Humph!
The starry sky was beginning to clear as the sun appeared behind the distant mountains, the glints of sunshine filling in every corner of the sleeping District 2, but not everyone in the district was sleeping.
Humph!
The sound was heard again, the sound of bare human skin hitting against the trunk of a tree. It was Magnolia's own form of therapy and release, release of the hard life that she had learnt to embrace since she was very little.
Magnolia was born into a family of encouraging parents that had given her support and love to succeed in everything possible, whether it was schooling or training. It was an indescribable love that helped her grow as a happy and radiant child. Sadly, those moments came to pass the day that Magnolia's father was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors said there wasn't much possible to be done and it wasn't long till he passed.
Humph!
Another bare bleeding knuckle hit the tree; her brown hair tied up into a ponytail was wet in sweat, her brown eyes flushing out tears. It was all very tough and after her father's passing, Magnolia began to look for support in her mother, but she was gone. Lost in a world of sadness, loneliness and fear. Years passed and the vibrant child people where used to see turned into an unexpected time bomb, quiet one second, exploding in rage the next.
Humph!
Finally her bleeding knuckles gave out and Magnolia began to make her way back to her house, she needed to get ready for the Reaping. After Magnolia turned twelve, she began to go into career training where she learned to take out her anger without people looking at her like she was some sort of person with a problem. And as the years passed, she learnt with maturity that showing emotions and feelings was a weakness and that she shouldn't show them to anyone. Finally the day came. Today. The day that she will volunteer as tribute for the 64th Annual Hunger Games, finally it was time to show her father what she is made of and to make him proud, wherever he was.
Magnolia reached the corner of her street, the stone path of different colors muffling the sounds of her footsteps as she walked down the lonely road. It didn't take long before she reached the entrance of her house and pushed in the key to reveal a simple brick path surrounded by patches of grass. Back when her father was alive, Magnolia lived in the vibrant rich sector of the district. Her father had been head peacekeeper and his job had good pay, but after he died Magnolia and her mother had to reduce the amount of money they spent in order to be able to afford her training. Now they were living in a much cheaper sector of the city where they have learned to survive with the sufficient resources her father left behind.
Magnolia entered her house. Inside a small lobby awaited decorated with black and white tiles and two staircases, one lead to the basement and the other one to the second floor. Magnolia took the one that lead to the second floor and passed the living room that consisted of leather sofas, a lightwood colored floor, a burning fireplace and a nice modern-looking glass table garnished with a plant on top. As always no sound of her mother.
She took a hall that lead to the right and walked all the way towards the end. There she found her small bedroom that consisted of a medium sized bed with simple brown sheets and a small closet for her clothes. She picked out her best looking Reaping outfit and set it neatly over the bed and exited her room. She crossed the small hall and entered the bathroom, which to a small sense of humor was larger than her own room. Magnolia turned on the hot shower undressed from her training clothes and got into her compact shower. The shower was short, short enough to not draw steam in the mirror; she hated it when steam filled the bathroom because it gave her the sensation that she couldn't breathe. She got off, dried herself with a run down towel and ran back to get dressed screaming to her mother as she ran to her room, "Mother! The Reaping is today, wake up and get ready!"
The sounds of footsteps were heard a second later and by the time her mom had finished waking up, Magnolia was already dressed looking at herself in the mirror: her coffee hair down to her shoulders, her matching eyes, the tanned skin, the vibrant white blouse covered by the leather jacket, the matching black pants, and of course the finishing touch; her father's gold necklace. It was intricately made with his name engraved on it. Magnolia let the heaviness of the moment weigh her down, but she soon composed herself. She had to be strong; she had to be in order to proof something to the people of the Capitol.
Magnolia made her way out of the bathroom, down the hall and into the decent sized kitchen. There, she opened one of the cupboards and took out a small porcelain bowl, poured some cereal in it and garnished it with a glass of milk at the side. She slowly enjoyed her cereal, remembering the happy times she got to spend with her mother and father, but now that was all gone, forgotten in the past.
As Magnolia finished her cereal she noticed her robotic mother. Lifeless. Speechless. Without feelings, walking down the stairs with a simple black dress. She stopped at the small lobby, grabbed her shoes and sat blankly to place them on. Magnolia stared down at the floor, a feeling of guilt and sadness washing over her, but now wasn't the time to be showing these emotions, stand firm Magnolia, keep yourself together, you can do this, she thought to herself. She joined her mother at the lobby and put on her leather black boots, a golden brooch standing out above the dark color of the leather. Magnolia and her mother walked out of their house and began to make their way towards the Reaping.
The District square was busy and ringing with excited teenagers, accompanying parents, spectators and visitors of the Capitol. Magnolia brought her mom towards the entrance of the square and let her go, she watched as her mother floated lifelessly inside the square and plopped down to a sit. Magnolia turned around and brushed the feelings off and joined the line of girls. The line moved fairly quickly and in a matter of seconds she was next.
