The First Annual Hunger Games

by Callidora Medea

Following the Dark Days, the President of Panem announces the beginning of the Hunger Games. District 4 girl, Cass, District 1 girl, Silver, and District 7 girl, Oak, are all thrown into the turmoil that is the first Hunger Games, and must choose their alliances; decisions that can mean life or death in the arena. All intend to win. But there can be only one victor.

7. Chapter 7- Saying Farewell

Chapter 7.- Cass Oceansong

Wave's face is unreadable as I walk through the silent crowd and take my place on the stage. Then she starts to shriek, "No! Cass, don't! Don't Cass! No!" A Peacekeeper takes her by the arm and pulls her down the stairs back into the crowd. Plinia holds the microphone to my mouth. "What's your name, dear?" she asks. I whisper, "Cass Oceansong." Plinia beams at the crowd and calls, "District 4, your tributes!"

Two Peacekeepers march Rigg and I into the Justice Building and leave us in two separate rooms. I sit down on the smooth couch with its swirling designs like the sea. And I wait. Suddenly, the door bursts open and my mother and Calypso burst in. Silently they sit next to me and hold me, the silence saying everything we can't get out. "Try to win, Cass. Try," Calypso says, turning my face to hers. "Please." I nod. "I'll try, I'll come home, Calypso, I promise." My mother's tears drip onto my shoulder. "Be brave. I'll be watching for you and praying for you until you come home," she whispers. I nod again, and the door flies open. "It's time," the Peacekeeper says. Calypso and my mother give me one last squeeze and they are pulled out.

Wave rushes in in tears, and holds me so tight I can't breathe. "Why did you have to volunteer, Cass? Why'd you have to?" she sobs into my neck. Papa carries Cressida, tears running down his weathered face. I look up at him. "I'll be okay, Papa. Don't worry. I'll come home to you and Mother, I promise." He cannot speak, only give his head a jerky nod. I reach out my arms to Cressida and she falls into them. "Be good, Cressida. Be good for Papa and Mama and Calypso and Wave. I love you," I whisper in her ear. "Don't go away, Cass! Don't go!" she begs, sobbing. The Peacekeeper returns. "NO! NO!" Wave shrieks, holding onto me. The Peacekeeper wrenches her off me and drags her out the door. "I love you!" I call as the door slams shut.

My final visitor is Tempest. We hold hands on the ocean couch, scared to break the silence. Then she takes off her shell necklace that she always wears. "You can wear one thing of your own in the arena. Take this, and maybe it will remind you of home and why you need to win." She clasps it around my neck. "Try to win, Cass." Then she flees through the door even before the Peacekeeper comes. Nobody else says goodbye, so I wait, running my fingers through the soft silk of the ocean.

The cameras are everywhere as Rigg and I are loaded onto the Capitol train with Plinia. I give them as brave a smile I can, while Rigg looks sullen. Once we are on the train, it starts so fast I lose my breath. It's like a bullet, flying down the railway. Away from home. I stand at the window and watch first District 4 disappear, then the ocean. I turn away, and find myself staring at a young woman with dark hair, dressed in red. Silently she signals to follow her, so I do. She leads me to a chamber with a luxurious bed that I assume will be mine. She nods her head and leaves me. Plinia skips by and says, "Come out soon! We can watch the reapings together!" Great. Just what I wanted.

I come out and sit on the couch in front of the large televisions. Rigg is already there, sitting stiffly in a chair. The Capitol seal appears on the screen and the announcer, Vibius Frigidian comes on. "Welcome to the First Annual Hunger Games! It's time to meet our contestants!" I sit stony faced as we watch the reapings from District 1. First a slight girl who looks like she's going to pass out is called, but almost immediately a similar looking girl volunteers in her place. Then a strong and stocky boy gets up on the stage. Both of the District 1 tributes look happy to be onstage. The names Silver Bellcreek and Glow Overlock flash across the screen.

The rest of the tributes go by in a flash. A brutal looking eighteen year old girl from District 2, two thin and terrified tributes from 3, then it's my reaping. I watch Wave go up, watch myself volunteer for her. I feel nothing, like it happened to someone else. Few stand out to me; a small twelve year old boy from 6, an angry looking girl with a mass of dark hair from 7, a tall and gentle looking girl from 11. The boy from 11, Buck Grainbush, looks very menacing.

The Capitol seal flashes again, and Plinia turns the television off. "Time for bed! We'll be at the Capitol first thing tomorrow morning!" As I climb into the bed, soft and blue, I look up at the ceiling. Was it only this morning I was at home. Slowly, the train movement draws me to sleep, and I drift into a dreamless slumber.