Hi! It's the District 5 reaping! I added in the perspective of the male tribute a bit, right at the end. And also, I'm off on holiday on Friday, so it'll be harder for me to update the story. I'll take my laptop so I can write, and there's an internet café in the village I'm staying in, so if I can I'll try and get the next chapter up. Hope you enjoy!
Daisy had been up all night in fear. It was her first reaping and she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. What if she was reaped? What if Carly or Joe were reaped? What if Ryan was reaped? Daisy's brother, Ryan, was fifteen now and he still had three years before he was safe from the games. Now Daisy had to make it through seven years of that. Maybe she wouldn't survive today. Maybe she wouldn't survive next year. Maybe, Maybe, Maybe….
"Daisy? Why are you awake so early, it's seven in the morning, you…" Ryan stopped short as he actually looked at her. She was sat on her floor in a nest of all the pillows and blankets she could find in the house. "Daisy, are you OK? It'll be alright, the chances of you getting reaped are miniscule. It'll be fine. Think of all the hundreds of other kids in District Five. They all have their names in too" Ryan walked over and sat beside his sister, patting her gently on the back.
"But you can't know that I won't be reaped! And your name is in there too, you saw what happened to Illiana last year!" Both brother and sister shuddered as they remembered the young girl's gruesome death.
"You ought to get dressed Daisy. I'll be at the table, I think we have some fruit" Ryan walked away and Daisy forced herself to stand up. She shakily searched her chest for some pretty clothes to wear. She only had some black leggings and a black top, but she put her favourite item of clothing on top. It was a cherry red trench coat that Ryan had given her when her mother died. It would do. She ran to find Ryan and the promise of food. Ryan had been true to his word, there were apples and pears, and Daisy even saw a banana set aside just for her. She ate them all ferociously, she always got hungry when she was scared for some reason.
"Calm down Daisy!" Ryan cried, separating a juicy pear from her mouth before she could bite. "Eat slower, you don't want it all coming back up in the town square" Daisy reluctantly ate slower, waiting precisely three seconds between each bite. It was agony. Ryan just laughed at her attempts to 'Calm down', which included sweating, muttering to herself and hyperventilating.
After breakfast Ryan turned on the television. Each reaping was played live, then replayed all day. They turned on to see the beginning of the reapings in District 3. Ryan spent a few minutes laughing at the name of the boy tribute. Who named their child 'Electric'? But Daisy was fascinated by Ebony Dewarren. She had been sat at the front, and for a second she seemed to almost be looking at the bowl with glee, but the escort tripped and she returned to looking sullen and scary. She was then reaped, but she only shrugged, as if she hadn't just been chosen to die in cold blood. Daisy wished she could be strong like her, not caring, able to survive anything.
In District four, Daisy didn't care much for either tribute. The boy was big, clearly a career, and Daisy couldn't relate to the girl. Daisy was instead interested in the previous victors, and the mentors. There were an awful lot of them in District four, and they looked healthy, unlike 5's line of morphlings. The female mentor was Tess Colfer, who'd won only the year before, and the male mentor was the ever-famous Finnick Odair. He was always a mentor, because everyone just loved Finnick that much.
Ryan jumped in surprise when he looked out the window to see the town clock.
"Daisy! We have to go! They'll be picking the names out now!" Brother and sister raced towards the town square together, and Daisy made her way slowly towards her pen whilst Ryan made a beeline for his. The escort got a strip of paper out of the bowl, and looked at it, letting the tension build.
"Daisy Dunmore!" he screamed. Daisy felt her whole world fall apart. A tiny 'Oh' escaped her lips as she mounted the stage, numb of all feeling. The boy was chosen, a fifteen year old that Daisy had seen about, his name was Blade and he was rumoured to be the strongest boy in the whole of District five. Daisy realised that she didn't stand a chance, but she would try.
Blade looked at the little girl and felt anger rise in his stomach. She might be twelve years old, but at heart she was still a little child. Blade instantly felt protective of her, as if she were his sister. Maybe he'd try to keep her safe, nothing drastic, just keeping an eye out for her in the arena to make sure she was alright, and not killed too horribly. But then again, these were the hunger games. Every death was horrible.