically jogged up to the stage; almost afraid someone would steal his spot. When he took his place on stage, he looked over at Trillium, who had a look of astonishment and a slight sadness on her face. When they locked eyes, it was clear the two knew each other well. Both were eighteen, resembling each other very much, but you could tell somehow that they weren't related. They seemed able to communicate without words. She looked like she was mentally protesting his decision and he looked like he was mentally reassuring her.
"What's your name, boy?" asked Claudiom tiredly.
"Baud Digit."
He flipped his messy black hair out of his eyes. He too had the signature ashen skin of his district and he had blue eyes. He had a look in his eyes that said he was doing a duty, and it had to be done whether he liked it or not.
Claudiom silently sighed in relief. This horrible thing was over. Before he could leave though, he was required to do one more thing.
"Okay, people of District Three, clap for your tributes." And with that, he exited the stage, but not without tripping on the steps.
I hate my job, he thought.
All right, everyone! First three districts down! Hope you liked them! More will come soon.