A/N: Here's District Five! I really hope that I got the tributes right. Sorry that Meck doesn't get a lot of time but I promise that he will get more later on! Please R&R! Also I would appreciate some ideas for ways to make writing the Reaping faster (different techniques, etc...) Thanks a bunch! Enjoy District Five:
Celsie POV
I walk into the house after finishing my daily chores. A teenage boy with curly blonde hair runs out to see me, waving excitedly to me when he sees me. I giggle.
"Hey, Cypress," I say, running up to my little brother.
"Hey CiCi!" Cypress yells excitedly. "Dad wants me to tell you that breakfast is ready." As we near the house I can smell the bacon and practically taste the yummy apple juice. I wipe my dirty hands on my khaki pants. I spent the morning washing the animals – yesterday there was a huge storm and all of our animals got muddy; especially the bears. My mother was a famous animal trainer here in our district, and my father always says that I inherited the same way with animals that she had before she died. I retie my long scarlet hair into a high ponytail and follow Cypress into our ranch house. Castanea is working over the oven, her long curly hair tied into a knot at the base of her neck. She was frying slices of bacon and flipping some pancakes; looking perfectly calm. She always found her place behind a stove.
"Hi guys, can you get Dad in here, breakfast'll be ready in a few minutes." Cypress leaves and walks into the den, strictly my father's room. He's nice but he can't raise two teenage girls and one teenage boy to save his life. Thank God I'm eighteen now, and old enough to take care of my fourteen-year-old siblings, or they would be in trouble. My mother died while giving birth to Cypress and Castanea, but she left her legacy of animal training to me. When I was eight and our family was in danger of losing our home, I found an old journal of my mother's filled with tips and instructions on training animals for the Capitol, and we started our business up right away, with me as the head trainer. I've attempted to teach Castanea and Cypress how to train also, so that I could have a little help, but Castanea practically failed in every way, preferring to stay in the home and act as our mother. Cypress caught on faster, but he would never be able to do it on his own.
"Hey princess," my dad says, kissing my forehead. I've always hated him calling me that, but I let him because my mother is dead.
"Hey Dad," I say. His wavy blonde hair is sticking to his forehead, and his big blue eyes mirror my little siblings'. Everyone who has never met my mother cannot believe that this is my family because I look so different with my huge chocolate brown eyes and long red hair; an almost mirror image of my dead mom. The small T.V. on the kitchen counter is playing back the Reapings from District One; the time is different so where they are the Reaping has already started. A gorgeous girl with long pin-straight platinum blonde hair steps onto the stage, her long legs almost indecently exposed as she walks. Once she takes her spot next to the District escort, she gives the camera a sultry stare with incredibly green eyes. Cypress is practically drooling. I thunk him on the back of the head with my hand. Castanea tries not to laugh too hard as she pours our drinks.
"So," Cypress begins, rubbing the back of his head, "how're the tigers?" Cypress loves talking about our tigers.
"Good." We watch the District One Reaping in silence, and once that is over some footage of the smoldering District Thirteen ruins airs.
I clear my throat. "Well, I better get going. Don't wanna look filthy for the Reaping."
"I'll go upstairs with you, Celsie." Castanea says, "Cy, you and Dad do the dishes, kay?" She doesn't wait for their answer. We walk up the stairs in silence, but once we reach the hallway where our rooms are, Castanea faces me. "You know, Dad doesn't talk to you much because you're just like Mom was, or so I'm told she was. Don't let it get to you." Castanea gently touches my elbow and smoothes a strand of her light blonde hair behind her ear. I nod silently and go into my room, gently closing the door. Sometimes it bugs me how my fourteen-year-old sister can be so much more perceptive than I can be. I brush that thought out of my mind and open the doors of my closet, selecting a soft pink one that used to be my mother's favorite. Paired with some old white sandals I could be her twin sister. I brush my hair and wash off my face and arms, put on the silver wolf pendant that used to belong to my mother. I love our wolves, and apparently my mother did too. I walk out of my room and down the hallway. My father and brother always wear the same clothes that they put on in the morning, while Castanea and I change from our everyday clothes. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see that the men of the family have already left to go to the Reaping, they never like waiting for the girls to get ready. I sit at the lonely kitchen table, waiting for my sister to arrive.
