Thaddeus Hatwidge found himself being shaken awake by his younger siblings. He groaned and attempted to roll away from them. He needed his sleep. It as the one day a year when he allowed himself to sleep in, and here his brothers and sister were, annoying the living daylight out of him –at the moment anyways.
"C'mon Thad! You promised!" His little eleven year old sister pouted, her fragile frame propping down on the other side of the bed to prevent him from rolling away from them.
"Maple was really looking forward to this, Thad! Please get up!" Maple's twin brother, Jackson spoke up.
Thad opened one eye, and focused on Graham's face.
"I really have to get up, don't I?" He asked.
"A promise is a promise, isn't it?" Graham smiled.
"Okay, okay…I'll meet you guys outside" Thad grinned lazily and started to get up as his siblings shot out of the room, leaving him to get dressed.
He sighed as he slipped on a pair of jeans and red plaid shirt, making sure to lace up his hiking boots tight. The worst feeling in the world was feeling your skin chafe up against leather and forming blisters. He knew Maple, Graham, and Jackson were really excited for today. A couple weeks ago he'd promise them that he'd take them hiking in the woods of District 7. It was the one day a year he was positive there'd be no danger –lumber companies had the day off because it was the Reaping. It was the only time a year he'd willingly take them out there. He'd wandered off on his own every now and then since he turned ten. His father had given him an axe for that birthday, a bitter reminder that he would too work in a lumber company as he turned of age. He'd been angrily aiming at trees ever since. It was the one way he could work off steam – he wasn't one to let it out on his family or friends.
Thaddeus put on his grandfather's old black hunting cap, and on the way out the door, made sure to grab his old axe from the shed in the yard – just in case.
Maple was sitting outside their small home, sitting atop a large rock, feet folded under her.
"The ax? Do you really need to take it?" She asked, brown eyes apprehensive.
"Just in case, right?" Graham pitched in, at that second looking a lot older than his fourteen years. Jackson smiled carefully, and helped Maple get down from the rock, keeping his hand in hers as they started to walk.
Thaddeus snuck a glance at the pair of twins, inwardly smiling. You never would've known they were twins. Jackson's hair was a lot darker than Maple's mouse brown locks, and his blue eyes made a remarkable comparison to his sister's honey brown ones. Maple jokes around that she looks a lot more like Graham than she does Jackson.
All Thaddeus knows is that he loves them all the way they are, even if they do wake him up in the mornings.
"Veronica, wake up, we have to hurry" Robin Santiago whispered to her thirteen year old sister, frantically packing up a small bag of clothes that would get them through the next couple of days.
Veronica stirred in her sleep, but because she was a deep sleeper, Robin's worried whispers did nothing to wake her.
Robin paced around their small room they shared with their mother, who at the moment was passed out in the living room.
It was time for them to leave.
"Veronica!" She hissed, and to her relief, her sister awoke with a start. Robin tossed her some clothes and shoes.
"Put them on, and hurry!" Robin zipped the small bag closed, opening the bedroom door a bit and peeking at their drunk mother.
Veronica, still a bit groggy, quickly slipped on the jeans and sweater that Robin had tossed her.
"Why are we leaving today? It's the Reaping, she's bound to realize we're gone" Veronica asked, her legs a little wobbly from the cuts her mother had inflicted a couple days prior.
"Because if we don't leave now, we may never have the guts to do it in the first place. Look what she did to you, Vero!" Robin shook her head, remembering .
"Mom! Please it was MY FAULT!" She screamed, trying to pry her mother away from Veronica, who was writhing on the floor as her mother kicked at her, her frail body wrapping itself into a fetal position.
"MOM! PLEASE! STOP!" Robin shouted as her mother threw her off of her. She wiped the tears on her face, her hands going instinctively to her ear; wanting to block out the sounds of despair her little sister was emitting. She walked to their kitchen, stepping over broken bottles and reached into a drawer and drew out a knife. Sniffing, she hurried back to where her drunken mother was beating her sister mercilessly.
"Mom… Hit me" She commanded, closing her eyes in frustration as she ignores her, picking up Veronica up off the floor and banging her up against the wall.
"Mom! I'll kill myself! I will" Robin held the knife in the air, blue eyes red with crying and blonde hair a mess.
That was when her mother sneered at her, and with her drunken stupor took the knife away from her…
Robin wanted to forget the rest. Her sister's screaming had been forever etched into her brain. If they didn't leave now, she'd kill her. Robin knew she would, and if she did, she'd never stop blaming herself. Her mother had never laid a hand on her.
