District 6 Reapings
Kin Lan 17
My name is Kin Lan which means Golden flower. My parents named me that. Why? I don't know and I'll probably never know because they have most likely been dead for a long time. So what has this got to do with anything? I have no idea.
I get out of my bed in the orphanage and put my long black hair in a bun. I'm going to go on my morning run.
Schools off today because of the Reapings which annoys me because school work is one of the only things I enjoy.
I walk down stairs and sit on my own as usual to eat my breakfast. I get the usual stares from people, probably wondering why I'm such a loner but I don't care. I don't need or want any friends. The only time I talk to people is to help them with their school work.
I quickly leave the orphanage and start my morning jog. As I'm jogging I easily overtake a couple of guys, they look shocked as I speed past them. Leaving them in the dirt.
My curiosity drives me to explore different parts of District 6. As I'm running, trains zoom over me, people from District 6 always love their transport but I always preferred the most basic way of transportation: running. If I could choose a District to be born in, it would probably be District 12 since I heard they have loads of forests, although I also heard they are one of the poorest Districts.
As I am lost in my thoughts I find myself wondering in the back alleys, I change direction to get back onto the main road when suddenly I see a small person wearing a black trench coat and baggy jeans. He is also wearing a hood so it is hard to see his face. He appears to be searching around in the bins to try to find something to eat.
He notices me and looks at me, I see under his hood he has two big eyes. When he stares, he doesn't blink which kind of creeps me out. I just stare at him not knowing what to do. When he removes his hood I suddenly remember him. His name is Tripp I think, he used to be at our orphanage until a few years ago when he snuck off and never came back. I get a closer look at him and notice he has dark circles under his eyes suggesting he rarely gets any sleep and also his hair is shaved at the sides although the rest flops over his forehead further covering his face. After a while of staring I figure I'm being kind of rude and also I need to get to the reapings so I leave the back alleys and begin running down the main road again.
I now slowly jog to the reapings, not really too excited for what is about to come after all 17 and 18 year olds normally have the highest chance of being reaped.
When I arrive at the reapings I go straight to my age group and don't talk to anyone, as I do every year. I just want this to be over as soon as possible.
"Ladies first" the escort says and goes to choose the girl
He opens the piece of paper and clears his throat before reading out the name
"Kin…" He stumbles with the name
"Kin Lan" he announces
I look around me, not really believing it to be me. I pause for a second before attempting to take off. I try to sprint down the middle of the crowd but I'm quickly grabbed by two peacekeepers and dragged to the front as I thrash around. My thoughts have changed from what I'm going to do for the rest of the week to how I'm going to survive the rest of the week…
Tripp Castellan 14
"Go find me a new paint brush boy, this one is old and useless" Moss orders
Moss is the painter that I help, I guess you could say I'm his assistant. Occasionally he lets me do some paintings of my own which I appreciate. I have a natural talent for it, one of the only things I'm good at.
I start wondering around the back alleys of District 6, I have come to know these streets so well now that they are my home ever since I ran away from the orphanage all those years ago. Now I scrape by on what I can find and Moss feeds me, as long as I help him and do a good job with his paintings.
The sun beams down today so I put my hood up to protect my face from the sun. I hate the sun and any light, I wish it could just be night time all the time…
I turn around into a small corner and see a couple of bins. Hmmm…. could I get away with getting the brush from the bins? It can't be that bad right? I mean other than the smell…it should work fine.
I lift up the bin lid and begin searching through it. I'm used to the smell so it doesn't bother me too much. As I rummage through I toss pieces of junk and old food behind me.
Just then I see that I am being watched by an older Asian girl. She is looking through the alley. I stare back at her and remove my hood, hoping I can scare her away with my unusually big eyes. It appears to work and she continues her morning jog.
That's right…jog away I laugh to myself. She seemed familiar but I can't quite think where from. Probably from the orphanage…
I begin to scamper my way back to Moss, I move across some small rooftops which I find to be a quicker way to get around sometimes.
When I return to Moss he is still working on the same painting.
"So did you find a paint bru…WAIT what is that smell!" He exclaims
He holds his nose in disgust when I get closer to him
"Oh that might…be me" I mumble
"So did you get it?" he questions
"What?" I ask
"The paintbrush!" He exclaims sounding kind of impatient.
It then dawned on me that I had completely forgot about the paint brush after I met that girl
"Oh…I kind of forgot…"
"Well what were you doing…right that's it…no supper for you tonight" he barks
"Why? Because it's The Hunger Games?" I ask
"No I just told you why…because you forgot the paintbrush…" he says
"Well why can't you get your own damn paintbrush!" I yell
"Hey! Watch your mouth!" he shouts
"Fuck you" I murmur
"What!?"
"I said fuck you Moss" I repeat more confidently
"Ok your fired…get your things and leave" He commands
"Fine…I don't even need you anymore!" I shout
I put all my things in a rucksack and start walking away
"Goodbye!" I yell back at him
Well great now I'm on my own…I have no job anymore…no family…no friends. This day couldn't possible get any worse could it? Wait a minute! It's the reapings today! I had forgot because I was distracted by everything that had just happened. There was one year where I was actually able to avoid the reapings, I'm not sure how but I guess I'm just really good at not being seen. I think that was 2 years ago.
I sulk slowly to the reapings now, the occasional bigger kid shoving and pushing me. I am shoved into the 14 year old section. Now I just need to wait for the unlucky boy and girl to be chosen. I feel my anxiety build up as I'm surrounded by the huge crowd of people. I hate crowds!
First the girl is reaped. That isn't really a tradition, it seems to alternate each year.
The escort then announces the girls name
"Kin Lan"
I see an Asian girl from the 17 year old section get dragged to the front. She tried to make a break for it, I find it pretty cool that she tried to escape…she had a free spirit like me! It takes me a while to realise that it's the same girl that I saw earlier while I was searching through the bins!
Next the escort moves towards the boys bowl. I wouldn't be that sad if I'm chosen although I do want to become a painter one day…
"Tripp Castellan" He announces
Oh…so I just got chosen. Now I think about it I would rather go out on my own terms...not be killed for some rich people's entertainment. He did just say my name though…
I slowly walk to the front, avoiding all eye contact with anyone. No one has any reaction to me being chosen because I have no family or friends except Moss who is probably thinking it serves me right or something. I join Kin and still avoid eye contact with everyone. I guess its destiny that we die together although she's probably not thinking that…
I hope you like Kin and Tripp. Thanks to IciclePower33 and Candlefire45 for the submissions. We are now half way though the reapings already! This is a bit random but I was thinking of setting up a sponsor system. I'm not really sure how it works though so I'll get back to you on it.