Today is reaping day. I've always had a thing with reapings, where I get there first, and do something until the escort comes onstage that will creep everyone out. It's fun.
As usual, I'm here early.

As the other possible tributes start filing in, I start singing. Nobody has ever heard me sing. Ever. So I figured when better for them to first hear me than reaping day. Never mind the fact that the song is creepy...
It's an old one; said to come from the times before the great war. It is said to come from before the districts. Some even say it is from before time itself. I don't believe that though. I do believe that it is from before the districts though. Most don't - not that many people have actually heard of it, let alone heard it sung. That's what I plan to do today. Introduce them to this song.

"Are you, are you, coming to the tree?
Where strung up a man, they say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be,
If we met, at mid, night in the hanging tree."

So far it seems to be creeping people out. Either that or it's annoying them. I actually can't tell...

"Are you, are you, coming to the tree?
Where a dead man called out, for his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be,
If we met, at mid, night in the hanging tree."

I've been told that it's based on events that actually happened. I don't doubt them. A man being hung wasn't that uncommon back in the days. Murdering three people would definitely get you hung. It would get you shot now, but either way, you'd die. Obviously somebody who is already dead can't call out, but he was probaby as good as dead, and there was no way for him to get out alive. So he would have done what he could; called out for those he loved to flee, because while he couldn't find a way to live, at least they could.

"Are you, are you, coming to the tree?
I told you to run, so we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be,
If we met, at mid, night in the hanging tree."

"Are you, are you, coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope, side-by-side with me.
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be,
If we met, at mid, night in the hanging tree."

Some people say that it is necklace of hope, but since it's reaping day, and I'm mainly here to creep people out, that is way to happy.

If I'm honest though, the main reason I like that song so much is because it can be traced back to my family. That man, the one who murdered three? He is (apparantly) my ancestor's best friend. My ancestor? He's the one who hung him. That's partly why I like creeping people out at the reapings. It scares me that I have the blood of a man who hung his best friend. And so I scare others. I know it doesn't make much sense, it doesn't make sense to me either, but that's the way it is.

I keep singing the song over and over again, until finally, the escort arrived.

"Welcome!" she calls out as if she is the one who lives here, not us. "Welcome to the District 12 reaping, for the 87th annual Hunger Games!"