Fall Baromet,17, District 9 male
I stare at the floor intently as it feels like the seconds are taking hours to pass. I just want to get on the train already. Probably eat a decent meal then take a nap afterwards. No one is coming to visit me obviously, I bet everyone's probably already next door with winter.
I volunteered because I owe it to my mother to fulfill my promise of being the best brother I can possibly be to Winter. I owe it to Winter too and I'll die before I allow anyone to lay a finger on her.
Yes I don't expect to win. I know I'm going to die and even if by miraculous scenario that me and her are the last two left in the arena, I studied enough plants and berries and know how to effectively off myself when it comes to it. Winter is tough, she's not some damsel in distress, but I'll be her shield if anything went south.
Besides death wouldn't be so bad. I'll be able to see my mom again after all and she'll be proud that I did my best to keep my promise, I'll be proud of myself as well knowing that I showed Winter just how much I cared about her. I still remember how she cried non-stop after after we brung her home from the hospital. She literally cried on and on and wouldn't even drink her bottle. My father and sisters tried to calm her down but she just continued hollering. I was still so distraught by my mother's death that I was just in my room grieving. After getting tired of her crying, I came out of my room and took Winter out of my father's arms and she immediately stopped as she looked at me and wrapped her small hand around my finger before falling asleep shortly after. I can't help but smile a little. That's one of the very few memories I have of being a semi decent brother after all.
I wish it didn't have to take Winter being reaped to show her how I really felt, but I'm going to try and make this right. I'm going to try and show that I am capable of being a decent person…and a loving brother.
Winter Baromet,13, District 9 female
I Wonder what fall is thinking of right now. I know he won't get any visitors, I bet my family is just so happy to finally be rid of him and it angers me so much knowing how satisfied they most likely are. He's all alone in that room though, I just wish I can be in there with him, just so I can let him know that he's not alone.
My father and sisters enter the room. Both my sisters are crying hysterically like I already died and my father is trying to hold back his tears as he sits next to me and hugs me.
"Oh my god, Winter is dead, Winter is dead!" Summer cries.
"She's not going to stand a chance especially with Fall in there with her!" Spring cries and I only grit my teeth as I try not to snap at them, but I'm at my limits.
"Stop it you two! Winter is strong! She's talented and has what it takes to win!" My father scolds the both of them.
"I'm sorry dad, it's just I don't want anything bad to happen to you Winter, please come back!" Summer cries as she hugs me.
"There is one thing Spring is right about though Winter, you need to stay far away from Fall! He will get you killed! He's selfish, stupid and only cares about himself! Stay very far away from him and you will be just fine." My father wipes his eyes as he gives me another kiss but that's it, I'm not holding back anymore. I quickly jump up from my chair and stand over my family as they each give me fearful looks.
"That's it I've had it! I've had it with all the negative talk about Fall! Fall is my nephew!" I shout In anger and my family only gives me an awkward glance as there's a very sudden silence.
"Winter…he's your brother." My father mumbles and I roll my eyes, I swear these ditsy moments just choose the most inconvenient times to occur!
"Yeah, he's my brother- look you know what I meant! Fall is my brother! I love him and if you three showed him an ounce of the love I showed him, just a freaking ounce of it, He wouldn't be the way he is now! That's all he needs! All he needs to know is that we're his family and that we love him but all you guys ever do is kick him while he's down, talk bad about him, treat him like crap and make him feel more worthless than he already feels. I will stick with Fall to the very end! I know he's done a lot of things that he isn't proud of but I love my brother and I will give him a chance to redeem himself! With all that being said I want all three of you to leave immediately!" I yell as tears stream down my eyes and my family only gaze at me with shocked looks.
"Winter-" my father begins.
"Get out!" I shout even louder as I begin crying and my family hesitates for a moment before finally standing up and leaving. I sit back down and try to control my breathing as my tears soak the floor. I'm glad I got this off my chest and told them how I really felt. The first thing I'm going to do when i see Fall is give him a long hug. No matter what happens, I'll be by his side.
Sariah Hurd,15, District 10 female
I cried so much that I couldn't even cry anymore. I fully exhausted myself of all the tears I had and it only hurt as I tried to cry more. The worst part about all of this is that I won't be able to go on an amazing adventure with my parents, the adventure they promised me for so long that they'd take me on. Keiran enters, he has a slight limp and his face is still pretty swollen but he limps over to me and sits down.
