Jackal West, District 5 Male
I sit on a wall outside my house. I watch the empty streets and listen to the wind whistling through the silence. It's so quiet because the reaping is today so no-one has work or school and everyone can sleep in. I hear a door open and close behind me and my younger sister Cloha comes and sits on the wall to join me.
"You nervous for today Jackal?" She asks, her big brown eyes looking up at me. You can tell were related. We both have brown eyes, unruly black hair, ghostly pale skin, and were both small and skinny.
"Not really, I doubt I'll get reaped" I say confidently.
Cloha is only ten so she couldn't get reaped and she has nothing to worry about, but even if I did get reaped I could easily win.
"I'm bored of talking, I'm going to get ready," I say, I leave Cloha sitting on the wall by herself.
I walk in my rather small house. My Mother is sitting by herself in our living room crying. She cries a lot now, ever since the rebellion.
My Father supported the rebellion but was killed in the fight. My Mother and Cloha didn't take sides and consequently they are my only family alive. I don't know how I feel about the rebellion; I hate the fact that it killed my Father and left my family poor and alone but I'm not sure whether I support it or am against it.
"It's ok Mum, there's no need to cry" I sit down next to her and hold her hand.
"Where's Kiro, is he still out in the war?" she looks at me with hope. Kiro is my Dads name; sometimes she gets a bit confused and thinks he's still alive.
"No Mum, remember; Dad died about a year ago" I hate having to say that. She looks at me with the same big brown eyes as Cloha and they start to fill up with tears.
"Oh...right..." She starts to breakdown crying and I sit with her for a bit until she calms down.
"I have to go get ready Mum; will you be ok for a bit?"
"Of course, go get ready Jackal" She waves her hand shooing me upstairs.
I go into my room and look in my clothes draw for some decent clothes. I find some smart black trousers, and a drab grey long sleeved shirt. I put on the only shoes I own which are some plain black trainers. I try to sort out my unruly hair and I straighten my black glasses so they rest nicely on my face.
I walk downstairs and find Cloha so we can leave. I hold my Mother's hand in one hand, and Cloha's in the other and we walk down the road towards the reaping.
Flair Rhodes, District 5 Female
I lay under my covers, not wanting to get out of bed. I can hear the footsteps and voices of the other seven people who live in the house. The bedroom I am in is so busy and packed full that I think if I get out of bed I might get trampled on. There are six of us that sleep in the room. My older sister Brynn who is nineteen, my cousins: Amy who is nineteen, Red who is seventeen, Kole who is also seventeen, Ember who is fifteen and me; I am also fifteen. We all live in the house with my Aunt Camilla and Uncle Brutus. The reason I live with them is because my sister and I are basically orphans. Our Mother died giving birth to me and my Father died in the rebellion. Luckily, my Aunt and Uncle took us in and have raised us as their own. Even though I am very grateful for their kindness, it isn't exactly the best life. I came in to an already full family and we barely have enough money for us all so Brynn and I have had to get jobs to support the family.
I decide to get out of bed and I am shocked to find that the room is empty now. Where's everyone gone? I jump out of bed and run downstairs. Everyone is sitting round our large dining table. I sit in an empty seat and decide to start some conversation.
"So, how is everyone this morning?"
"Not very good, I'm kind of nervous" Ember says, even though she is the same age as me she seems much younger. She tends to be very quiet and shy most of the time. The reason she is nervous is because the reaping is today to decide who goes into the first ever Hunger Games. Out of the six kids, four of us can be reaped today: Ember, Red, Kole and I. Red also seems quiet this morning, normally he is very talkative but he just sits not saying a word. Kole seems ok though, replying if someone talks to him and he seems ok to talk about the reaping so I decide to talk to him about it.
"What about you Kole, how are you feeling about the reaping?"
"I'm ok about it actually, I mean, the odds are pretty good because if you think about it it's probably about a thousand to one but on the other hand..." he carries on for about 5 minutes talking about the odds of being picked and not being picked. I can't really understand his intelligent mind so I zone out and act like I'm listening; nodding when I think it's appropriate. After that beginning awkward conversation we all seem to be talking like normal again. Normal as in very loud and non-stop. I decide after a while I should go get ready so I duck out of the room quickly before anyone notices and decides to take the bathroom before me.
I go into the bathroom and lock the door. I go into the shower start singing like I normally do. I love singing and its good practice in the shower as you're the only one who can hear you (well I hope no-one can hear me). I do like singing for people though, I will if they ask me too, I don't get nervous like others might.
