Denver O'Casey (14)- D10M
I wake up to something tickling my nose. I sneeze as the fluffy mass makes a home on my face, rumbling softly.
"Alfie, get off!" I tell the cat in annoyance, shoving him away. I roll over and come face to face with Buddy, his tongue lolling out as he pants with excitement. He's not supposed to be on the beds, but he likes to snuggle with me anyways. I peek over him at the other bed in the room, which is empty. I frown as I throw off my covers. Daelyn and Carissa must already be up.
Getting ready for the Reaping, I realize. The thought makes my stomach feel queasy. I stand up and another fluffball curls around my feet, meowing up at me. I pick up Archie and head into the other room. Our small house only has three rooms, one for me and my sisters, one for my parents and brothers, and another for cooking and the television. The black screen seems so much more menacing than usual. Our electricity usually never works, leaving it useless, but there will be no power shortages in the coming weeks. I'll have to watch twenty three people die on that screen.
I'm surprised to see that there's no one here. Perhaps they're outside. I open the front the door, Buddy immediately pushing his way past me to smell the budding plants in the cracked pavement and pee on them. I let Archie jump from my arms, Alfie following his brother into the maze of buildings that made up the District Ten residential area. But small concrete yard, now full of animals, is suspiciously devoid of my family.
Normally there would be a few people bustling about in the morning, but not today. The town is silent. Where could my family have gone? I close the door and check the clock in the kitchen. The Reaping isn't for a couple hours. I decide to sit and wait for them to see what's going on. Certainly nothing too serious.
About half an hour later, there's a scratch at the door. I open it to let in the animals, and come face to face with my father.
"Denver!" he exclaims, clearly surprised. "You scared me!"
"I'm sorry," I mumble, stepping aside to let him in. "Where did you go?"
He straightens his jacket, already in his Reaping clothes. "We were looking for Daelyn."
I should have known that Daelyn wouldn't come home last night. Her behavior ever since her best friend was killed in the bloodbath during the Quarter Quell. There were no weapons or any supplies aside from food and water at the Cornucopia, so the boy from Four had immediately ran to his closest competitor after the gong sounded, and strangled her with his bare hands. It had been brutal, and I still have nightmares about it to this day. I can't imagine how it is for Daelyn.
"Was she at the rodeo?" I ask quietly. That was where she had been hiding last year. It was her old hangout with Daisy before she died. Daelyn always went there when she got too drunk to remember what time it was; usually in the middle of the night.
"No," my father says quietly. "I came back… to get you. We need your help finding her."
I try to keep my face neutral. I realize what's going on; my family forgot me here to go look for Daelyn, and now my father has come back to look for her. I can't exactly say I'm surprised; there's a reason my pets are my best friends.
"You aren't dressed yet," my father says sharply. "Get ready and let's go! We have to find your sister before the Reaping starts."
"Alright, alright," I mumble, heading back to my room. I glance at the other side of the room, where Carissa' paintings and drawings decorate the walls, an ever-present reminder of her success as an artist. Tallen works for our parents at their butcher shop, and Paxton works under the mayor, and Daelyn may have her moments, but she's a brilliant writer and charismatic. I don't think if I went missing one morning that anyone would even notice except for Buddy, Alfie, and Archie.
And maybe Daelyn, but her behavior has been more and more erratic with each passing month since Daisy died. She used to be my closest friend, but she's seems to have forgotten me and spends her time drinking and getting into shouting matches with our parents.
Still, she's my sister. I should get her to the Reaping so the Peacekeepers won't kill her for not attending. Although sometimes, I feel like that's what she wants, and the thought makes me feel uneasy. I quickly get dressed in the same Reaping clothes as last year and look at myself in the mirror. Ginger hair, glasses, pale skin. I look like I could be anyone from Ten, a boy who isn't afraid of others and who lives in a loving family. I guess appearances are all that matter today, anyway, so I'll take it.
Filly Marcoffe (18)- D10F
As I round up the last of the foals, one of their mothers neighs at me from the other enclosure.
