A light fog covered the streets of district 8, like it almost always does. Sometimes, when the wind is in favor, and the main factories have stopped laboring for a couple of days, there is an chance of actually being able to look at the blue sky, instead of the dark, grayish and smelly clouds of pollution that usually fill the air. Slowly but steadily, the main square, facing the Town hall fills of with thousands upon thousands of citizens, from 12 to 18 years old, expecting the opportunity to escape the terrible fate that most certainly awaits them if their name is called. A decent analogy for this event would a lottery that no one wants to win. An enormous glass cylinder is placed on top of a richly decorated stage, matching the overall scheme of the square: long purple, deep blue and red banners hang from the Town Hall, all proudly bearing the symbols of district 8 – mainly, textile and factory related ones – as well as the ones from the Capitol. Camera crews are installed strategically alongside what are becoming the long rows of youngsters that eagerly await their fate. Surrounding them, heavily armed peacemakers, ready to shoot if a scared soul would try to make a run for it. And there are many good reasons to do so, manly this one: the boy and the girl chosen in today's reaping will be forced to fight to the death with 22 other contestants from the 11 remaining districts. Simply put, there is a 1/23 chance of survival, that is worsen for the couples that originated from poor districts – which is exactly the case in 8. Usually, the players in this death match, appropriately named Hunger Games, are named tributes, but the truth is that there is a distinct difference between the well prepared and motivated players from districts 1, 2 and 4, and almost all of those from the other districts which are sometimes referred as sacrifices. Why? 72 years of Hunger Games editions have proved that, for the most part, they are cannon meat. They usually die in the very first stages of the competition, very often, in brutal and violent ways.
It is with that thought in mind that the crowd gathers around the stage, silently, as the anthem and propaganda movie plays. Each year the same routine carefully choreographed to perfection. That's when an obese wobbling man moves his way in to the sage and greets the crowd. "MUFFIN MAN!" shouts a random voice in the back of the square, where families watch the event, separated from their loved ones. The awkward bit is that he actually looked the part: very heavy on top, with proportionally skinny legs, all dressed in a shinny caramel – toned tuxedo, and with a curvy over sized mustache that outgrew his face on the sides. The young man, around 22, is removed from the area, leaving Muffin Man – a Capitol designated entertainer for district 8 named Jonh Jonhs – with a an embarrassed expression, as the people around him made and effort to muffle their laughter. Next to him, a sturdy 30 or so year old woman, sitting in a dark wooden bench, with her legs crossed. Her eyes look absent, and so does her body language. For the rest of the evening, she will glance occasional at the crowd, but mostly at the sky. Bianca was the last victor for district 8, an rumors account both of her terrible temper and philanthropic bursts. The districts elementary schools were renovated solely on her donations. But it is also said that she owns a collection of dead animal bones, that her diet is composed only of insects and human blood, and all sorts of shenanigans. Regardless of it all, Bianca looks at the sky. Probably making an effort to see beyond the smog, not caring what so ever about what goes on around her. Jonhs then cleared his throat with a soft grunt, proceeded to the great cylinder, and added with a cynical tone "Let's get this show on the road, now shall we?". His hand waved dramatically over it, and he took a pause to dramatically sigh, and then finally, dramatically insert is chubby hand in the cylinder, and then quickly grabbed a paper. It took less than one second to unfold it, and he proceeded with a high pitched tone:
- Cosette Williams!