I would like to send a shout-out to my beta-reader Fluteorwrite. Thanks! xD
The salt water in my mouth makes me smile as I step out of the ocean behind my house. Normally my "morning" swim would go far into the afternoon, but not today. Today was the day I had been dreading for a year, the day where twenty-three children would be sentenced to death. The day of the reaping. Every child between the ages of twelve and eighteen have been having nightmares about this all year, nightmares where they were chosen to fight to the death on public television.
After our recent performance of rebelling against the Capitol, the officials had come up with a punishment device: The Hunger Games. The rules of the Hunger Games were simple, each year twenty-four tributes, two from each district, would enter an arena to fight to the death. Once all but one were dead, the Games would end, leaving the last one standing to be the Victor, the sole survivor. So today, Reaping day, one boy and one girl would be chosen from our district, District 4, to enter the Hunger Games.
I see a small fish dart beneath me. I pick up my spear and pull it behind me. I toss the spear into the water and it kills the fish, slicing it heart into two. I laugh as I pick up the fish. Dinner!
I walk into our beach house and smile as I see Tutter, Lyon, and Rixie running around, playing tag.
"Hi Roran," says Rixie, as she runs toward me to give me a hug.
Rixie had just turned three and was a ray of sunshine in my gloomy world. She could always see the bright side of things and was never negative in her life. Ever. She was all fun and games, from the top of her black hair, to her beautiful sea-green eyes, all the way down to her cute little toes. She's beautiful, I'm lucky to have her as a sister.
Lyon on the other hand is always getting into trouble. At eight years old, he has gotten into more trouble than everyone else in the family combined. His blond hair is now a bright green from his latest prank. His blue eyes have a touch of mischief in them, as if he was planning something he didn't want you to know about. He was the bane of my existence, but I loved him none the less.
Tutter is the voice of reason in the family. 11 years old and already more mature then I am. His brown eyes reflect his emotions and his blond hair is wet to show he had already caught three fish from his swim earlier this morning.
"I'm worried about you," Tutter says. "You're fifteen so your name is in there four times."
"There no need to worry," I respond, even though I have thousands of butterflies in my stomach myself. "I won't get chosen."
"You don't know that," he shoots back. "You're not safe."
"I'll be fine," I reassure. "Now you all need to get dressed fir the reaping."
First I set Rixie up in a sea green dress and put Lyon in his best set of clothes. When I've finished that I head up to the room I share with Lyon and Tutter, where Tutter is waiting for me.
"I'm still worried about you," he begins. "I don't want to lose you."
"You won't," I promise.
"Swear?" he asks.
"I swear," I answer.
"Okay," he responds.
We head downstairs and begin to walk to the Reaping. Attendance is mandatory. I put Lyon, Tutter, and Rixie in the row for children under 12 and then head over to a clump of 15 year olds. I see two chairs. One hold the mayor and the other holds a woman, wearing a dress that looks like a fish, with blue hair. The woman walks to the front of the stage.
"Hello, and welcome to the first ever Hunger Games. My name is Izrail Blue. I am District 4's representative. I am here to draw the names at the Reaping. But first, the Treaty of Treason…," she says.
I zone out here because they read the Treaty of Treason everywhere. Finally it's time for the name drawing.
"Ladies first. And our woman tribute for this year's Hunger Games is…" Izrail sticks her hand in the ball and pulls a slip out. "Mari Noman!"
A scared looking girl who must only be 12 or 13 enter the stage. She has black hair and blue eyes, like me, although she's quite a bit shorter than I am. Izrail continues:
"And the boy is…Roran Founder."
I'm paralyzed for a moment. That's me!