"Hey CiCi." I look up to see Castanea at the foot of the stairs, looking practically like an angel in a white dress with her white-blonde hair in a bun, with a pair of white heels that belonged to my mother. "Let's go." She offers out her arm.
Meck POV
"Meck!" A shrill voice snaps me out of my dream.
"Coming Auntie!" I yell back at her. My aunt can't come upstairs and wake me up because she has to be pushed around in a wheelchair. She lost her ability to walk in the same animal accident that killed my parents. District Five is famous for our animal training methods, and occasionally the Peacekeepers overlook the fact that we hold secret zoos in people's homes and backyards. One year, my parents went to one of these zoos and an animal mauled them. They were killed instantly, but my aunt was able to be saved, she just lost her legs. I quickly throw on an old dress shirt and a pair of jeans, wet my short brown hair so it looks like I was in the shower or something, and rush downstairs. Auntie is wheeling herself around the kitchen, trying to reach some jars on the shelves. I walk over to the cabinet and grab all of the jars that she needs to make breakfast. "Here Auntie."
"Thanks." My aunt's stern features barely softened, only when she was around me. I don't even think I've ever heard her laugh before. Or smile, for that matter. As my aunt finishes up pouring our cereal and spreading jam on our toast, I set the table with two placemats and two glasses full of cold milk. My aunt and I eat in silence, only commenting on each other's outfits or on the District One Reaping. Finally, we finish our meal and head to the town square, where my aunt's nurse meets her and wheels her away. I stand with the other twelve-year-olds, all of them towering over me and pretending that I am not there. I don't mind the silence, actually. It makes it so much easier to not hurt people.
Our mayor reads the Treaty of Treason and our escort, Hunter, walks onto the stage, paying homage to our district with tattooed zebra stripes and a Mohawk. "Time for the ladies, District Five!" He yells after his standard greeting. Hunter reaches into the huge Reaping Ball and pulls out a ragged piece of paper. "And our lovely lady tribute is … Celsie Crete!" Hunter says this with so much enthusiasm that I feel like giggling. A small girl with wavy red hair walks up to the stage from the Eighteen line. I had seen her around, her mother was the greatest animal trainer in District Five. Of course, the trait was passed on. Everyone calls Celsie the "beast whisperer." After Celsie gets up to the stage, Hunter goes over to the boy's Reaping Ball. He pulls out a small slip of paper and reads it aloud.
My blood goes cold as my name resonates from Hunter's freakish lips.
I walk stiffly up to the stage and closer to the beast whisperer and Hunter the Zebra. His alternating stripes of white and black add to the growing nausea I feel in the pit of my stomach. After Celsie and I shake hands and she smiles kindly at me a couple of Peacekeepers herd us into the Justice Building where we are given separate rooms to receive our family members and our friends.
Auntie rolls in with her nurse, Willa, behind her. And she gets straight to business, not wanting to waste visiting time. Unexpectedly, she pulls me onto her lap and hugs me, tears gathering in her eyes. "You keep your honor boy, you hear me?" Auntie says urgently. I nod, afraid to leave my aunt's question unanswered. Willa is crying now too. Suddenly, Auntie reaches out and picks her bag up off of the floor and digs around in it for a while, mumbling to herself. "Ah, here we go…" she says to herself, pulling out a small bag. Auntie extends her wrinkly hand and I take the bag from her, opening it slowly. Inside rests a silver pin in the shape of a bird in flight. Birds are my favorite animal. "I thought that you would like it, Meck." My aunt says awkwardly.
"I love you, Auntie." I declare, and I see my aunt smile for the first time.
Celsie POV
I'm still in shock by the time that my family comes in. How was I called? I think. How?
"CiCi, get home soon, okay?" Cypress says. "Okay?" He gently shakes my shoulder and I snap out of it.
"I will, Cy. Promise. Besides, I can't trust you with the animals forever." I grin.
"Celsie, I don't know her, but I am sure that Mom would be proud." Castanea says. My father's face turns hard as he tries not to cry.
"Thanks Cassie."
My father is crying again, and I unhook the silver wolf pendant from my neck and begin to give it to my father; opening my palm. It's one of the only things that my mother held dear that we still have. Surprisingly, my father closes my fingers around the necklace. "Dad, I-"
"Keep it. It's yours." Tears spring to my eyes as I pull my father into a hug, and soon my siblings join in. I regret the moment when I have to let go.