A Heavenly Time to Pass
When we were told that the 10th annual Hunger Games would be postponed to December due to unknown reasons to this district, I was afraid. Once I, Bettsy Goodman was reaped, I had a brief time to say goodbye to my family, and I was required to write a small and final Christmas List. My family has always celebrated Christmas, and I knew that each thing I put on my list was special. On my list I only put things that would make this harsh world a better place. I know that it sounds a little cheesy, but this is what I wrote:
Bettsy Goodman's Christmas List
No More Lives be Torn Apart,
That wars would never star,
That time would heal the heart,
That everyone would have a friend,
That right would always win,
That love would never end.
After I was done, I was taken to the train. We were in the Capitol by December 17th. We trained for two days, and on the third day, we had our interviews with Cesar Templesmith, (who's wife is pregnant with a little boy to be named Claudius) and afterwards we had the most extravagant feast. The next day on December 20th, we were sent on to the latest arena. It took a good five hours for us to get there, but once we were put on the launching platforms, I knew something was not right. As I arose in the tube to the surface, I felt a harsh blast of extremely cold air. When we were successfully on our platforms, I saw a vast plane of miles upon mile of icy wasteland. It seemed like the Capitol was really poking fun at us.
The cornucopia was filled with absolutely nothing but coal…
Before the gong sounded out, Cesar Templesmith came out on a hidden intercom and said in a sullen voice, "To show that the Capitol is ever ruling even on the happiest occasions, we have given you all coal for Christmas. Nothing else,". It sounded like he faintly whispered "I'm So Sorry!" but no one could tell. We all started off of the platforms only to realize, we had no where to go. A few of the Careers ran toward the cornucopia to get coal to use as weapons. I had no clue what to do. I ran immediately away from the pack of tributes, but I had a hard time getting a good solid sprint going. The ice made it incredibly hard to run very fast. My mind was in a flurry just as the many snowflakes where that surrounded me in my limp stride through the dark wasteland. I have no real recollection of those first two days. By December 22nd, I knew I was in trouble. My nose was running intensely, but it all froze at the tip of my nose before it could run down to my lips. The only food I had had since the games had started was twenty frozen berries. I have been sucking on the same block of ice for a day and a half. I fear that if I remove it, I will discover I have lost my tongue to frostbite.
On December 23rd, I made a little alliance with a young girl named…well it's too cold for me to remember right now. We sat and talked for hours about each of our family's Christmas traditions. In her district of District 5, she told me how every Christmas her family would use money they had saved up all year to buy one thing for her whole family and buy a very small roast chicken. That is their biggest meal all year. After that, they would go to their local church to celebrate Jesus' birth. I felt pretty rotten telling her about my tradition of each of us getting our own gift and us buying a smoked ham. I live in District 1 and my family owns a jewel shop. We have a lot of money. I told her that if we both somehow magically make it out of these games alive, I would send for her every Christmas after that. She and her family would come and live with us for the holidays.
I went to sleep knowing that I was doing something good. The next day, Cesar announced the Games' annual feast. He said there would be many luxurious things. We were so psyched to get going that we didn't even notice we were being followed. We reached the cornucopia at midnight when the feast was to start. We saw all that Cesar had promised. There were whole hams, still warm, and presents and blankets and just a very peaceful presence. We were both headed to the cornucopia when I heard the most bloodcurdling scream. I looked ahead to see three of the career tributes being thrown into the cold water under the ice, through a hole that looked recently cut, by two other tributes both from District Seven. Then I realized it a little too late.
Right in front of us there was another hole. Just after my realization, I was turned around to see the evil grinning face of the boy from District Five. Him and his partners only a few hundred yards away used this feast as an opportunity to kill most of us off. They shoved my ally into the water so fast, if you blinked just like I did, you would miss it. Then he turned to me. "Merry Christmas!" he said manically as he pushed me into the unforgiving waters. I saw my partner's face just for a second until her lifeless body sank deeper into the water. The cannon went off and then they sealed the hole up, blocking off the rest of the world from me. I remember my last thoughts being that I was honored to be leaving this world the same day our lord Jesus Christ came into it. Or at least when it is celebrated. I then realized it truly was a heavenly time to pass. And then I was gone from this too cruel Earth.
Author's Note:
I dedicate this One-Shot to my Aunt Bettsy. May she have a heavenly Christmas in Heaven.