"I'm so sorry Keiran, I wanted to go on so many more adventures with you so we can find lots of treasure together, but I'm so sorry it won't be happening." I sniff.
"Hey it can still happen, it will happen. Sariah you have to trust yourself, believe in your abilities. There's a lot you've learned. You're good at identifying plants, you know how to stay out of danger and you're nimble and scurry up trees faster than anyone. Just uhmm, just look at this as another adventure. A very dangerous one, but still an adventure none the less. There might even be some amazing treasure you can find at the capitol." He tries to cheer me up.
"Y-yeah maybe I could look at it like that…an adventure, and maybe there is some treasure to find in the capitol." I start to gain more confidence and Keiran nods.
"Just remember Sariah, if you encounter anything you can't handle, just run. You're fast and will be able to get away and hide from anyone or anything ok?" Keiran puts his arm around me.
"Yes, Yes Keiran I'll do my best, I promise." I assure him and we give each other a long hug and he kisses me on the cheek before leaving. My parents enter shortly after and they're both in tears. They come over to me and immediately embrace me.
"Sariah there's a lot that we taught you and there's a lot you were able to learn on your own. It's more important than ever that you put these skills to use!" my father tells me as he wipes his eyes.
"I'm just so scared, I don't want to kill anyone, I just want to go back home…" I begin to cry but it strains my body so much it hurts.
"I know baby I know, you'll be back home soon and when you do, we'll go on the best adventure you can ever imagine!" my mom cradles me. I spend the rest of the time here in their arms but they have to leave as theres loud knocking on the door signaling our time is up and I'm left by myself as I only sink my face into the palm of my hands.
Oswine Nanshope,12, District 10 male
I'm still in so much shock, like what were the odds of this? I just turned twelve and I'm reaped right after. I can't help but panic, I'm so small, weak and there's just no way I'm going to stand a chance against anyone in the arena. I just want to go home, lock myself in my room and not be bothered by anyone!
The door opens shortly after and my father enters as he wipes away his tears. I know he wants to try and stay strong around me but I know this is all taking a toll on him.
"Hey kiddo…you ok?" he asks as he puts an arm around me and lays my head on his side. My mom is not here though, where is she?
"Where's mom?" I mumble in a almost inaudible tone.
"Oh she's-she's-she's coming, it's just uh, its a lot for her to take in." my father sniffs and wipes his eyes again.
"Oswine you're such a smart boy, just stay hidden, blend in with the crowd and don't do anything to alert anyone, only fight if you absolutely have to, and don't ever build a fire. It'll give away your position and attract enemies to you." My father informs me and I only nod in response as I take in everything he's saying.
"You're wearing the lucky stripped socks of mines right? " he asks and I nod before showing him the socks and he smiles.
"Good, good, those socks will bring you good luck, make sure you wear them when you go into the arena ok?" he smiles and I nod before he hugs me again. The door flies open and my mother enters with a scowl on her face.
"Your father wanted me to come here so badly so here I am! Are you happy now Lannan!?" my mom hisses at my dad.
"Shannon please, this is not the time." My dad pleads but my mom immediately turns and glares me.
"It doesn't make a difference to me what happens to you! The house will be quiet whether you're here or not so it doesn't matter to me! Maybe it'll be better if you do die out there!" she yells at me and I only give her a shocked look.
"Shannon enough! What the hells gotten into you!? This is our son! Our boy and I will not stand here and allow you to talk to him like that!" My father yells as he's now standing in front of her. I've never seen him so angry before, never. It's scary seeing him like this. My mom looks intimidated as she takes several steps back but she only shoots me another glare before leaving the room and several tears start rolling down my eyes as my lips quiver.
"Kiddo, it's ok, it's ok. Your mom, she's just stressed out. She didn't mean what she said." My father returns to his regular tone as he hugs me and tries to comfort me but I continue crying. I know my mom never liked me being quiet, but I never thought it was to the point where she'd want me to die, I'm never going to get over this, I'm never going to forget that my mom will be totally fine with me dying. I spend the rest of my time here crying profusely. My dad tries to calm me down but nothing works and after loud pounding on the door, he gives me one last hug and kiss before he has to leave.
