June Zuri Briony, 17
District 11 Female
I held the head of the cotton plant gently in my hand, it had been blown towards my cabin door by the strong winds the night before. Normally, I would have been beaten for not handing it in but what they didn't know didn't hurt them.
See, the thing was that I spent so much time in the fields picking the plant, always being told to hurry, that I never took time to appreciate its beauty. I loved nature from the bottom of my heart, it wasn't the plant's fault its existence caused me and my family so much work and pain.
I ran my finger over the surface of the plant, enjoying the texture of the white fluff in contrast to the rough prickly leaves. We were never allowed to touch the goods so such a small act gave me a small sense of freedom.
"You little shit!" I heard someone grunt, followed quickly by a child's laughter. I glanced over my shoulder to see my eldest cousin, Alice frowning as her younger sibling, Monty, raced by with a small scrap of bread. The boy ran over to my side, sitting down next to me, tailed by his sister.
He looked up at me with a large smile, his blonde hair almost covering his ice blue eyes, it wasn't much shorter than his sisters. He looked so much like my father it was somewhat unsettling. My father was his uncle and although he and his siblings shared their mother and uncles nose, only he inherited my father's eyes.
As Alice joined us, her eyes flickered over to the sunrise over the sea of fields. I was more of a fan of sunsets but I had to admit that the warm glow it gave the sky and the image of crows flying in between the rays of the sun was a nice sight.
"Red sky at morning, shepherds warning," she mumbled.
"Bad luck," I added with a sigh, bowing my head towards the cotton bud once more. It was a small game me and my siblings used to play when we were children with our mother. Every Reaping we would look to the sky for answers as to if we would make it home that night. It used to frighten me but over the years, I had learned that it was nothing more than a Game.
However, it was Alice's first year and I knew she was looking for any positive outcome in today. The sky wasn't offering it.
"Don't worry!" Monty said through a mouthful of bread. "You will both be fine...I mean, if you don't come home, more dinner for me!" the nine-year-old said with a cheeky grin. Alice did not seem amused by his words but if my father had taught me and Monty anything it was that you needed to laugh in the face of danger sometimes.
Andrew Strauss, 17
District 11 Male
Most people hated the Reapings, I guess I was no different. However, once you moved past the start of child murder and the fear you may be the one Reaped, the day did have its positives. All work halted on such days and children within Reaping age got the rest of the day off. If you were not one of the two chosen, you could expect to be showered with food, no matter how small and celebration that you got to carry on for another year.
These days off were appreciated the most during June when the Reapings were held, even now as we stood in the square, the summer heat was beating down on our heads. Cotton farmers like me and some of the boys from the orphanage had thought ahead and brought out straw hats. However, not all of me was protected and even with my bronze skin from hours in the field, my skin would still burn if I stayed in a place far too long.
I was one of the taller boys in our year, yet the Eighteen-year-old section in front of us seemed packed with boys over five eleven. Spud, my bunkmate was the one who pointed it out to me. He theorized that it was due to the epidemic when we were young, the one that killed my parents. I wasn't sure how much I bought into that idea, I had fallen ill with them and I never had the best diet yet I towered above most people. I had just come to the conclusion that it was just a strange form of luck.
As always, the chose the female name first, a dark-skinned girl who I had seen around the District. June I learned her name was. She herself appeared as brave as one could be, given the circumstances but when a child from the twelve-year-old section started to sob, even I had to cast my eyes away. She introduced herself as June Briony, a cotton picker like me and informed us that the crying girl was her cousin, it explained the lack of resemblance.
With a quick pat on the back, our escort spun on his heels and pranced over to the male names, swirling his finger around the rim of the glass bowl before plunging his hand in.
Spud and a couple of boys from the orphanage linked arms with me as he pulled free a single slip and walked back over to June. It could have been any of us, the older children all put our names in multiple times to feed the younger ones. Whatever happened, we always said we would be there for each other. The strongest volunteering for the other.
Our escort spoke with a proud voice as he read out the name. "Andrew Strauss!"
Andrew Strauss, 17
Train Rides
I shouldn't have been upset by no one volunteering for me. I admit, in the moment I was taken back. How Spud and the rest of gang silently parted ways with me, allowing me the space to get through to the stage. It was only when they came to say goodbye that I forgave them.
Spud explained that out of all of them, I was the strongest. My years of hard work had allowed me to build up a rather impressive muscle mass so out of them all, I was the strongest. Coming to that knowledge not only allowed me to forgive them but it also allowed me to have some confidence in my chances.
I wasn't as strong as the Careers, I wasn't into fooling myself. However, I wasn't the weakest Tribute either. Thresh had made it far last year and he only really had strength on his side. He even managed to kill a Career. I didn't think I was that strong but I wasn't far off. I knew I would be able to hold my own in a fight.
The person I was concerned about was June. I shouldn't have been concerned about other people but I had seen her about the cotton farm plus she was from home. She was a pretty girl and she seemed kind, she would gain sponsors but I was worried that it wouldn't be much more.
I watched with dreaded as she looked out of the window with wonder as Panam whizzed by. Her green eyes were wide and she had a big smile on her face. As we moved away from the mountains of Two, she noticed a bald eagle soaring high in the sky. I had never seen someone move so fast as she sprung up from her chair. I joined her by the window, craning our necks to see the bird.
"Isn't this amazing!" she giggled, her breath fogging up the glass. "Our first tastes of freedom after picking cotton all our life."
At first, I smiled, but then I remembered where I was going. To a place where we would be forced to kill or die ourselves. Then I felt sick.
"No," I sighed. "This isn't freedom, we are slaves now more than ever."
June Zuri Briony, 17
Train Rides
I thought about what Andrew had said early this evening, I had allowed it to bounce around my head until it had finally sunk in. Sure, I might not have been as free as the bird we saw in the sky but surely anything at the other end was better than picking cotton for the rest of my life?
As I tried to stay positive, I sat down in the seating cart to watch the recaps of the reapings. Andrew and our Mentors had gone to sleep so I had the place to myself.
The first District, One, seemed as normal as always. Although, the pair of Tributes seemed to know each other. They both smiled as they shook hands and seemed to stand closer together than most Tributes. The male, Ezra seemed much stronger than Paisley but she was far from weak. I noted them both down as threats.
District Three seemed like any normal Lower District, frightened and confused. Ellie looked determined, keeping a brave face as she tried not to cry. Rory looked frightened but unmoved like he expected something of the sort to happen. It was sad really but I could only class Ellie as a large threat, she seemed like a fighter.
Mikeo and Cerulean from eight both seemed deadly. I wouldn't put it past either of them to kill if it came down to it and as both of them seemed physically able if matched with someone like me. For now, they were both threats.
Nine, only Beckham frightened me, he was muscular as someone from Nine could be and he looked like all the light had been drained from his eyes, on the other hand, Violet looked more innocent but not someone to be messed with. I only noted down Beckham as a threat.
Once all the Reapings had finished, I looked over my notes and sighed. At the end of it, I had noted down everyone almost as a threat. Most seemed like nice people that given any other circumstances, I would have gotten along with them. However, now I felt I couldn't trust anyone, even my own District Partner.
Maybe Andrew was right, the fields were just the start of control they had over us.
"The definition of freedom depends on the person,"