"You have the money-making face" she'd say, usually during the calm hours as she nursed a hangover.
She had to get her sister out of there, even if it was the last thing she'd ever do.
She'd give her life for Veronica…in a heartbeat.
"Here we are" Thaddeus announced, walking into a calm meadow. The wildflowers were in full bloom, hues of yellows, pinks, purples, and oranges overwhelming the little clearing. It was a very special spot in the woods of District 7. Right here in the middle of this little paradise, his dad had proposed marriage to his mom, twenty two years before….
Now seventeen years later, he was taking his siblings to the same spot his father showed him on his tenth birthday after gifting him with an ax.
"This is where you'll propose to that special girl too. It's where your grandfather proposed, and your great-grandfather, and so on… It's a family tradition." His father had told him.
At the time, Thaddeus was a bit disturbed. He was, after all, only ten and his father was talking to him about marriage… Eww
But now, he thought of it differently. There definitely was a girl he had in mind.
Leona Gordenburg – his best friend.
Well, best friend for the moment anyways… He knew she loved him too. They'd told each other already, they just wanted to wait until they both passed reaping age and passed school.
You'd be surprised, but the possibility of being sent into the games to die was really a turn-off in romance.
"Wow! It's so beautiful" Maple cooed, her big brown eyes open wide, her mouth agape as she took in the amounts of flowers.
"Really?" Thaddeus asked, his eyes holding a playful glint " Because I see something way prettier somewhere over" He turned to his little sister "here." He picked her up casually and started to tickle her.
"Thad stop! I'm not a little girl anymore!" She giggled, and Thaddeus let her down.
"I know, but you're growing up too fast" He ruffled her hair fondly.
"We are the same age, you know?" Jackson stood to the side, arms crossed.
"Oh are you jealous? " Thaddeus picked up his brother, and tossed him over one shoulder.
"Thad! PUT ME DOWN!" He yelled, laughter evident in his voice.
"Granted" He replied, tossing him softly into the field of wildflowers; Jackson yelped as he hit the cloudlike cluster of violets and pansies.
"So this is where you've been going all these years… I always wondered" Graham sat down near a tall gathering of sunflowers, eyes trained on the sky.
Maple ran into the middle of the meadow and spun around, arms out and head tilted up to the heavens.
Thaddeus smiled at his little sister, and busied himself twisting a few of the dandelions and a couple of little purple flowers into a little crown.
"Hey Maple, come over here!" He called to her, hiding his surprise behind him as she galloped happily over to him.
He presented the crown to her and she gasped contentedly, looking up lovingly at her big brother as he placed it on her head.
"It fits!" She exclaimed, giggling happily.
"Of course it does, Maple" Jackson strutted over to his twin sister, followed by Graham who held a bunch of flowers in his hand.
"You're our little queen, Maple." He gave the makeshift bouquet to her, laughing as her face beamed.
"You always have been" Thaddeus kissed the top of her head, wanting her to stay eleven years old forever.
"Thanks for letting us stay here for today" Robin said to her friend Lydia. They were sitting at her kitchen table, the three girls graciously splitting a loaf of bread.
"It's no problem. You guys should have gotten out of there a long time ago." She passed them a bit of butter, brown eyes smiling kindly at them.
Veronica kept her gaze down as her sister and Lydia talked, feeling a bit ashamed at the trouble her sister was going to by keeping her safe.
"So what are your plans?" Lydia asked, resting her crossed arms on the table.
"First, we just have to lay low during this reaping. It's likely that we'll be called of course but-" Robin pursed her lips.
"No you won't be called." Lydia soothed.
"My name is in there twelve times, and Veronica's is in there six times." Robin stated.
"And there are families who have kids whose name is in there more than thirty times" Lydia countered her.
"Whatever" She waved her hands around "Anyways, we'll lay low during the Reaping, and when that is done, we'll sneak over here and hide out for the rest of the day. Then tomorrow I'm going over to the justice hall and request a district move."
"Those are really rare… Do you think they'll approve it?" Lydia looked a bit apprehensive, and Robin understood completely.
It was a long shot. Unless the mayor found enough compassion in his heart to let them switch districts, they would have to hide out from their mother here in District 7, which was almost impossible to do.
"I hope so…I'm going to request to move to District 5. I think we'll be able to make it there"
Lydia rubbed her friend's arm. Even with their large age difference of six years, Lydia was the only person that Robin trusted. She lived on her own since her parents passed away last spring because of a malaria outbreak, and though she had a couple of guys after her, she wasn't ready to settle down. Coming from a baker's family meant that she needed a man who would be able to uphold the business with her, and though she had received many requests, none had the capacity to run a bakery.
