A/N: Apologies for the short chapter. I'm blocking a bit.
Atticus Finch, District 10
"Hon, do you want any more of this stew before I put it up?" calls the wife from the kitchen.
I'm a few meters away, on the old couch watching the television. "No," I call back. "But don't put it up just yet—it's almost time for Chara's interview!"
"Ah! All right!" I hear something clunk onto the counter—presumably an empty plastic food container—before my wife scurries into the living room. She takes a seat next to me on our couch. I throw an arm back around her as she settles in.
Halen Crask, the hyperactive interviewer, is dismissing the boy from 9, and the screen pans to watch the little boy take his seat. My daughter is in the seat next to him, and Halen calls her name.
We watch nervously as Chara stands and walks over to the interviewer. Her knees stay stable.
But she'll have to stay standing for the rest of the interview.
"Chara, is it?" Halen opens. My daughter nods. "Well, Chara, how's the Capitol been treating you?"
"Oh, quite well," Chara replies with a smile, not missing a beat. She's probably going for the charming angle, which I think she should be able to pull off easily. "The staff's been exquisite, and the meals are certainly something to be envied."
My daughter's speech tends to become a bit more... flowery when she's nervous. Although it might have annoyed some people back here, I doubt it will be disadvantageous now. If she sounds more intelligent—not that she isn't in the first place, of course—she could sway a few more sponsors to her side.
And I know she'll need that. With her knees—not to mention her Gamemaker score of 3—she'll have to prove she has a non-physical advantage.
I admit, it's not common for the most clever to win the Hunger Games—it's only happened once thus far, with the boy from 6, I believe—but we only have twelve other Games as a basis for that. As the arenas grow more and more elaborate, knowledge becomes more and more vital for survival.
That's not to say Chara still has a good chance. She doesn't. No one with her condition would. But that's no excuse to not hope. Life is unpredictable. Just because it hasn't happened to someone before doesn't mean it never will.
So I still hope.