District 10 Reapings

(Kendall Owens and Butch Gallows)

Kendall Owens (12) - D10

The sun bursts brilliantly through the window. It lights up the whole room, waking me up from sleep. I sit up quickly and climb out of bed. The air is warm and dry, but it's a beautiful day. It's also my first reaping today, but it's ok. I know that I won't get picked.

I walk out into the living room where my parents and grandparents all sit in their respective chairs. Grandmother's chair is a soft, cushioned chair with a floral fabric all around it, Grandpa's chair is a rocking chair, sanded down till it is soft as a calf's nose. My parents sat on two wooden chairs from the kitchen table.

"Good morning hija." Mama pulls me into her arms and kisses my cheek. "Today is the reaping, sí?"

"Yes Mama," I say and hug her around her neck.

I quickly run and kiss papa's grizzled cheek. He smiles lightly. His breath smells like alcohol, but it's a familiar smell. I hug Grandfather, who snorts with irritation, but his smile is obvious. I run to Grandmother and kiss her cheeks and she grabs my hands.

"Sweetheart," she says in her shaky voice. "Don't be nervous, ok?"

"Ok," I chirp. "I'm not nervous."

Grandma smiles and folds something into my palm. "It's my necklace." She says, looking at my face as I hold it up in the sun. "A gift for your first reaping."

"Thanks, Grandmother!" I bounce on the balls of my feet. "It's swell!"

She laughs, which turns into coughing.

"Mi mariposa?" Mama calls and I turn around and run to her.

She turns me around and fastens the necklace around my neck. "Go and get el Bebe, por favor?"

"Sí, Mama." I skip back to our room, where my siblings are waking up. Aries is coming out of the bathroom, looking tired. Bee is still asleep, like the lazy pig she is, and Robin is stirring next to her. Colin is standing in his crib, holding out his arms to me. I lift him out of his bed and send him off to see Mama.

I shake Bee and Robin. "Wake up, lazybones!" I call and skip out of the room before Bee can protest. Mama has started making breakfast. My stomach is growling like the farm dogs when they see the barn cats roaming around.

Our family sits down and eats breakfast. Meals are always a messy and loud affair for us. I finish quickly and run to the bathroom to get ready. I put on a white dress and a flower crown over my two pigtails. My light brown, wavy hair is looking especially nice today.

I then have to sit and wait for everyone else to get ready. The sunflower field in our backyard seems to sway in time with the wind, making the whole place a rippling mass of flowers. I walk around the edge of the backyard. Down the road, I can see the huge barns and the master's house. The master is the one who controls this specific animal farm. He's nice enough and treats us fairly well, though he shows no mercy when someone has done something wrong.

Finally, our family is ready to go. We're going to meet Aart and his fiancée Baylee at the corner where the farm bus will take us to the center of the district. We all set out. Father at the lead with Colin on his strong shoulders. Mama kisses Robin's head and grabs my hand in hers. Bee skips behind us happily, humming softly to herself. Aries looks bored as we approach the corner. We wait under the hot sun for a few moments before Aart and Baylee show up. After we have exchanged pleasantries, I keep an eye out for Conner and Darva, my two best friends.

Before long, I see the two, walking up the road. Darva is dressed in a bright red dress that compliments her tanned skin and long black hair. Conner looks as handsome as always, his arm muscles bulging under his sleeveless tank.

"I was wondering where you was," I say, pretending to be cross. "The bus don't wait for slowpokes." I hug Conner and Darva and then fall next to Conner.

Conner laughs and so do me and Darva. "True that." He says.

"I can't believe that we're in the reaping this year," Darva says with a shudder and a shy smile.

"Me either," I say, shaking my head.

"You won't get picked, Darva." Conner puts his arm around her shoulder. "You won't either Kendall." He adds, almost as an afterthought.

I ignore Conner's forgetfulness and point down the road where dust is stirring. "There's the bus!" I shout and everyone's eyes turn to the road.

Soon, we're on our way to the reaping.

The square is dusty and dry, like everything in District 10, but I hardly notice. Bee takes my hand and leads me to the check-in table where a short and young peacekeeper pricks my finger. I wince, and the peacekeeper apologizes quietly. Darva goes after me with Conner by her side.

Bee leads me to the twelve-year-old girls' section. I begin to feel butterflies in my stomach.

"It'll be over soon," Bee says sweetly and hugs me. "I'll find you after, ok?"

"Ok," I respond.

I worm my way through the girls already standing there. I wave to one or two of them who I know from school. I stand in the very front of the lineup. I soon leave the world behind and disappear into my head. Conner calls me featherbrained, but I call it imaginative. I have so many worlds in my head that I can disappear in whenever I don't feel like being in my own reality. Right now, I want to be out of the reaping square.

Butch Gallows (13) - D10

My eyes slowly flicker open. My shoulders ache and my wrists hurt more and more every day that I'm in here. Who would have thought that the Capital cared so much about a hunk of meat?

The bright orange light that filters into my cell is blinding. I wince and squeeze my eyes shut. I resist the urge to rub my eyes. My tailbone alights with pain as I shift. Sitting on the hard, stone floor in the jail does terrible things.

I hear the door down the hall creak open. I stiffen, my chains clinking. A group of peacekeepers marches down the hall, guns at the ready. The other prisoners shrink away from them in terror, but I stay as still as the stone beneath my butt. In the middle of the peacekeepers is the mayor.