"Hurry up Flair I need to use the bathroom!" Brynn shouts from the other side of the door. Damn this house only having one bathroom! I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around me. I rush past Brynn and into the bedroom. Luckily no-one else is in here so I can get ready in peace. I decide to wear a brown skirt which reaches my knees and a cream short sleeved shirt borrowed from Brynn with a fake rose in the corner. I put on some brown flip flops with it and a pearl necklace which is Embers. I brush my dark reddish-brown hair and decide to wear it down and wavy instead of in its usual French braid. I look in the mirror in our room. My light blue eyes stare back at me, there so light that there almost white. My porcelain white skin would look ghostly if I didn't have rose colour cheeks, which are dotted with little freckles. Brynn walks into the room looking a lot like me but older. I'm glad were alone, I'm at my happiest when we are.
"I forgot to ask how you were feeling about the reaping" she says tucking my hair behind my ear; which I move back.
"I'm not really sure to be honest" I say.
"You don't need to worry about it, you'll be fine."
She takes a hold of my hand and we walk downstairs to join the others. When all of us are there we walk out the door to the reaping.
Jackal West, District 5 Male
When I reach the reaping, I let go of my Mothers and Clohas hands and walk towards the other fourteen year olds. No-one seems to acknowledge me and the ones who do just ignore me. I'm used to it though, I don't really talk to any of my classmates and they don't really like me because you could say I'm quite outspoken.
Our escort walks onto the stage. He has red hair and tattoos covering all his body including his face. He walks over to the microphone and starts to talk about how he's glad to be here and other boring stuff. Then he shows us a video from the president like he's trying to waste our time even more!
"Get on with the reaping already," I mumble. A few of the boys give me looks but I don't really care.
I think we'll choose our male tribute first. He walks over to the big glass bowl containing the boys' names. I wonder what poor kids going to get chosen.
"Jackal West"
Oh it's me; oh well I could win these games with my eyes closed. I mean, look at me.
I just give a small shrug and walk up to the stage. I give the crowd a confident smile and I can see some of the boys I was standing near are laughing. They won't find it funny when I come back as victor.
The escort then picks the girls name.
"Flair Rhodes"
A slim, pale girl around average height walks up to the stage with a blank expression. She tries to give a small smile but I can see she is shaking. I couldn't be less interested, I might have to kill her anyway to come home as victor so I don't really care about her.
The weird looking escort of ours announces us as the districts tributes and then walks us off the stage. I'm not paying too much attention as I'm getting slightly bored.
I sit in the room I was given to say goodbye to my family in. My Mother walks in crying and Cloha is crying too. They both come over and wrap me in their arms.
"Why are you crying?" I say. "I'll be home as victor soon anyway." I just love that word. Victor.
They both look at me weirdly but don't say anymore. I say goodbye to them and they leave crying still. I am left to wait for my district partner to finish talking to her family and then I can leave for the capitol. I just want my victory to hurry up.
Flair Rhodes, District 5 Female
We all reach the reaping and Kole and Red go to the seventeen's section and Ember and I go into the fifteens section. I see all my friends and we start talking and laughing like normal. Our escort walks onto the stage. He has red hair which almost looks on fire and even though he has tattoos over his body and face he still looks somehow attractive. He tells us how happy he is to be here and then shows us a video from our president. Then he announces the males' name.
"Jackal West"
A weedy looking boy with glasses walks onto the stage and gives us some sort of smile which I think is supposed to be confident. He just seems to be overly cocky to me and I would hate to be his district partner. Spending days with him in the capitol. Euugghh. The escort then walks over to choose the females name.
"Flair Rhodes"
I look over at Ember in shock and she gives back the same expression. Why me? All I've ever been is nice to people. Try to see the positive side to the situation Flair, at least Ember wasn't picked? I can't help but find the negative though. 23 people are going to die in the games, and what if I'm in that 23.
I walk up to the stage and try to give a slight smile. I am shaking from head to toe. I didn't realise I was this nervous.
"Here are your tributes for District 5, Jackal West and Flair Rhodes!"
I am led off the stage, to where I must say goodbye to the ones I love.
"Flair!" Brynn runs in the room pulling me into a tight hug.
"You can't leave me; you're the only proper family I have left!" she argues. Tears start streaming down her face. "I can't say goodbye to someone else."
"Brynn, you're the best sister anyone could ask for and I love you so much but you need to stay strong for me. I'm going to try my hardest to come back." I say, and I try to mean it.
The rest of my family fall in and I say goodbye to each of them. I thank my Aunt and Uncle too for taking care of me all these years.
"I don't have a token!" I say. We're allowed to take one thing in with us into the arena to remind us of home or some sort of good luck charm.
"Here have this" Ember pulls up her long sleeves and takes off my lucky charm bracelet her and Brynn made me. "I thought I could use some extra luck" she says looking down guiltily. I can guess what she's thinking; maybe if I had worn it I wouldn't be here right now.
"Thanks, maybe it will bring me some extra luck" I smile at her hoping it makes her feel better. We all say goodbye and they leave, most of them crying.
I sit down on the floor and hug my knees. I don't like this type of alone.