Sail Away To The Sea
The Hardest Pill To Swallow.
For my first reaping of the Hunger Games, I wore a simple, white, cotton dress and had my hair in a bun on the top of my head. My mother wiped a tear of relief as another child's life was chosen to be taken and my father kissed her for the first time in as long as I could remember. That was the year my best friend's cousin died and her house was covered in black trimmings for a month.
For my second reaping, I wore a long, blue dress and had my hair loose. My mother hugged me tight, and my father told me that it would be okay. That was the year that Finnick Odair won, and everyone had enough to eat for twelve whole months.
For my third reaping, I wore the same as I had the year before, only this time I wore to impress. My mother shouted at me, whilst my father looked unbelievably sad. That was the year the whole district pined for Finnick and nobody even noticed when both our tributes were killed in the initial bloodbath.
My fourth reaping took place on my birthday and so I wore a new, green skirt and a white blouse and felt more grownup than ever before. My mother gave me an extra slice of cake incase I was reaped, and my father gave me a silver locket to remember him. That was the year he drowned, and mother and me stopped talking to each other.
For my fifth reaping, I wore plain black in memory of my father. My mother didn't look at me as I left the house, and my father's picture smiled warmly as always. That was the year I stopped speaking and lost my locket and I didn't even care when my old best friend was reaped.
For my sixth reaping, I didn't notice what I put on in the morning. My mother hugged me tight for the first time in a long time and my father's picture didn't seem so sad anymore. That was the year I noticed that people were starting to forget me, and I cried when our tributes died because I thought of my best friend.
For my seventh and final reaping, I am wearing black again. My mother smiled at me as I left the house, and I nodded back, ever silent. This year, I'm scared for the first time in all my years, that there's a chance I will be chosen.
I haven't spoken since my father died, and people don't seem to see me anymore. They look right through me, and I return the favour.
My mother hasn't said a word to me since his death, though she speaks normally to the milkman and our odd visitor.
I haven't been near the sea since the accident and so we are poorer than ever. But we survive, in a mutual silence, the sound of the waves that took him, still echoing in our ears.
Each year, I come here dressed in all my finery, only to see more old friends be taken like lambs for slaughter. But this year, it'll be different. I can feel it. Not in any supernatural sense, but just in the sense that I'm ready and somehow, it's only the ready ones who are taken.
The smart ones. The talented ones. The beautiful ones. The sad ones. The ready ones.
So I don't feel anything as Arial Lace reads out my name. I do not struggle, as I'm lead to the podium. I do not show emotion as the boy, a boy in my class at school, is chosen. I feel it, yes. But I don't show it. Because if there's anything I've learnt from the past years, it's that if you pretend to be okay for long enough, you will be. For me, it was two years. Two years of holding in my tears. Two years of staying as far from the sea as I could, despite the undeniable cravings. Two years of the fake smiles and many nods. Two years, until one morning I woke, and I was okay. Silent, still. Mourning, still. Terrified, still. But, okay.
The Justice Building is by far the largest building in town. Set by the more commercial one of our many beaches, it's large, marble pillars were used by my friends and me as children, in games of hide and seek. When I was nine, however, we were banned from doing so. I don't think the Capitol who rule over us much liked the idea of us learning to hide.
I have only actually been inside it once, to collect my father's certificate of death, when my mother was too weak to do so. Since that time, the Hall has not changed a bit. Entering, I feel a pang of mourning, but quickly push it aside.
I am lead to a room, highly decorated in greens and blues and am shoved in by Peace Keepers, our law enforcement. Here is where I wait to see if anyone wants to say goodbye to me.
And I wait.
And I wait.
And I wait.
And I know that nobody is going to come.
Mother will be at home, alone, mourning me before I've even died.
My friends no longer count me as one of them.
I have no one.
And I have nothing to lose.
A Peace Keeper walks in and hands me a envelope.
I rip it open, curious as to what it might contain. It's heavy. Too heavy for a letter.
But of course. The locket.
I look at the Peace Keeper. Who? I ask with my eyes.
He shrugs, before beckoning for me to exit the room.
No visitors.
Just a necklace.
No visitors.
Just a useless token.
No visitors.
I open the locket.
No visitors.
I peer inside.
No visitors.
I close it quick.
No visitors.
It contains a letter, tightly folded.
No visitors.
But I might just survive.
A/N thanks for reading :D Please review, I live off feedback… Next chapter coming soon.