Calla Fable,16, District 11 female
I lost track of how long I've been sitting here. It felt like hours passed, but it's probably only been a few minutes. I know I won't be getting any visitors so I'll just sit here and count down how much time is left before someone can finally end my pain. People probably looked at me as a hero for saving that little girl who got reaped. I wanted to believe that maybe I can redeem myself, maybe I can prove to myself that I was capable of being a decent person. I realized that i'll always be a coward though, a weak coward and I only volunteered just so I won't have to go through the trouble of finishing myself off and just have someone else do the honors instead.
The door slowly creaks open and it's the small girl I volunteered for. She has a shy look on her face but I look at her with my sad eyes as she makes her way towards me. She starts showing me hand signs before pointing to me but I'm confused.
"Huh?" I ask but the girl smiles and points to her ear before moving her finger in a "no" gesture and I begin to understand, she's deaf.
She does more hand gestures and points at me and I figure she's probably just trying to thank me and I just give her a careless nod in response but she walks closer to me and reaches into her pocket before giving me a pretty flower bracelet with a wooden cross tied on to it. It really is pretty and I'm honestly surprised she gave me this. I don't really know signs very well but I imitate the signs she did earlier to thank me and she smiles and nods happily before doing more signs, probably wishing me good luck before leaving the room. I continue looking at the bracelet and I slip it onto my wrist. At least I can just stare at this pretty bracelet until it was time to board the train.
I don't have a lot of time to stare because the door opens again and I feel my heart rate start to increase as the identical twins Summer and Winter enter with angry looks on their face.
"Hey ugly! I know you heard us calling you!" Winter snarls.
"Yeah you definitely heard us stupid! You even tried to run away!" Summer adds.
"I bet you only volunteered so you can try and run away from us! But we caught you ugly and now we can play with you all we want!" Winter lets out a laugh. I stand up from my seat and try to leave the room as I walk towards the exit but they both push me causing me to lose my balance and I fall on the floor as they both laugh in unison.
"What you think we're just going to let you walk past us!? You're very stupid and ugly too!." Winter spits a glob of spit on my head and Summer kicks me in the torso as I let out a pained groan and roll over to my side.
"Stand up ugly! We're not done with you just yet!" Summer demands and I do as they say and stand back up as my body trembles.
"Look at her! So ugly, stupid and scared! She might even pee herself!" Winter laughs.
"I know right! What's that on your wrist though? An ugly girl like you shouldn't be wearing this!" Summer pulls the bracelet off my wrist and examines it before slipping it on her wrist.
"Wow it looks nice too! Let's share it Summer! You wear it today and I wear it tomorrow!" Winter suggests.
"Yeah that's a great idea!" Summer agrees and pushes me back onto the floor as they both leave the room laughing. I only sit on the floor in defeat as tears roll down my eyes. I guess i was still able to cry afterall. I just want this to end, I just want this to all be over already…
Citrus Sabrilla,17, District 11 male
Yeah I'm reaped I get it, but I just want to exhibit some positive energy for my family and friends, let them know everything will be fine and take it from there. I don't have very long to gather my thoughts before the door opens and it's an outpour of the frequent guests from the bar. The room immediately starts smelling like a bunch of booze as they all surround me but what I like is that we all just chat casually like we always do.
"Hey Citrus, make sure you snatch a bottle of some fancy wine from the kitchen once they they realize they got you mixed up for a food dish!" Locust jokes.
"Will do, heck I probably won't even have to sneak, they'll probably just hand me a bottle anyways for the inconvenience." I joke as the regulars laugh with me, just feels like a regular day at the bar. They can't stay for long though as I have other visitors.
"No fighting in the bar while I'm gone guys, my mom will kick your asses and then kick mines and we don't want that right? Or maybe you do?" I laugh and they all laugh with me before they have to leave. My friends come to see me next, Oliver of course along with Daisy and Kale. Kale is just a funny goofball I like to hang out with. Daisy is a pretty girl I've been talking to for a bit.
"Damn Citrus, damn!" Oliver curses.
"What happened? you got dumped again?" I joke and he smirks for a moment.
