THE REAPING
The reaping day came that year and it was cloudy and windy. Harmony, the woman from the capitol stood on the make shift stage. She was an older woman, short and wispy with matching blue hair, eye shadow, and nails. Her outfit was a bright, neon green and her boots shiny yellow. "Well I'm glad I wore my yellow boots today. Bring a little shine to your day and put the odds in your favor." She said in that high capitol pitched accent.
First came the girl tribute. This year it would be Janet Atkins, the mayor's daughter. Upon hearing Harmony read the name the Mayors wife screamed and fainted in her chair, crashing to the floor of the stage. The mayor quickly kneeled down and gathered her into his arms but his glaring eyes never left Harmony. When Janet took the stage, Harmony was all but vibrating with excitement and threw her arms around the girl. "What an exciting day! Let's hear a hearty round of applause for Janet." Harmony boomed. The crowd, stunned at this stood silently for a full minute before reluctantly clapping.
When it was the boy's turn, Harmony dug deep into the bowl before returning. "Collin Jackson." She read.
Collin felt a strong arm grip his elbow and looked up to see Jacob staring at him. "Don't even think about it. They need you." Collin muttered before slowly walking up to the stage. As he passed Ben Derck he heard the old peacekeeper snicker "Let's see your daddy trade you out of this." He said snidely. But there would be no volunteers, no trading for Collin Jackson's life, he was heading for the arena.
When it came time to say good-byes the only person to show up to see Collin was his father. John Jackson sat down in front of his youngest son heavily. "All right my boy, you may be small but you're strong and you're going to come home alive." He said solemnly.
Collin exhaled the breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. "But how?"
For the next half hour John Jackson laid out his plan and made Collin promise that he'd stick as close to it as he could. At the end of the half hour he gave his son the small rough piece of coal that he always kept in his pocket. "We may be a poor, rough district son, but you stand up and be proud of where you came from and what the Jackson family has accomplished." He gave his son a long, hard hug only letting go when the peace keepers came in to take Collin a way.
When Harmony ushered them onto the train platform the camera crews were there to get a glimpse of the tributes but it was Mrs. Atkins who stole the show. She was wailing and yelling at the unfairness of the reaping. Two Peace Keepers were forcibly holding her back, and Janet was muttering to her father that her mother was embarrassing her in front of the whole country. Mayor Atkins and the two peace keepers finally got Mrs. Atkins into the justice building and Harmony ushered them up onto the train.
There was no mentor, No one to from home to guide Collin and Janet on that journey. That first night on the train Janet and Collin sat down to dinner with Harmony. Collin had never sat at such a fine table with fancy plates and eating tools. He watched Janet carefully and mimicked her movements with a fork and knife. The food was better than anything that Collin had ever tasted and he ate slowly, trying to savor and enjoy every bite.
After watching the recap of the reaping Harmony sighed and said "Well my darlings, it was quite a show. Janet, maybe you can use your position as the mayor's daughter to gain some sympathy from the sponsors." Janet nodded but didn't say anything. Harmony went to bed, leaving Janet and Collin to sit silently in the fancy train car. "I'm sorry about your mother." Collin said quietly.
"My father buys coal from your family." Janet said out of nowhere.
Collin looked over at her surprised, His father was very careful and very secretive about who his business clientele. "How do you know that?"
Janet looked out the window a long moment before answering "As the mayor, Daddy is in the public eye all of the time. As you can see my mother is very fragile and we need the extra warmth in the winter so she doesn't get sick. But me, If I happen to visit the sweet shop and slip some extra coins to your mother, well no one notices. The extra coal is always in our bin outside the next morning."
Collin nodded, it was him and Jacob who frequently arose in the middle of the night to deliver the coal. Mr. Atkins was the mayor had an office in his house, but of course the capitol didn't care about this and gave the Atkins family the same coal allowance as the rest of the district citizens.
"How are we going to get through this?" Janet asked quietly.
"With dignity." Replied Collin, echoing his father's words.
Janet laughed harshly "I don't think my mother just gave me that option and dignity is not going to matter once we're in the arena."
"No, but it will during the interviews and it may just get you some sponsors." Collin told her.
Janet nodded thoughtfully. "Collin, I know I have no right to ask this, but will you help me? Will you make sure that my death doesn't embarrass my family?"
Collin raised an eyebrow at her "You're the mayor's daughter, and you're asking help from a poor coal miner's son? I had to watch you at dinner so I didn't humiliate myself."
Janet smiled sadly "I may have manners but you know how to survive and stay alive. How about we stick together until the gong sounds?"
Collin nodded "Ok. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure out how to get one of us home alive."