"I hope everything works out for you two" Lydia smiled.
"I do too, Lydia… I do too" Robin twisted tendrils of her blonde hair on her finger, deep in thought.
At that moment, Veronica burst into tears, chest heaving with long-contained sobs.
"It's my fault!" She cried into Robin's chest as she brought her in.
"No…No sweetie, its not your fault." She soothed, running her fingers through her little sister's hair.
"Yes it is! If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be running away"
"Listen to me Vero" She tilted her chin to face her "It is not your fault. It's moms and whoever screwed her up-Not yours, not mine… Don't you ever think otherwise"
It was almost noon by the time they made it back. Their parents had already gone off to the Reaping, and they left Thaddeus in charge of getting everyone ready on time.
But they only had about fifteen minutes.
"Everyone hustle! Forget showering! We smell like nice flowers anyways. Just go on and get dressed before mom and dad kill me for bringing you guys late to the town square!" He commanded, his siblings each running into the bedroom they all shared to get dressed.
Thaddeus grabbed a nice looking pair of brown khaki pants and his nicest green plaid shirt with touches of white and brown.
Good enough, he thought to himself as he slipped his clothes on in his parent's bedroom. Maple was changing in the bathroom and his brothers had the bedroom.
Looking into the old mirror, he combed his dirty blonde hair, hoping it would dress him up a bit. His blue eyes focused on his reflection, and he shrugged.
Putting on his cleanest boots, he called to his brothers and sister.
It was time to go.
Maple came out in a pretty white dress, and both Jackson and Graham wore something similar to Thaddeus's outfit-just in different colors.
Brothers think alike, he chuckled to himself as he held the door open for everyone to exit.
Robin rummaged through the small bag of clothes she brought. She couldn't find her dress.
Where did I put it? Did I even pack it?
She sincerely hoped she did. Otherwise she'd have nothing to wear for the Reaping, and she definitely would not be "under the radar" if she was wearing her everyday clothes. She groaned in frustration as she realized just that. With the frantic hurry of the morning, the only thing she remembered to pack were her old black flats.
Great…
Lydia knocked on the door, and Robin shouted for her to come in.
"You're not dressed yet?" Lydia asked, already donning a baby blue sundress, her brown hair up in a bun.
"You're going to laugh, but I forgot my dress" Robin sat on the bed in resignation.
"That's ok" Lydia smiled, and walked over to the small closet at the far edge of the room. "Here, try this" She tossed a white garment into Robin's lap.
"You are a life-saver, truly Lydia… I don't know how I could do this without you" Robin fingered the soft worn fabric, looking up at her and smiling graciously.
Lydia left her to dress and Robin slipped on the white one-shouldered sundress with hand-stitched pink flowers. It had a nice black strap over her right shoulder that complimented her shoes nicely.
"Vero! Are you ready?" She called, brushing down her long blonde hair somewhat nicely.
"Yeah" She walked in, her little grey button down dress with the lace overlay looking pretty on her.
"You look nice" They said at the same time, giggling.
"Let's go" Robin grabbed Veronica's hand and together they made their way to the town square.
Cresta Dionatella trudged up on stage, her shoulder-lenght white hair frizzy and silver mascara smudged.
Oh Panem, I had a wild night last night…
She tried to smile at the audience, but by the audience's lack of enthusiasm, obviously she wasn't doing a good job.
Yeah, that had to be it.
She fell asleep as the video played, and jolted awake when the final fanfare sounded.
"Boys" She yawned, taking the topmost slip in the jar on her left.
"Thaddeus Hartwidge" she read in a monotone voice.
A young handsome guy walked up on stage, his muddy boots making a trail to the microphone. Had she not been hung-over she might've cared.
"My name is Thaddeus Hartwidge and I am seventeen years old." He looked a bit worried, but other than that he looked like he would get far in the games.
Nice and muscular…
"Girls now…" She stifled another yawn as she reached and fished around in the bowl on her right.
"Robin Santiago… Make your way up on stage"
A young blonde made her way through the crowds, eyes holding a fear so intense that Cresta wondered why she was so scared.
She was only going into the hunger games, for Panem's sake…
"My name is Robin Santiago, and I'm 16 years old." She stuttered into the microphone, blue eyes scanning the crowd.
Commotion was hear somewhere, but Cresta just took the tributes and led them away swiftly.
The sooner she got them on the train, the sooner she could get some sleep.
Here it is, a bit belated but here nontheless. :)
.xoxo
ps- leave a review on your way out ;)