Reaping District 8
Tyler Jackson (D8) 15 POV:
I wake up to the same room with the same gray ceiling as I do every morning. I turn to the side and admire the other 12 beds that have other sleeping boys in them. That's how life was like in the orphanage. You all sleep in the same room. I've been here since I was 4, longer than any other kids besides my little sister. My mother died giving birth to her and soon after my father committed suicide due to depression after losing her. I guess he didn't care about the two kids that he would leave behind.
We've been here for so long because everyone who comes in here looking for a kid is looking for just that, A kid, singular. My sister and I come in a package if they want one of us they get both of us. So we've been here longer than any other kid. It makes it kinda hard to make friends. You get to know someone and then they get adopted. Sure they promise to keep in touch but they never do. They're probably having to much fun with their new family to remember the orphan kids. By the time I was 10 I stopped trying.
Even the caretakers are sick of us. They're used to kids coming in and going out rather regularly so when they realized that we were hear to stay we started getting treated like the smudge on the glass that they just cant get rid of. Believe it or not it's now common practice to beat us when they need to vent their frustrations about the other kids. They cant bruise the good merchandise so you beat up the bad fruit that's been there awhile. I get it but I don't like it.
Then there's Rachael, my little sister. She is 11 now but she is way too mature for 11. She's had a hard life growing up with no parents. I mean at least I had them for 4 years. Even if I can't remember them that doesn't change the fact that I had someone to help me learn how to walk and talk and function. With my sister that was in the job of the caretakers. They are really bitter to her about it. They feel as if they wasted their time training her to function like a normal member of society when no one would take her. They wasted their time? Can you believe it. Either way I love her and I'm all she has. She all I have too.
The games are something I always look forward to. Not for the same reason as those capitol freaks. Only because it makes the caretakers focus on the games so they are too busy to beat me and Rachael. So it's the day of the reaping and I'm in high spirits. No beatings for a few weeks after today. It's the closest thing to a holiday for me. So in a perky mood me and Rachael walk down to the reaping grounds for the ceremony. She is separated from me when I have to go to the 15 year old section and she has to go with the general crowd. The escort comes forward and draws the female name out of the bowl. There is the girl that granted me my freedom for the next few weeks. Heh she's kinda cute. I hope she makes it far so I can look at her a bit more.
Then the escort comes to the gentleman's bowl. Out pops the paper of the poor sucker who's probably gonna die. Tyler Jackson the poor sap. Then I look over at my sister like I do every year to give her a sly smile knowing that we will be free for a few weeks. When I find her with my eyes I can't give her a sly smile because she's in tears. Why is she crying? It's just some idiot named Tyler Jackson. Oh wait. I'm just some idiot named Tyler Jackson. I'm the poor sap that's probably gonna die. Oh no what am I gonna do?
Storm Moon (D8) 15 POV:
Sap Green or Pine Green? Which would work better, ugh I can never decide.
"Jack! Come here!" I shout for my brother Jack. He walked in through the doorway. He's dripping wet with a towel around his waist, his hair white with shampoo.
"What! What is it?" He asked angrily.
"I'm painting this painting and I'm not sure if I should use sap green or pine green. What do you think."
"Moon look at me. I'm soaking wet and shampoo is running into my eyes. How is this a good time to ask me about different shades of green!?"
"Ugh, your no help go back to your shower. DENIM! Get in here!" Jack makes a grudge and goes back to the bathroom. Denim is the same age as Jack and also Jack's best friend. He took us in last year after we couldn't afford to live on our own anymore. He walked into the room wearing his best clothes for the reaping.
"What's up squirt?" He asked me.
"Pine green or sap green, I can't chose." I asked him desperate for an answer to my life-depending question. He looked at the two colors for a few seconds before responding.
"Aren't they the same thing." Dumbass.
"They are obviously different! Pine is 2 shades lighter than Sap on the shades of green chart."
"How many different shades of green are there?"
"74, so 2 is a big deal!" He just laughed at me and left the room. If you can't tell I'm very anal about my painting. Its basically my entire life. Me and my brother are both very artsy people but in very different ways. I am the painter and he is the singer. We lived with our parents. Our mother was a concert pianist but she died of a very bad case of the flu several years ago. We weer all very devastated. Our father a bit too devastated. He swore off the arts since he couldn't celebrate them with our mother any more. He expected us to do the same but we refused. He locked us in our rooms for hours and sometimes even days to try and force the arts out of us. One day we got fed up with it so we left and never looked back.
We got a small place for ourselves and we became street performers, my brother would sing a song about the passersby and I would paint a quick sketch based on the song. We would always draw a crowd and then I would sell the painting to the highest bidder. We actually made quite a lot of money but we knew it wouldn't last. We lasted for about a year before we finally ran out of ideas for our little show and we had to ask Denim for help. Denim and his family are the nicest people in the entire world according to me. They gave us a home and a new family when we had no where else to go. Jack and I owe our lives to these people and I swear one day I will pay them back.
I decided I would finish my painting after the reaping because it was getting rather late and I needed to get off my painting clothes and start getting ready. I quickly got my good clothes on and went to the reaping grounds with Denim and his family. I went to the 15 year old girls and hung around with some friends from school. We were giggling over some stupid joke I can't remember when the "festivities" started. The escort made their speech and went off to the female bowl. I then heard something I thought I would never hear. My name. I heard my name come out of the escorts mouth. In shock I looked around at all of my friends who had left me and were staring at me as if I were dying from some sad disease like my mother. I walked up to the stage and was just staring at my brother who was looking at me in disbelief.
I was then taken into the Justice Building where I was visited by everyone of Denim's family and my brother. The most interesting part was when Denim himself came in.
"I can't believe this is happening squirt. You haven't finished your painting yet." Funny how that's what he was concerned about this entire time.
"It's okay." I said. "When I come back, I'll finish in in our fancy new house in the Victors' Village."
"Yeah, that's what you'll do." The room got kinda uncomfortable. He came forward for what I thought was a goodbye hug but before I knew it he kissed me. He kissed me and then he stormed out the door. WHO DOES THAT? I've never even thought about Denim that way, or anyone that way for that matter. That's just not the kinda thing I concern myself with. Oh god if the whole hunger games thing wasn't enough now I gotta focus on this too. Why me?
Well there you have it District 8. Thanks to mockingjay098 for Tyler Jackson and to thgultimatefan19 for Storm Moon. I'm pretty proud of myself. I went from 25% done after 2 months to 66% done in 2 days. Can I get a woot woot... no... well... whatever. I'm gonna try to finish the last 4 districts tomorrow because I really want out of this reaping business. It's a lot more annoying for me to have to write 24 of these than for you to have to read 24 of them. But I digress I wanted to do this thing and its gonna get done. Remember to leave reviews because they make me smile. Also please remember that I would like interview questions either in the reviews or in a pm with the subject interview question(s). I think that's the trivial things I wanted to annoy you with today so until next time,
Peace Out For Now, Conman418
