The next thing I knew I was stepping onto the plush, sateen carpet of the train. This train was no normal train found at the power plants. This was a high tech Capitol train that flies and goes average 250 miles per hour. I sat down on the gaudy, floral loveseat as Andree talked to Travis and me.
She sat down with a melancholy look in her deep brown eyes and she said in a mouse's voice, "Hello." I gave a timid little wave and Travis nodded. "I will do my sincere best to train you and help you to try to survive the arena this year. I understand most aspects of the Games, and…" Andree trailed off. I could see the bags under her eyes from long nights of no sleep. Nightmares of the brutal deaths of her adversaries? It's hard to even comprehend.
"So…" I tried to start her back up again. The silence was like a sharp dagger of despair. There's no hope left, it said. "Well… once we get to the Capitol, you will meet with your stylists." Andree continued. District 5 has had the same stylists since forever. A couple of old croons who dress us up in provocative light bulb-themed getups. "Then," she gulped. "are the Opening Ceremonies. You have three days of training and at the end of the last day you'll go in to see the Gamemakers. That night the scores shall be broadcasted." Tell me something I don't know, I thought. We watch these sick games every year. "After that, Lulu and I will practice with you for you interviews for the next night. Then…" She didn't have to say it. We know what happens then.
Travis smiled and shook his head. I don't know why. I just sat there in silence. "So… now what?" Travis asked. There was an awkward line of separation between us all. The tired, beaten mentor who has lived her life in fast forward. The enigmatic, unpredictable boy who I don't understand. Then there's me. Guile, reckless me with a cunning wit and a sharp sense of danger. But yet, if we don't work together, the two of us are dead. And that means another year of dead tributes for Andree and District 5.
"I'll take you to your rooms!" Called out a squeaky voice from behind. Lulu, now dressed in a noticeably tight, bright blue pantsuit and golden platform wedges, was gesturing toward the sliding door to the left. "These are your quarters for the next few hours. Live it up." The woman giggled and sashayed to a diamond-studded cushiony chair near Andree. I got up and went into the nearest room. A simple bed sat in the middle of the drab room. The only thing that caught my eye was a glint of light on the edge of the bed.
It was a weird sensation. I felt at that moment as if a ghost was sent to me. A ghost that said not all hope is lost. On the bed sat a tiny pair of dark blue, sapphire earrings. They were unmistakably my sister's. They were her favorite ones, the ones she wore to graduation, to the Reapings each year, and to my brother's funeral. Her special event earrings; the ones that, when worn, symbolize change.
I put them on my ears. These are my token, or the one item I will take into the arena with me. I will have a piece of home while I fight for my life. Then, at that moment, I climbed into the plushy bed and closed my eyes. I wasn't tired. I wasn't anxious, or frightened, or hopeful. I was just neutral. If neutral could describe feelings, then I that's how I felt. I fell asleep anyway, dreaming of bunnies, pansies, and rainbows…