"This is serious dude, you're going into the arena!" Kale scolds me.
"C'mon lighten up pal, you're making this room all dark, I might hit my head against something on the way out!" I laugh and Kale only sighs.
"Well Citrus…you're going to do your best to come back right?" Daisy puts her hand on my shoulder.
"Of course, I know you guys are only worried, I mean you will be pretty shitty friends if you weren't. If this is my last time seeing you guys though I want to end it on a good note yeah?" I speak in a slightly more serious tone.
"Yeah, ok Citrus, I understand…" Oliver nods
They respect my wishes and we just spend the rest of our time reminiscing on a bunch of funny stuff before they have to leave.
Finally my family comes along with Cori.
"As much of a pain In the ass you can be, there's no bigger pain in the ass than the people I care about getting drawn…" Cori hugs me.
"Oh look at you! Being sweet and all! Always knew you had it in you!" I smirk and Cori playfully hits me on the arm.
The rest of my family are trying to hold it together but I know it's a lot for them to take in.
My father walks up to me though and hands me a container. I catch a whiff of it and already know what it is.
Our bar specializes in a dish called the boozy chicken special. We'll just soak some cheap chicken in organic champagne and line it up with asparagus and lemon afterwards. I only tried it once, but it easily became the best meal I've ever had. I appreciate my father bringing some for me.
There's enough in this container for all of us though so we share it while talking about the past and ridiculous things that happened. It ends all too soon when there's knocking on the door signaling our time is up and I give my family one last hug before they have to leave. I'm here alone again as I sigh and think about my district partner and how she probably didn't even get a single visitor. I hope she did though, I know she would've appreciated that.
Emmett Portland,12, District 12 male
I'm going to die, I'm going to die! That's the only thought that runs through my head and why would I think otherwise? I'm small, helpless and don't have any legs. I couldn't do anything but accept my fate. My parents along with Annabeth, her parents and my friend Emil all enter and they're all in tears as they hug and embrace me.
"Emmett just stay off the radar ok? The moment the games start just leave. Don't go to the cornucopia, don't grab anything. Just leave and hide ok?" my father tries to give me advice and I nod as I continue crying.
"Just listen to your dad, make sure to study some plants and survival skills." Emil sniffs as he hugs me tightly and Annabeth hugs me after.
"You have to come back please, there's still so much stuff we have to do together and you promised me we'd fly together someday." Annabeth cries.
"I'll try Annabeth, I'll try my best, i promise you." I promise her as i hug her tightly and my mom kisses me before handing me a locket with a family picture of me when I was a baby. This was her prized possession and she was entrusting it to me.
"You take care of this Emmett, you take good care of this and bring it back alright?" My mom's voice cracks and I nod before she kisses me on the forehead and hugs me tightly. They stay with me the whole time trying to give me advice and comfort me, but they have to leave soon after and I look at my locket before I put it away and look at the floor. I'm so sorry everyone, I know I won't be seeing any of you again…
Karen McShole, 18, District 12 female
What's taking my stupid parents so long anyways!? I've been sitting here for ages waiting for someone to come and visit me but no one's arrived yet! Why the fuck not? I mean I can understand if Joel doesn't want to visit, he's probably still fighting off that boner I gave him last night but I'm getting impatient waiting for my parents! I wait, wait and wait but they still don't show up! I take my marble out my pocket that looks like a cat's eye and I bounce it in my hand as I get angrier and angrier. I used to have an actual cat's eye but it deteriorated so much, it wasn't even worth carrying around anymore. I bet my stupid district partner with no legs got plenty of visitors, why not me though? I let out an angry scream and jump to my feet and continue screaming in anger and the door swings open.
"What's your problem?" A peacekeeper asks.
"Shut the fuck up! Get out! You're black too so you definitely can't be in here!" I yell at him to the top of my lungs and he only shakes his head and mumbles something before leaving. I pace around the room in anger only cursing and hitting stuff. How come that crippled bitch gets visitors and I don't? It's not fair! It's not! I'm going to kill him! Just you wait you crippled fucker! Your ass is mine!
We're finally done with the goodbyes and can get these train rides started! I don't really have much else to say but thank you everyone for the reviews and I'll see you all soon! Till next time!