Celina
The night before the reaping, I slept on a piece of driftwood tethered to a tree with seaweed. I did this every year. Water keeps me calm; I love the gentle rocking movement of the waves, as if they are soothing me to sleep. Whenever I was scared, I always ran to the sea, I don't know why, but I always did. I sat on the golden sands, watching the sapphire waves crash into each other, losing power and eventually lapping at my toes.
For the reaping I wore a gorgeous dress. I spent all year making it, saving up my money from selling fish until I could buy enough blue silk. It was draped from either shoulder and gathered up at the waist by a simple gold band. That cost more than 10 times as much as the silk. The blue fabric skimmed over my legs, fading to white at my knees. I loved the colour; it reminded me of the surf in the ocean. I walked barefoot to the main square; I couldn't afford shoes after spending so much on my outfit. I tied a piece of seaweed around my neck, soaked in seawater. The wetness of the water soothed me, and the smell of the salt reminded me that I was still home, never more than a few miles from the sea.
I signed in with the other 15 year old girls, and instantly regretted my bold choice of dress. I stood out clearly, a bird of paradise on a large expanse of rock. All of the other girls were wearing white, or grey from being washed so many times.
"Celina, what the HELL are you wearing you freak?" I turned around, but already knew who the owner of those words was.
"What's your problem with me, Pearl?" My golden locks whipped round into her face, spraying her with seawater as I turned around. She spluttered and scowled at me, muttering obscenities under her breath. I sighed and turned around, I knew this would be televised, the reapings were never interesting. My train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of Den, our escort. His real name was Poseidon Grey, but he was trying to be more relatable to the 'kids'.
"Right, who's ready to get started!" He yelled in his cringe worthy manner. Something about his too-bright eyes, and exaggerated manner reminded me of the children's presenters you get on telly at the capitol. When I was in the capitol before, I looked in one of the windows and saw a children's programme, something where the ridiculous presenters ended up covering themselves in custard. I love custard; I eat it whenever I can afford it. I still shuddered at the memories of why I was in the capitol.
"Now, seeing as we always to girls first, let's try the boys this year!" All of his sentences ended with an exclamation mark, he might as well get one tattooed on his forehead. Seeing the murmurs of discontent from the mayor, he hurriedly tried to pretend he was joking and scooped up a name from the girls ball. I knew the odds were in my favour; my name was only in there 4 times. I was careful enough to never need tesserae. Den fumbled with the wax seal, he couldn't get his fat fingers far enough underneath to break it. Finally he succeeded, and held the open slip of paper up, as if it was his greatest achievement. Knowing him, it was.
"Right, the brave girl tribute is…" He always left a ridiculous pause before saying the name, "Celina Bremner! Come up, you lucky girl!"
I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything. I heard a terrifying scream, but I didn't know who it was, I had no-one left to care if I died. My throat was hurting, and I realised my mouth was open, the bloodcurdling scream was mine.
"Come on dear, it'll be fun!" Den basically bouncing off the stage in his attempt to seem lighthearted.
A horrible laugh broke through the silence that followed, that snapped me out of the trance I was in. As I whipped around to face Pearl, I saw her perfect teeth flashing in the bright sun. Her pretty face contorted into a twisted smile.
"That's lucky, at least you don't have any parents to cry when you get ripped apart by careers." That pushed me over the edge, my fist swung around and hit her square in the nose.
"You really are a twisted little bitch, aren't you?" Pearl gasped as her hand flew up to her face and came back bloody. I smiled; any tributes with interesting reapings always got more coverage. However there would be some competition from the brother and sister duo from District 2. Especially as they were the children of the mayor. At least I wouldn't get ruled out as a weakling. I held my head up high, and dusted down my dress as I walked up to the simple wooden stage in front of the justice building. "Our girl tribute, Celina Bremner!" Den was being absolutely ridiculous, trying to get the theme back to what the capitol wanted. Fun, and rainbows and puppies. Too bad, we don't tend to have puppies at funerals in 4. "And now, for the boys!" Den practically screamed, "Martin Davis! Come on up, don't be scared." He managed to coax a small 13 year old boy up onto the stage. His chocolate eyes were round in terror and shock, and his skinny frame instantly ruled him out as a serious contender. He was only two years younger than me, but I was a good two heads taller than him, even being small for my age. Combined with his bronze hair, sticking out in all directions, he looked about 7. We were ushered into the justice building, where I spent 3 hours stroking the plush velvet of my seat, expecting and receiving no visitors.
