I read the Hunger Games books again this weekend, and I was inspired to write this when I was done.
Please PM me with any ideas, or feedback on the story, I'd love to know what you think.
I do not own the rights to any content created within the Hunger Games created by Suzanne Collins.
Walking through the forest, the scent of pine sap carried through the air, just like any other morning. My friend Jameson and I both managed to get summer jobs on the logging teams to help provide for our families, but mostly because we both loved being in the forest so much. "So when do you think your dad will let you take over one of the net lines down at the river?" Jameson asks, as he marks an X on the tree in front of him. "Who knows when, why are you so worried anyway?" I ask in reply. "Because I want to learn how to fish too, can't let you have all the fun" he replies only mildly sarcastically. As we run through the forest to get back to the rest of the team and I notice that it's eerily silent; shouldn't these guys be cutting trees by now? As we get closer I see the panic, it looks like a felled tree took out a few people on the ground. Before I reach the crowd I notice Jameson's dad walking towards me, "Hey Mr. Younger, what happened?" I ask. "Kent, I'm glad I finally found you, your dad got caught under the tree when it came down, it crushed him"
I wake up in a cold sweat, nightmares again, just like every night before Reaping Day. I eventually calm myself down and lay my head back down, but I know I won't be able to get back to sleep. Laying still looking at the ceiling occupies my time until I finally gather myself enough to get out of bed, "this is it" I think to myself, "this is my last Reaping Day", though it does little to comfort me. I get dressed and go for a walk through District 7 to town square; mostly to calm myself but also to see if anyone else has been visited by nightmares like I have. I find myself without much company, just the mockingjays with their cheerful melodies in the background to my thoughts. As I wander around the district I can't help but think of all of us who are quite possibly going through the same thing right now, feeling helpless, helplessness is something that is universal in Panem. I see the first signs of sunlight on the horizon, and I sit on a nearby stump to take in my surroundings; the sunrise, the song of the mockingjays and the scent of pine needles underfoot. In a few hours, I'll be at the justice building with everyone else my age; and I realize, this could very well be my last sunrise at home.
The walk to my house is uneventful, but as soon as I walk through the door my heart begins to feel heavy because I remember that this is my sister Riley's first reaping, and I know that she must be scared to death. I walk past her door and I hear a sniffle, not knowing what else to do, I open the door to see her shivering holding the only thing we have left from our parents, a small stuffed bear. She wipes her eyes before facing me and says "you could've knocked first, Kent!" to which my only reply is "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone". I close the door behind me, and slowly walk down the hall to find our grandmother not only awake, but hard at work in the kitchen making sure we won't go hungry this morning, with tea brewing, and bread toasting on the stove, and a tiny pot of oatmeal on the table. I manage to say "good morning Grandma" and actually sound like I believe it, grandma manages to say "good morning dear, you and your sister need to eat before the food goes cold" before her voice gets shaky.
Soon enough my sister, grandmother and I are at the table enjoying our breakfast in complete silence, and I can't take it, "so who died?" is what comes out of my mouth, instantly two sets of eyes are locked on mine, either trying to fight back tears or stare a hole through me, possibly both. "You can be such a smart-ass sometimes Kent" is what I hear come from my grandmas mouth, but I can't take my eyes off of my sister, I've gone too far is my first thought as I see her throw down the rest of her bread on the table and run off into her room, my heart sinks into my stomach.
"RILEY" I yell, "I'm sorry" as I hear the slam of her door behind her. I get up from the table and run to the door; desperate to make it up to her "I'm a jerk, I'm sorry Riles, I didn't mean it" is all I can manage to say. "I hate it when you call me that" is all I hear she gets off of her bed, and opens up the door. I kneel down and say "I know you do" with the biggest smile I can force before she wraps her arms tightly around my neck, as I stand up, she puts her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arms around her, trying to protect her from anyone, everyone, most of all, myself. We're silent for what seems to be forever, and I hate it when she gives me the silent treatment, mostly because when I get it, I deserve it.
"Can you carry me on your shoulders, like you used to?" is how she breaks the silence, "only if you promise to carry me back", she rewards me with a smile. As I carry her back to the table, our grandmother says "alright you two, I'm going to draw you both a bath, then it'll be time for you to head to the justice building, it's almost time for the reaping". I let Riley go first, so I can talk to my grandmother while she washes up, "You have to look out for her, you're the man of the house now." I stand there for a moment, thinking about what she means, and recall times my father was strong when so many were weak, when he would be the one that the family leaned on, and I realize that my family needs me.
