Act 2
'The Harvesting'

The day had finally come. Nothing could compare to the feeling one got on the day of the reaping. It was like your stomach was a heavy rock, sinking further and further into deep water. It was like the pit in your stomach was contorting. It was truly a horribly feeling.

I am 16 so I have my name in the drawing five times for that. Then there were the years I ended up having to take tesserae. It was for only three years for the both of us, but it added up. Only 12 times, but that still made a difference when not everyone in the district applies for tesserae.

I stood in my section with the rest of the girls around my age. All of were dressed in our best wear. Really, everyone was dressed to impress; to the best of their abilities that is.

Only when the Games are happening do the Peacekeepers actually do their job. None of us were about to get harassed by them because we weren't dressed nicely. For all I know, they could blame me for "disrespecting" the Capital because I am dressed in regular clothing.

Not that you could really tell. Aside from those who had enough money to afford dress clothing, most of us were just wearing homemade nice rags. Now, I am not being rude. A normal person, say from the Capital, would probably use this clothing to wipe their floors. They were rags.

Everyone piled into their spots. It was required by law to attend the reapings unless extremely sick or on your death bed. There were probably quite a few people in the district who were close to Death's door due to work, but neither my mom nor me were.

Standing on my toes, I could just see the section where the adults were being kept. I couldn't see my mom, but I could only assume she was somewhere in the back of the crowd, dazing out. She could even be shooting up for all I know.

I placed my feet back down and looked towards the stage.

It was a weird thought that the stage wasn't normally there, as it looked like it had always lived there.

No one's talking… I thought.

Even with people trying to avoid contact with others, there is mumbling. When pushed in to such cramped conditions like the reaping, usually there are a few people who cannot help but gossip or comfort or whatever. But strangely enough, there was none of that. You could hear adults betting from the side lines, but none from the children.

Suddenly all sounds stopped. It was a strange halt in all sound. I swear I even heard people stop breathing as to remain quite. Focusing back on the stage, I realized way. Standing there was the escort of the year.

The previous escort had died from some mysterious illness. That is what the Capitol had said anyway. I think he got caught smuggling, as there were rumors about that. He was only 26 anyway, so what could have been so bad that he died, but so docile that only he died?

Now, replacing our old escort was a rather short and pudgy man. With him standing up there reminded me of a cow wearing a tuxedo. The tuxedo didn't even fit him, instead coming apart at the buttons. I was waiting for him to explode.

I think I heard from around his name was Gaius.

"Hello and welcome to the 24th Hunger Games!" he announced.

No one cheered. No one clapped. No one made any noise. Obviously disappointed by this, Gaius continued.

"Before we can start, let us watch our history as a nation, reminding us all why the Hunger Games is," he spoke.

Two large television screens on either side of the stage began to play the well-known video. It acted like we were to blame for someone else's mistake. I dozed off as the video continued. Everyone knew it, and trust me, everyone was tired of it; so I wasn't the only one to be fading in and out.

I came back as the video faded to black.

"And now for the lucky two to be representing District 8 in this year's Hunger Games," he said after the video finally stopped. "As how it always is, ladies first."

On the stage with him were two large clear glass bowls, or Reaping Balls; one on either side. As with every year, one contained the females' names and the other, the males'.

Gaius walked over to the left side of the stage and, almost as if parading the bowl, stood beside with his hand looming over it. He slowly reached in and took his sweet old time as he rummaged through the papers. Finally his hand stopped and he pulled out a single paper.

Please… Please… Please… I thought as I closed my eyes.

I couldn't even finish my own thoughts to, Please don't let it be me. I truly couldn't care less who it was, but it couldn't be me.

"The female tribute for District 8 is…"

He was stalling it felt like. I really just wanted him to belt it out alr-

"Calico Neil!"

… Never mind…

It took me a second to register. Soon though, I was surrounded by four Peacekeepers who "escorted" me to the stage. Once I was up there, Gaius gave me a big, fake smile.

"And the male tribute for District 8…"

He walked over to male Reaping Ball and waved his hand over it. He seemed a bit more quicker than with the female. I was still a bit dazed as he called out the guy's name.

"Dezji Warder," he called out.

That's… Lilleth's brother…

The thought went through my head. Distracted from my own problem of being tribute and looked at Dizji. I hadn't met him ever before, but upon looking at him, he does look like her. Despite from the length of hair, his waist-length contrasting her short bob, they looked so alike. How he held himself was different though. Unlike Lilleth's cheerful attitude that had I grown to expect, Dezji held himself with a little more anger and brashness. He didn't seem to be too happy in being drawn, though he didn't seem as scared as I felt.

"We have the two tributes!" said Gaius. "Now, shake hands."

I turned to Dezji. He scowled at me, but still extended his hand. We shook hands, though not without a bit of a silent stand-off. He gripped me hand with such harshness. He didn't look like he had any muscles, so his grip was something unexpected. I winced a bit, but quickly switched my face over to a straight-faced glare.

No one seemed to notice or they just didn't care because everyone just clapped.

"Our tributes for District 8!"

Gaius continued to repeat that same phrase over and over, trying to excite the crowd, while Dezji and I shook hands.

If this is my competition, how will I survive? I thought.

REMEMBER TO REVIEW! :)

Calico is named after a type of fabric originating from India.

Pill (not Phil) is named after the small ball of fibers that form cloth.

Gaius means 'to rejoice', which I feels fits his Capitol-esque personality.

And it hasn't been said yet, but Calico's mom is named Qiviut, which is musk ox wool.