Reapings

District Eleven

Lennon Pareski (12) D11M

"Genesis, we have to go to the fields!" I called out to my sister.

"No idiot. It's the Reaping day. We don't have work today," she replied in that exasperated tone of hers which she used when I annoyed her. I scowled. I did nothing to annoy her this time.

"There was no need to call me an idiot," I retorted.

"What should I call an idiot if not an idiot?"

"I'm not an idiot. You are, big sister."

She rolled her eyes at me and then I mimicked her. Then I jumped over to her and yanked her book out of her hands.

"Hey!" she protested.

"No studying on holiday!" I exclaimed. She shot forward for the book but I dodged her. She rearranged her features to look as if she had never been more annoyed and drew her arms across her chest.

"Well," she said, "Give it here Lennon. I have to study that chapter. There's a test in two days."

I pouted. "Oh come on!" I said, waving my hand in exaggeration, "It can't be that hard."

"..."

"Get it if it's that important," I said gleefully and then took off. Genesis made no attempt to follow me as I ran around the shabby room. She just glared her big-sister glare but I saw her mouth twitch.

"You are annoying," she said as if she had waited all her life to make this statement. I laughed. It always happened this way. The reason I annoyed her was to, well, annoy her. She always got that amazing expression on her face.

"Give me the book and go get ready," she said, and then a sadness fell on her face. My smile was gone too. It wasn't good. In all this fun, in the want of forgetting about my troubles, I had forgotten them. But what could I do?!

This year would be my first Reapings and in all honesty I was terrified. I wasn't ashamed to admit it. Both Genesis and I had taken tessarae and I didn't like the fact that my name was in there five times. I didn't know what to expect. What if I was chosen? There was a big possibility of that, which I certainly didn't like. I didn't want to die, I was too young. Because if I was Reaped, nobody could save me from certain death.

The book dropped from my hands and knelt down on the ground. Genesis put her arm round my shoulder and I leant back into her. She stroked my hair gently, and the touch made me feel better. As if things could be alright. As if I might not get Reaped.

"What if, what if I'm -"

"Stop there Lennon," she said as she pulled me closer to her chest, "You won't be Reaped. And in an unlikely event that you do, just annoy the life out of your enemies. You can do that pretty well."

I punched her on the arm with a grin. Usually I didn't like it when somebody said bad things about me but I knew that Genesis was only trying to make me comfortable. trying to ease my nerves, to lessen my fear. The very fact that she cared so much made me feel better.

"Now now, get ready champ," she said and helped me stand up. I grinned at her and then trudged to the attached room. It was small and dusty. The walls sometimes had a dampness when the rains approached but they were dry now.

There was not much I owned. I only had a pair of clothes that I could wear to a function or such. I slipped on a red shirt and black shorts. I ran my fingers through my curly black hair. There were a few knots in there but I sorted them out. I had medium brown skin and brown eyes. And I was tall. Very tall. For some reason I was growing very fast now, but only vertically. There seemed to be no lateral enlargement in my size.

Putting on the black slippers, I walked out of the house. The weather was pretty nice. I just hoped my day would be as good as the weather.

Winifred "Winnie" Chintz (17) D11F

"Go Winnie, beat him!"

Burton's cheers landed on my ears, energising me instantly. I grabbed the guy in front of me by the hip and twisted him around, even as he tried to kick me. His feet made contact with my lower abdomen, causing an instantaneous pain. I grunted but I wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing he caused me pain.

I tackled him to the ground and pressed my knee against his chest. However, soon I was the one on the ground and he was on top of me. I pushed him back and jumped up, swivelling in the air and kicked him on the jaw from an angle he hadn't expected. Then as he tried to get up I twisted my arms around his neck so that he was choking. Usually one would use one's hands to choke the other person , but thanks to Burton I knew that twisting one's arms around somebody's neck gave them a greater disadvantage. The guy banged his hand on the ground, admitting defeat. I released him.

"And the winner is Winifred Chintz!" The referee said with a mild amusement, mild exasperation. I smirked at him as Burton gave me a clap on the back.

The guy I had just beaten glared at me with such an intense loathing that it was almost funny. "I can't lose to a girl!" I raised my brows at him and before he knew he was on his back again, down in the dust.

