A clearing bordered by four oak trees sat in the middle of the forest within District Eight. The heart of the small forest remained a relatively pristine biome; it hadn't yet been destroyed by Homo sapien interlopers; perhaps because the people of District Eight were too busy to explore or for some other reason. By whatever blessing, the forest's center teemed with life, from tiny hoppers or mites scooting beneath the grass to mockingjays and other songbirds chasing one another through the lofty canopy.
However, it wasn't completely devoid of human presence. If the meek truly inherit the Earth, then it could be said that this land was the inheritance of the Cyanite family. Auralee Cyanite lay in the warm grass with her younger sister Ava. Aura was twelve and Ava was five. They had six sisters and four brothers, but it was the two of them that loved this spot the most. The two of them loved being among nature. Ava laid with her head propped up on her elbows, watching chipmunks chase one another up a tree. Aura was picking flowers.
Aura couldn't help but thinking that Ava looked a bit like the chipmunks she was watching. She had long eyelashes and big brown eyes. Ava's blonde hair was in pigtails, and Aura knew it didn't quite make sense, but somehow those made her even more chipmunk like. She was just like Aura only smaller, well almost, Aura's hair was dark brown.
Aura turned back to the array of flowers in front of her. She gently plucked a pink one and put it in Ava's blonde hair.
"Oh, wow! It's beautiful." Ava squealed.
"It looks so pretty on you." Aura told her.
"It's such a beautiful morning!" Ava exclaimed. "How come you don't have to go to work again today, Aura?"
"The reaping is this afternoon." Aura told her. She'd been told before but it was a difficult concept for a five-year-old. "Actually, we'd better get back home. Come on, I'll explain it on the way."
Aura did the best to explain it to Ava as they treaded through the sun spackled forest floor. But to be honest, it was Aura's first reaping and she didn't really know what to expect.
Malik Broker awoke in his house with Anna sleeping soundly in the bed besides his. They weren't siblings, but they acted that way. Malik had saved her from some bullies several years ago (Malik beat them rather badly as he was five years their senior), and the two sparked a friendship. Anna didn't like living with her abusive uncle so she was at his house a lot. Their relationship, like a lot of things about their son nowadays, would have worried Malik's parents... He liked to imagine how their interactions would go, and he tried to guide his life by how he thought he could make them proud, at least for the most part. But it didn't really matter; they were gone.
Malik shook Anna awake. "Good morning." She smiled at him. He smiled back.
Malik began getting dressed. He wore all black. And his long black hair swept across his face. He was pale.
Anna rolled herself out of bed and began dressing as well. She had more color than Malik, although that wasn't saying much.
Aura stood at the reaping with her many friends: Calla, Birk, Laurel, Linden, and Adair. Adair, a boy, stood with them in the girls'section. He was confused. Not like that-it was just his first reaping. It was for all of them. They were all scared, but Adair's mistake made them all laugh.
"Adair! Seriously, this is the girls' section. You're going to get in trouble."
Adair squinted. "Yeah… But I've already been standing here for awhile and nobody else has noticed… if I push past people to get over to the boys section it's going to cause a fuss… Yeah I'm just going to stay here."
Auralee laughed at him.
"Hey! Don't laugh, rich girl!" He kidded her. Her family was very poor, but her friends jokingly called her rich girl because of where their house was. Her family needed a big house to support their thirteen children. The rent was exorbitant, and they had no choice but to pay it.
"Rich girl?" She stammered.
"Sh!" Birk let out in earnest. "Don't talk so loudly you guys I don't want to get in trouble!"
Nobody was confident enough to point out to her that you don't get reaped just for talking. However, you may get a peacekeeper's boot in your face. The rest of the reapings proceeded. First the escort called out Malik Broker. The friends saw the dark seventeen-year-old make his way to the front. He looked very tragic, but Aura got the feeling that was how he always looked. Her friends reassuringly congratulated Adair for not being reaped.
"Now all I have to do is not accidentally volunteer." He whispered.
"Auralee Cyanite!" The escort bellowed. All the heads in the vicinity turned to look at her. Aura didn't seem phased. She was mentally willing somebody to volunteer for her and she just knew they would. But there wasn't any noise. Nobody volunteered.
"Auralee Cyanite!" The escort called again. "Am I saying that right?"
Tears began to stream from her face and her friends, not knowing what else to do, nudged her forwards. The whole thing felt incredibly surreal as she moved past down the rows. She could see herself crying on the big screen behind the Capitol woman.
She took her place next to Malik. She didn't know what to say or do but she knew she had to do something. She felt into the pockets of her blue cotton dress, and produced one of the flowers she had picked earlier from the secret garden. She offered it out to Malik.
"Good work, vandal. Now some humming bird is going to starve to death." Was all he said without turning.
Auralee frowned and put the flower back in her pocket.
Only Anna came to say goodbye to Malik. She gave him a bracelet she made. They exchanged no words.
Auralee's room was the opposite. Her fourteen direct family members and all of her friends surrounded her. People spilled into the hallway. Aura morosely pointed out that no twelve-year-old had ever won. Nor had a thirteen-year-old. Her mother told her there is a first time for everything. Ava gave Aura back the special pink flower she had picked earlier to be her token. It seemed Ava did grasp what Aura told her about the reapings.
A/N: I was pretty hungover today.