"Next person!" the peacekeeper yelled. Magnolia stopped walking and looked at the familiar uniform. The white plush chest guard, the white helmet with black visor, but no it wasn't her father, she needed to move on, she needed to cope, but most importantly she needed to forget. She made her way towards the table, stretched out her shaky hand and felt the prickling sensation of the scanner.
Magnolia Caldwell (18)
District 2
She walked into the busy square and joined her section of eighteen-year-old girls. The large crowd created a vibrant aura of excitement and suspense as they talked about who might be picked this year, Magnolia was sure her name had been mentioned somewhere, but she brushed the thought aside as the District 2 escort began to walk in.
"Welcome to the District 2 reaping for the 64th Annual Hunger Games, now before we begin let us take a look at a video that comes straight to us from The Capitol"
Nobody looked at the screen; nobody cared about the stupid video, people just awaited the main event, the moment the tributes would get picked. The Capitol escort spoke again, "Now let's begin the main event as always ladies first" everybody seemed to follow her every move as her heels echoed thorough the stone floor, the glass bowl stood there holding millions of slips, she slid the hand in and took out a slip walking back to center stage, "this year's female tribute representing District 2 in the 64th annual Hunger Games is…" Magnolia awaited the moment and the crowd fell dead silent, "Tab"
"I volunteer as tribute!" Magnolia shouted through the square, her voice sounded deeper than normal, just perfect. The girls around her parted and made a pathway that led straight to the stage. Magnolia confidently walked down the concrete floor, up the stone steps and onto the stage where she found herself beside the Capitol escort, "My dear what is your name?" she said, her flamboyant orange hair bouncing up and down.
"Magnolia," she said, "Magnolia Caldwell and get ready cause here I come!"
"Don't worry dear we'll be waiting for you!" the escort said an excited smile upon her face, "Now onto the boys" again the crowd went silent as the Capitol attendant grabbed the slip and headed back to the microphone, "this year's male tribute representing District 2 in the 64th Annual Hunger Games is… Mik"
"I volunteer!" the usual deep male voice was heard and out came a boy tall in height, at least six feet. He had dark brown hair and eyes, muscular, broad shoulders, not good looking just fit, but unlike anyone else he wore cheap clothes some black cargo pants, a red T-shirt and some black boots that reached his ankles.
"So, dear" the escort said walking towards the male tribute, but keeping a safe distance from him, "What is your name?"
He reached the top of the stone steps and towered over the small escort, "Hey, my name is Cletus Redpath and you better be prepared or you wont last long out there" The crowd burst into applause admiring the tributes that stood before them.
"Ladies and gentleman District 2's tributes for this years Hunger Games!" the escort clapped and the crowd didn't stop cheering, it was an overwhelming moment, "shake hands!" Magnolia gave a hidden glare at his tribute companion as they shook hands and then they were taken into the Justice Building.
The waiting room in the Justice Building was small, yet comfortable. A plush red carpet could be found covering the wooden floor underneath, wooden ornaments all around decorated the room and small leather sofa absorbed the sadness that Magnolia was not trying to portray.
She knew her mother wouldn't show up. She didn't have the guts or the will in her right mind to say goodbye to her only daughter that was about to enter the Hunger Games. The anger in Magnolia began to well up, she clenched her fist as a slight warmth of hatred began to stir in her stomach, but suddenly the doors swung open and in came the lifeless shell of her mother. She was dragged by the peacekeepers into the room and was sat in the sofa across from her. Still. Motionless. Hollow.
The minutes seemed like hours and all that Magnolia could do was stare into the eyes of her mother and hope that somewhere in her mind she would snap back, but nothing happened. The peacekeepers barged in through the doors to escort Magnolia out of the Justice Building, but she swiftly moved across the room towards her mother and for the first time since forever hugged her like when she was a child and as the peacekeepers separated the bond between daughter and mother Magnolia felt a whisper float by her ear, "I love you" it said.
Magnolia's eyes opened wide and she let go astonished by her mother's reaction and as she was dragged out of the room she saw the last glimpse of her mother, a faint smile on her face.
The car ride to the train station was short, at least for Magnolia. Time had begun to fly by as thoughts began to race through her head, the sound of the voice of her mother was like a distant memory, she had completely forgotten it, but now it was all very clear. Magnolia had to come back, come back to see her mother, come back to hear her voice, come back for her. Magnolia got off the small compact size vehicle and boarded the train and as she sat staring into the distant horizon of District 2 she whispered back, "I love you too".
Ok guys. This week's chapter has been published I hoped you enjoyed it!
For all those readers and tribute submitters, I am going to begin asking questions about what you think on the tributes.
Last Chapter:
What did you about Hari Emeralds?
What would you like to know more about him?
This Chapter:
What did you think about Magnolia Caldwell?
Anything else you might want to know about her?
And finally the last thing i want to say is what did you think about this chapter and how can I improve on it. I've been trying to take your constructive criticism into practice and I hope you see it in this chapter. I will begin doing first person present at the start of the Hunger Games as if this was a flashback. What do you think about this? Anyway I'm going to stop writing Enjoy!