"Admit it idiot. You lost to me."

"Exactly," Burton said sourly, "she won fair and square."

"And so she gets the money."

And with that the referee handed me the bucks. I pocketed it with a stiff nod and then walked past him, Burton following me.

"You did those moves pretty well. Nobody stands a chance in front of you."

"All because of you Burton," I said with a smile. It was true. Burton had been fighting on the streets for money since long. I was lucky to have such a good friend. We both lived on the streets because we were not rich enough to buy or even rent a house. Dad worked in a factory that sorted our district's produce. Mum used to work too but she had an accident when I was still young. Since then she couldn't walk. She got a job in a cheap apothecary and healed people if they brought herbs and medicines as payment. She had taught me a lot about healing and plant identification.

Burton had grown up in the streets and lived alone. However, we often kept each other company as we didn't have any specific place to go to. He earned money by fighting on the streets. One day I saw him fighting. I was honestly so impressed. Plus , I was tired of not providing for my family. So I convinced him to teach me how to fight. It took a lot of effort though because Burton didn't want to teach me anything. However it worked out in the end.

"Winnie," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure about this? I mean it's a dangerous thing to do and its- it's not like street fighting. You can... die."

He spoke the word so softly I thought I misheard him. I stopped in my tracks and turned towards him with a sigh.

"I have to, Burton," I said, "There's just no choice."

"There's always a choice, Winnie."

"Not in this case," I replied curtly.

Why was he worried? I knew I could hold my own in the arena. Yes, I was going to volunteer. Pretty stupid and risky, right? But when you grew up on the streets, never having enough to eat and feeling that life is a waste... you wouldn't wonder why I wanted to volunteer. I just wanted to give my parents a decent house. I wanted to be rich, I wanted to get my mum treated so that she could walk again. It was not a crime to want to help your parents. And your friend too, for how could I leave Burton? Sure, I wasn't as strong as the Careers. Not as trained either. But I had the determination and a strong reason to return. And even if I died, I would have the satisfaction of at least trying.

"How am I looking?"

"Pretty," Burton replied with a smile.

I was much paler than most other people in the district and I had reddish brown hair. The brown eyes were the only thing I had in common with the majority of the people here. No, not the only thing. I was extremely thin too, just like so many in the district. However, I was muscular and that was one good thing.

I didn't want to volunteer in my old clothes that were covered in dirt but I had nothing to change into. Burton would have looked absolutely weird if he would turn up at the reapings in what he was wearing but the lucky guy was, well, lucky. He was nineteen. He couldn't be Reaped.

Once in the Square, I waited in the queue for the mayor's speech to get over. It was long and boring and I didn't see the point if having it. But we waited and once it was over we applauded out of courtesy.

"So our female tribute for this year is: CHERRY ALINE FENCER!"

What a name! I saw Cherry Fencer moving towards the stage and then raised my hand.

"I volunteer as tribute!"

There were gasps of shock. People started shrinking away from me, not that it mattered to me. With calm and bold steps I mounted the stage. The escort wrinkled her nose at the sight of me. I simply smirked at her, challenging her with my eyes to say something. she cleared her throat and asked me my name.

"Winifred Chintz," I replied, "And I am going to be your victor this year."

The escort rolled her eyes slightly and then smiled her extremely fake smile before calling out the boy's name.

"LENNON PARESKI!"

I felt extremely sad when I saw that the boy was only twelve. I didn't want to hurt someone that young. He had clenched his fists and was trying to look strong for the cameras. However, his legs were shaking. His eyes were bleak and I saw a single tear trickle down his cheek. Lennon stumbled on the steps but didn't say anything. Quietly, he stood beside me.

The escort didn't like him much either. She just shrugged coldly.

"GIVE IT UP FOR YOUR TRIBUTES: WINIFRED CHINTZ AND LENNON PARESKI!"

Another mobile typed chapter! XD I am getting a hang of these, although my hands are aching too much. So, what do you think of these two tributes? Who stood out more to you? These were so different from each other, it was fun to write them. It has been enjoyable to write all the characters till now, of course. So please let me know your thoughts.

Have a great day!