"Just hold on, it's almost your turn," I tell her softly. She neighs at me again and snorts in indignation, shaking her head. I usher the foals back in with their parents, then put the rope around Amber's neck to take her out, closing the wooden gate behind us. Amber is always the most talkative of the horses, not quite getting along with any of the others and always complaining. I climb up onto her back and let her take me around for a little while, the well-worn dust kicking up from her hooves.
When we're finished, I slide off and stroke her nose gently. "You have to try to be positive, Amber," I tell her. "The other horses aren't trying to hurt you. They just want to play with you, see?"
Amber snorts as if she can hear me and turns her head away, prancing back into her enclosure with the others. Louie calls me crazy for talking to the horses like people, but I don't mind. The ranch has been in our family for generations, and I'm convinced we are real life horse-whisperers. I have a connection with them, especially as the only female that works on the ranch. Though my father, grandfather Louie, and brother Buck are great with the horses, the mares just can't connect with them like I can. That's what I tell them anyway, to make Buck give me his incredulous look that makes me laugh.
Once the horses are all accounted for and in their enclosures, I start back to the house. Like the other ranchers, our house in on the outskirts of the district where there's plenty of room for the animals to roam. In the distance, I can see our neighbor's heifers grazing on the sparse grass. I'm glad Louie decided to run a horse ranch instead one for animals that go to the slaughter… I don't know if I could bear to send my animals to their deaths. Most people in Ten are used to it, but my family's horses are like our children. So much so that my parents named me Filly, a baby horse. We raise them and they go off to live the rest of their lives, whether as a vehicle elsewhere in the district or for a Peacekeeper somewhere else in Panem, or for the thousands of other reasons the Capitol needs horses.
Back at the house, everyone is ready for the Reaping. Pinto, Buck's girlfriend, is already here in a light pink dress. It reminds me of an old Capitol style. I like it, but it's not for me; growing up around only males has given me a more tomboyish way of dressing. I have a nice pair of pants and a dress shirt waiting for me in my room.
"Glad you've finally joined us," Louie says when I open the screen door and let it bang shut behind me. "Do you want to be late?"
"Relax, I'm getting ready now," I wave my hand to deflect his words, returning his small smile.
As I walk through the short hallway to my room, I glimpse my father sitting in the one he shares with Buck. I resist my instinct to talk to him and instead leave him to it. The Hunger Games have never really affected our family like so many others, but death has taken its toll on my father. My mother's disease took her from us when I was five, and Louie has told me before his son has never been the same since. Although I don't have too many memories of my mother, Buck has told me enough stories to get a sense of what she was like. After her diagnosis, she had spent most of her remaining time trying different treatments, hoping to extend her life as long as possible. Nothing worked.
Once I'm dressed for the Reaping, we head to the square. Most of District Ten is flat and sparsely populated, despite being quite large. The houses are few and far between, with most space dedicated to livestock. The small downtown area is pretty much within itself a market, made up of a few stores and the shopkeepers' homes next to the meatpacking plants. Livestock raising and meatpacking are the only real jobs available in District Ten aside from these few stores, situated closely together just outside of downtown. They're the tallest buildings in the district, smoke constantly billowing from them towards the sky.
Today is a pretty slow day, though nothing moves very quickly around here anyway. Everyone is milling around the square, the Justice Building decorated lavishly in a way that only happens during the Games season. Although the Games themselves are horrifying, the banners bring some color into this dreary place, which is always plagued by death anyway. The escorts have said before that the district has a distinct smell of blood and feces, but everyone around here is used to it. We have nothing to compare it to.
Ox and Breeze are waiting for me just inside the square. They're both muscular from work on the ranches just like me, tall and freckled like most people from District Ten, and smiling at me as I approach.
"Let's get this over with," Ox says gruffly, leading us into our respective sections. He stands near the aisle so he can talk to Breeze and I in the girls' section.
