Harper's dad is a potty mouth.


Joy Wincenty- District Twelve male

I always had a perverse affection for Reaping day. It was the only day when all the children in the entire District were in one place. It was always in the back of my mind that I could get Reaped, but it never seemed real to me. There were so many kids all around me. The odds seemed nonexistent. It was like being afraid to fly in an airplane. Sure you could crash, but the odds of that were one in a thousand. That was something that happened on the news, not to you. No one I knew personally had ever gotten Reaped. I always watched the boy and girl go to the stage and a few days after they died, they were already fading from my mind. I knew it was sad. People just tend to forget things that don't affect them.

Jay stood next to me in line, of course. It always disappointed me that my best friend Smith had to stand so far away just because his last name was so far from mine. But I made do with the boys around me. They were talking more to Jay, since he was more popular than me, but I was a friendly sort and people usually liked to include me too.

Our conversation about a cute new girl in class hushed when Chimera walked onstage. Music played, spotlights hit the stage, and the Dark Days footage started. No one paid any attention. I didn't know why they insisted on doing that every year.

"Ladies first!" Chimera said, and dipped his hand into the bowl. "Sunny Ackerman!" A dark girl walked toward the stage all bent forward. "Do we have any volunteers?"

"I volunteer as Tribute!"

I felt guilty for the flush of relief. I knew that voice. Harper was something of a shameful District secret. They say she used to be normal. Then she had an accident and now she was brain-damaged. It wasn't her fault the things she did, but I couldn't lie and say I wasn't relieved she wouldn't be here anymore. A Peacekeeper whispered something in Chimera's ear as she was walking up. Chimera didn't offer her the microphone.

"And now the gentlemen," Chimera said. I felt the familiar flood of panic and paralysis as he reached for the slip. "Jay Wincenty!"

My head whipped over to face my brother. I'd never seen anyone look like Jay did at that moment. He was always the confident one, the one people gathered around. He never had anything to be unsure about. And now his wide eyes and open mouth showed naked fear. Tears were welling up in his eyes. He was shaking. He didn't move toward the stage.

I couldn't say later what I was thinking. I knew my brother didn't deserve this. He deserved a long, happy life. More than I did, really. He was just sort of better at everything. My parents never played favorites, but it was just true. I could hear them screaming off to the side, and our sister Sully in the crowd with us. Jay had an amazing life to live. I could tell you I wasn't thinking about what could happen to me, or what happened to people who volunteered for the Games. There were a lot of things I wasn't thinking about when I walked toward the stage.

"Give a big round of applause to Harper Newman and Jay Wincenty!"

I didn't remember walking up the stairs to the stage or taking Harper's hand. I wanted to jerk away, but that wasn't polite. I found Jay in the crowd and was a little surprised he hadn't stopped me. He was a good brother and he loved me. Then I remembered what Chimera had said and realized I'd forgotten to say I volunteered. I remembered boys staring wide-eyed at me as I walked past them. Scared because the dead man was walking by them, but not knowing it wasn't Jay walking at all. It was me. It was Joy. Identical to my brother, but now a world apart.


Harper Newman- District Twelve female

Mama's fingers ran through my hair as she combed it. I sat still on the chair, even though it was hard. She was a good mother. I felt safe with her. When I was with her, my head felt quieter. Sometimes it didn't feel like there was anyone telling me what to do. I knew she was afraid. Today it was because of the Reaping, but she was always afraid when she was with me. I heard it in how her voice got gentler when she talked to me and she always looked at me hard after she said something, like she was afraid I would be mad. I caught her looking at me a lot when I was playing or making my dolls. I didn't know what she was afraid of.

Dad wasn't home. I didn't miss him. He was always angry with me. He called me ugly things like retard and bastard. I didn't know what all the words meant. I knew what retard meant, though. It means someone who got dropped on their head when they were little and their brain didn't work anymore. I didn't know why he was so mad at me. I wasn't always a retard and it wasn't my fault. I hated him. I hoped the demon told me to kill him someday. If he didn't I would do it anyway.

The demon was my real father, sort of. Mom and Dad were my parents but the demon sent me here to be his sub-demon in this world. I didn't know how to spell his name but it sounded like Aicalzaara. He told me what he wanted and I did it. It was usually angry things. He told me who should get hurt and how to do it. My mother never knew what to think of the dolls. She liked to see me playing and she thought I was happy, but she was also scared of them. I saw them in a book once. I didn't know all the words but I saw the pictures of how you put needles in them and they hurt people. Aicalzaara told me to keep reading and studying until I knew how to make them. I knew someday he would tell me to hurt people myself. I would do it. If I ever disobeyed he would do something worse than I could think of.

This wasn't going to be like most Reaping days. I loved Reaping days because I loved the Games. I loved to watch them and memorize everything about them. We never got good shows on our televisions and the Games was the most exciting thing to happen all year long. I loved to talk about them when I had my meetings with Uncle Kennard. Uncle Kennard worked with retards like me and he talked to me in ways I could understand. He also liked the Games and we talked about them a lot.

But this wasn't going to be like most Reaping days. I had a secret as I stood with all the other girls. I looked out over their heads and saw the stage even though we were near the back. Aicalzaara made me really tall so I could hurt people better. I stood on my toes as Chimera came out. I could see him fine but I was excited. I remembered four days ago when Aicalzaara told me.

"Volunteer for the Games," he said.

I waited for Chimera to call the girl before I did it. I wanted to enjoy every minute of another Reaping before I added my part.

"Ladies first!" he said. "Sunny Ackerman." I waited along with him. "Do we have any volunteers?"

"I volunteer as Tribute!" I said. I smiled as I walked past the other girls who weren't chosen. When a boy joined me I took his hand like they did every year. He looked at me after a minute and I felt his hand go stiff. He didn't have to be afraid, not yet. Aicalzaara hadn't said anything about him. I would wait until he spoke to me again.


Joy: : Dark black short wavy hair along with brown-ish and an olive skin. He is 1.52 meters tall and he has 55 kilograms of weight. His face is round while is nose is average. He wears whatever clothes he can.

Harper: Dark brown hair, shoulder length. Hazel eyes, pale skin, and a stubby nose. She has a wide and muscular build and is around 6ft 2".