AN: I am soooo sorry for being so long in updating, I had Finals at school and have been too busy to BREATHE, let alone write. Either way, only one person got the answer to my last question right. In a pound of gold, measured by a jeweler, there are 14 gold ounces in a pound of gold, most of you probably thought I asked a trick question, and you are right to keep a lookout for those, they will be here…. Anyways, here we are: the District 3 Reapings
LM ;)


District 3: Ari Michelle Faraday

"ARI! WAKE UP!" shouted her older sister, Lindsay. Ari groaned; it was Reaping day, one of the few days of the year she was actually allowed off of work and sleep in….. Leave it to Lindsay to have her wake up at…. NO WAY! It couldn't be 10AM already! Her sister pushed open the door and roughly shook her shoulder. "Get up, Ari, I thought you wanted to meet your friends before the Reaping today."

She really wasn't, she was going to meet the IPT, the Innovational Pupils for Tomorrow, was meeting today. The IPT was one of the few things in District 3 that gave Ari joy. It was comprised of only the 5 brightest young minds in all of District 3, but she avoided telling anyone that she was on it, just to avoid getting a big head, so instead told everyone that she met friends, or was in a school study group when she had to go to meetings. But her sister was wrong; they weren't meeting until tomorrow, when they could see if everyone was still safe.

"I'm getting up, thanks for waking me up, Lindsay" Ari said nicely. Her sister had gotten very angry when their father was murdered by the Capitol a few years ago and had taken out her anger on Ari, but Ari had simply killed her with kindness and Lindsay had gradually warmed up, if still a little bitter and negative. Ari climbed out of bed, brushing her long blonde hair behind her ears and strode to her closet to grab her Reaping outfit, giving her sister a big kiss on the cheek as she went…. Lindsay scowled, but didn't comment. Sighing, Ari pulled out her dulled silver dress with the gold belt, it made her looks stunning, the silver making her emerald eyes pop and the gold enhancing her honey blonde hair. To finish it off, she put on the silver and sapphire pendant that her father had given her for her 13th birthday. She loved it dearly as it reminded her of her father… secretly she missed him, he was killed for his rebellious ideas and because it was rumored that he had been trying to start another Uprising against the Capitol… the stupid, unwashed Capitol with its candy shop colors and strange people. Strange people like District 3's escort, Tanya Masilin. She never looked the same two years in a row, one year, she's had neon grin eyes and bright red hair, some of Ari's friends had joked about how that was her holiday year. Another year she had a live bird tied to the top of her head… that had cause quite the laugh when it got fed up with her and proceeded to attack Tanya, pecking at her face and neck, making Tanya nearly fall off the makeshift stage and into the crowd below. Idly, Ari wondered what ridiculous getup she would have on this year as Ari went to brush her hair and teeth.

In the hall she nearly ran into her mother, Wendy. Wendy was kind and loved both Ari and Lindsay dearly, but often had to work long hours at the office for only a mediocre pay. Wendy pulled her into a hug and then held her at arm's length to examine her.

"You look lovely, dear, much better than any girl from the Capital," said her mother in her musical voice. It was a standing joke between them: Lindsay had nearly gotten Reaped the year that their father died, but another girl who was practically suicidal took her place… and never came back. They all fully knew that the Capital had set it up; they were just waiting for the year Ari's name was called. Ari dreaded the possibility, but knew her training with the IPT would help her.


The next few hours passed uneventfully except for watching the update on the Reapings in the other two districts, two of the Career districts. The group looked like Careers and again Ari prayed that this wouldn't be the year her name was called, she prayed that it wouldn't happen at all, that her name would remain in the bowl and out of the Capitol's records of the Game's casualties. Too soon Ari found herself walking with her mother and sister to the Square, too soon Ari found herself walking to the 16's section to meet her best friends and wait for the Reaping to start.

She found her friends Ferrah, Lorainne and Clarice standing in a clump and hugged them. Lorainne ruffled her hair, "Hey, Happy Hunger Games!" Ari simply rolled her eyes and smiled, but inside she was terrified as Tanya click across the stage in a pair of high heels… with goldfish in them… Boy, she had really outdone herself on the stupid meter…

"Hello District 3! Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!" she said in her stupid Capitol accent. It always sounded so affected to Ari, she was just waiting for one of them to slip up and start talking like normal human being. Tanya teetered over to the glass ball filled with the girls' names and smoothly drew a piece of paper out. Ari held her breath as Tanya cleared her throat and called, "Lucille Boyle" and a girl back in the 13's started screaming…. Lucille was crazy; her brain had suffered massive damage when she got into an electrical accident a year before. Ari couldn't let her be taken and so, before anyone could stop her, she pushed her way to the front of the group. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" she cried. She pushed herself past the still screaming Lucille and ascended the stage, feeling as if each step was a step up to the gallows.

"Oh, wonderful! See, that's the spirit of the Games, right here!" said Tanya happily. "What's your name?"

Ari swallowed and said clearly "Ari Michelle Faraday."

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Now for the boys!" Tanya flounced over to the other bowl and stuck her arm in, seeming t be reaching for the bottommost slip of paper. Again, she smoothed it out and cleared her throat, "Keenan Masonsen!"

A scrawny dusky skinned boy walked, terrified up to the stage, but unlike for Lucille, nobody stepped forward, nobody was willing to die for him. Even when Tanya called for volunteers, all that they were met with was the whistling of the wind through the Square. The poor boy looked as if he was going to cry or run or be sick or maybe all three as the Mayor read the Treaty of Treason and he and Ari were forced to shake hands. She tried to squeeze his hand reassuringly, but if anything he just looked even more afraid.


After a tearful goodbye to her mother and her friends, Ari found herself being led to the train station with Keenan… dreading having to leave

New Question: Topic: Electronics

Who invented the computer mouse?

Easy, right? PM me! DO NOT REVIEW WITH IT OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!