The mayor is tall, skinny, and always looks like he knows something juicy and won't share it. Today, however, he will be spilling something to me.

The mayor approaches my cell, eyeing me like a cat does a mouse.

"Good morning, Mister Gallows. What a fitting name." He says as if the thought just occurred to him. I hate him with everything in me.

"Why are you here?" I snarl at him.

"To offer you a chance at life, thief." The mayor snaps back. "You should be grateful."

I laugh bitterly. "Thankful? To the man who killed my parents and who's aiming to kill me too?" I laugh again, though I'm not amused in any way.

"Do you want to hear my offer or no?" The mayor snaps impatiently, running a bony hand through his thinning gray hair.

I swear under my breath, but I have to admit, I want to see what his visit is about.

The mayor kneels to get on my eye level. If he wasn't so far away I'd spit him square in the eye.

"Today is the reaping day for District 10. I'm offering you the chance to volunteer for the Hunger Games instead of dying the same, honorless way your parents died."

"Why would I do that?" I snap.

The mayor stands up. "Because you little rat, if you win then you could come back and live a peaceful life here."

I stare into the man's beady black eyes until he looks uncomfortable.

"I agree," I say under my breath.

The old mayor nods his head. "Wonderful. We'll escort you to the square once the reaping begins. If you don't volunteer and make a run for it, we'll shoot you immediately. You have no friends Butch."

The mayor and his squadron of peacekeepers walk away and close the heavy jail door behind them with a clang. Many of the other prisoners eye me with looks of jealousy and longing.

"I'm free today," I say triumphantly, even though I'm chained to the wall behind me.

The prisoners look away, grumbling. Most of them are older, put in jail for a few days to teach them a lesson. One week in this horrific place would convince anyone to never break the rules again. Not me though. I'm not scared of anything. I have no cares, so I have no fears. Anyone who committed a bad enough crime was shot. As a minor, they couldn't shoot me. I almost wished they could.

I have to wait quite a bit before anyone comes to get me. This time, it's the jail peacekeepers, dressed in metallic black armor with lowered visors and heavy-duty, long-range, perfect accuracy guns. I glare at the visors that reflect my filthy face and unkempt hair. They roughly unchain me from the wall and two grab my wrists with a grip of iron. I'm basically dragged away. I have little strength left.

I'm taken upstairs and out of the stone jail. I'm then taken in a swift and quiet car to the square. I can hear the voice of the mayor talking. I hate him.

The peacekeepers drag me around the whole square and shove me under the ropes into the 13-year-old boy section. Anyone standing around me immediately backs away. I don't blame them. I glare at them and scare them until the scuttle even further away. I turn back and watch the escort come up to the microphone. I wonder what it will be like to be clean again.

Kendall Owens (12) - D10

The escort walks out onto the stage. He's a middle-aged man dressed like a cowboy. I wonder why the Capital has so much interest in cowboys related to District 10. The man does his speech and allows the previous victors, we only have two, talk. Then, it's time for the reaping. I watch the man's rough hand reach into the bowl. He struggles somewhat to separate several pieces of paper that are stuck together. I hold my breath as he unfolds the tiny piece of paper.

"And the female tribute for District 10 is Kendall Owens."

Dead silence. No one volunteers, not that I'm expecting it. He called my name. How? Why? How did my name even get picked? I only had one entry.

Nausea swims in my stomach as I walk up to the stage. I ignore my family and friends' distraught expressions. Is this made up? Is this just one of my worlds? But no, the escort watches me with an intent stare.

I stand next to him as he goes for the boys' bowl. The nausea gets worse. Finally, I can't help it, and I am sick over the edge of the stage. Hot embarrassment floods over me. Two peacekeepers rush up to me and pull me up. My face is flushed and tears stream down my face. The escort has paused and the whole district watches me.

One of the peacekeepers wipes away my tears and stands me back up "Are you ok?" She asks. Her visor has been pulled up, revealing sweaty strands of dark hair stuck to a pale face.

I nod shakily. The peacekeeper leads me back over to my spot and stands next to me, with one hand on my shoulder. Her strong grip is the only thing keeping me from falling over.

This was it. I was going to the Hunger Games. How would I ever survive?

Butch Gallows (13) - D10

I watch the girl before me throw up over the side of the stage. I resist the urge to laugh. Pathetic. I would have no district partner in her. She was ridiculous.

The escort moves to the boys' bowl and pulls out a slip of paper. As he does so, a peacekeeper dressed in black walks to the boys' side of the stage. He has a gun in his hands and his beady eyes are trained on me. The escort has an idea of what's going down and his eyes meet mine warily.

I roll my eyes. Can we just get this over with? The escort reads the piece of paper and a boy of about 15 starts to walk to the stage, looking as if he might cry. He's skinny and doesn't look strong. The peacekeeper points his gun at me.

I swallow hard and call out, "I volunteer!"

The peacekeeper nods and the escort looks relieved. I walk up to the stage and shake hands with the girl. I don't remember her name or care to know. I just want to get out of District 10.

Hello Readers! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I'm so happy that I've been able to write more recently and I'm starting to remember to publish chapters again lol! Thank you to Finnick18 and CreativeFanatic for these two interesting tributes! See you soon!