I sit down in my dad's old chair in the living room; my head has started to pulse like someone is clamping down my head, so I close my eyes, and thoughts of my mother and father come rushing to me. I remember my mom bringing Riley out after she was born and thinking how small she was, and my dad telling me that I had to help him protect her, I remember promising. Mom died when she was 5, but she had been sick for a while. After that dad buried himself with work, he was a foreman on a lumber crew, and he had to be there before everyone else, he was also the last to leave. I remember summers when I was younger, I would get to help the markers, we had to mark the trees that were to be cut for the capital by the lumberjacks. Now that I'm older, I get to fell trees now, its hard work, but it helps to put food on the table.
Riley coming into the front room wearing her dress for the reaping brings me back into focus, I open my eyes and see that she looks just like mom did in old pictures, right down to their smile, "looks like I get to take the prettiest girl in the whole district to the reaping" I say, "do you really think I look pretty Kent?" "Not just pretty Riles, you look beautiful". I watch my grandmother braid her hair, before she orders me to take a bath, "Go take your bath now boy, you smell like you spent the night in a skunk den" we all get a laugh at that.
I have to take my bath in stages, first one leg, then the other, once my legs are clean my size becomes less of a challenge to cleaning the rest of my body, once I'm done, I find the clothes that my grandmother has laid out for me outside the bathroom door, just a pair of dress pants and a button down shirt, but it's still fancier than what I normally wear. I take a few deep breaths as I look at myself in the mirror, "you look more and more like daddy every day" I hear as Riley steps from behind me. As she stands there, the look on her face tells me everything I need to know, she's miserable, "you're going to be fine, I promise, you didn't take any tesserae, you have one entry" I say trying as hard as I can to be reassuring. As I raise her onto my shoulders, I think of my own thirty-two entries, but quickly push it from my mind.
As we get closer to the justice building, I lower her from my shoulders and grab her hand as we walk to the check in for the reaping, I can feel her hand squeeze down on mine, and so I stop and kneel. "Everything is going to be okay Riley, you'll be fine, I promise" I say trying to ease her nerves, her brown eyes lock on mine as she replies "okay". We walk to the check-in in complete silence the rest of the way. Once we get to the check in area, we're quickly ushered through and told to go to the assigned areas, Riley with the 12-year-old girls, and me with the 18-year-old boys.
Once in my assigned area near the rear of the crowd, my eyes frantically glance around the front of the crowd trying to keep an eye on her, once I can see her I'm slightly relieved. I hear the anthem of Panem and after it's finished the mayor gives us the same speech about the Dark Days and the rebellion. As the mayor finishes, our district escort, Juno Cantor walks to the front of the platform, where the reaping balls are on a stand, between her smile, her bright blue dress and her orange-colored hair, she looks so out-of-place. "Welcome, happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor" she says in her ridiculous sounding Capitol accent, "without further ado, we shall see who will have the honor of representing District 7 as tributes", she pauses, "as always, ladies first".
She dips her hand into the glass ball filled with thousands of pieces of paper, each with a name on it, pulls one out and unfolds it, "Riley Drake". I quickly find Riley in the crowd, and see her slowly making her way to the platform, once she's standing next to Juno, I see her nervously trying to find me in the crowd. "Are there any volunteers?" Juno asks as she pauses in complete silence "well then, on to the boys". And as she says that, I know what I must do, "I volunteer as tribute" I yell out as loud as I can, as everyone in attendance turns towards me. Guys move out of my way, and soon I'm running towards the platform to join my sister, "Well young man, I believe you're the first volunteer District 7 has had, what is your name?" Juno asks me. "Kent…Kent Drake" I barely manage to choke out, with too many thoughts and emotions on my mind to care. "Well, it would seem that we have a brother/sister pair, didn't want her to have all the fun, did we?" Juno jokes.
Next thing I know, I awkwardly shaking hands with my sister, as the anthem of Panem plays again, and as it plays I think to myself; how could this have happened, she was one paper in thousands? I try to take in the scene here, and catch one last glimpse of my beloved forest in the distance, because deep down, I know I'm not coming back. After the anthem has finished we're led inside the justice building, and I catch one last glimpse of the crowd before the doors close behind me.