"We have the most slips out of anyone," Breeze says anxiously. "Eighteen-year olds who take out tesserae are the most picked and all three of us are exactly that!"
"Don't worry about it so much," I remind her. "At least it's our last year. We won't have to worry about it anymore after this, and later tonight we'll be able to celebrate becoming ineligible."
"I don't know how you be so calm, Filly" Breeze says with a small laugh. I look around and realize most of the girls aren't adopting my mindset; they're clenching their teeth and watching the movements onstage with barely-concealed fear.
"It's just the way I am," I shrug. "We can't help if we're picked or not."
Denver O'Casey (14)- D10M
One good thing that comes out of Daelyn's excursions is that it takes my mind off of everything else. No one is worried about an exam in school, or problems at the shop, or the Reaping, when Daelyn is missing. By the time we find her passed out behind the pastry shop, I've all but forgotten that my family forgot me earlier, and Carissa hasn't even had time to stress about her first Reaping. When we arrive at the square just in the nick of time, we haul Daelyn to the seventeen-year old's section and take our own places. She's still pretty drunk, but there's no law saying you have to be sober at the ceremony, just present.
By the time the mayor is finished with his speech, the reality of the Reaping starts to set in. I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants and try to focus on the escort's words.
"Happy Hunger Games everyone! Now, let's jump right in."
He waltzes over to the girl's glass ball and snatches up a name. His fingernails are grown out like talons, making him look like a bird of prey. He unfolds the paper, cheerfully reading out, "Filly Marcoffe!"
The square falls silent as the chosen girl climbs the stage. She's dressed in some clean pants and a rancher blouse, obviously a farm girl. I'm happy it's not Carissa or Daelyn, but my palms start to sweat again when the escort steps up to the boys' ball.
I close my eyes as he draws out the slip. I try to calm myself down, breathing deeply.
"Denver O'Casey!"
I suddenly feel like I'm going to pass out. I open my eyes and feel tears start to creep down my face. My feet move toward the stage, sobbing softly as the escort pats my shoulder gently. "Congratulations, Denver! It's just so exciting, I know! Now shake hands, my dears!"
Filly reaches out and takes my hand, her blue eyes sad and wide. I can hardly grab onto it, trying to wipe my tears away with my other hand. I shouldn't let the Capitol see me like this.
I've never been in the Justice Building before, but I do know it's the nicest place in District Ten. In the visitor's room, the couches are red velvet with gold trim, the colors of Panem, with a large ornate fireplace on the opposite wall. My tears stain the velvet underneath me, unable to stop falling.
My family comes to visit soon after, but Daelyn is missing. I wonder if she's ran off again but my parents say she wanted to visit me separately. I feel bad for complaining about them earlier; I'll never be able to see Cassara paint again or hear about Tallen's crazy customers at the butcher's shop. I wish I could go back and cherish every moment I had with them.
Daelyn comes in next, her face surprisingly blank. "I love you, Denver," she tells me, handing me one of her necklaces. I recognize it as one of her favorites out of the few pieces of jewelry we can afford. I wrap in the silver heart charm in my fist.
"I love you, too."
"Say hi to Daisy for me."
Filly Marcoffe (18)- D10F
No one wants to talk much; our family has never had much to say anyway.
"Do your best to come back to us," Buck says awkwardly, handing me a horse-hair charm. They're all over District Ten, especially among horse ranchers, but this one looks like he hastily handmade it himself.
"I made it from Amber's mane," he says. "She's going to miss you while you're gone."
"I'm sure she will," I say with a smile.
"How are you so… okay with this?" my father asks suddenly, and I can hear tears in his voice.
I turn to him and take a deep breath. "There's no point in being upset about it," I say. "It's already done. I'm just going to do my best and come back here one way or another as a celebrity." A smile grows on my face. "I might win this thing and then we'll never have to work on the ranch ever again. What do you think about that?"
My father smiles and Louie laughs softly. "That's our Filly. Make us proud, won't you?"
Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay. Here's District Ten! I hope everyone has had a good week. :)