Different Perspectives Chapter 11
The 11th Hunger Games
Author's Note: I do not own The Hunger Games.
From Katherine Dujardin's account on a School Field Trip to The Capitol, 200 years after The Mockingjay Rebellion.
The train arrived in the station as my friends, and I stared at the luxurious setting. As Mrs. Aspinall led us off the train, we could see the crowds of people dressed in different colours. Living in New Ontario, formerly District 13, our clothing leaned towards practical, though thanks to the events two centuries ago, formal clothing from Neo Atlantic had made their way across the country. I remembered from History Class that Neo Atlantic was formerly known as District 8, and that it was famous for its textiles. Kids from New Appalachia, Gulf Coast, Rio Granda, Badlands, Siskiyou, Lakeside, Neo Denver, Pacific Beach, Silicon Region, Canyon and New Wyoming were also there, each one in their region's signature colours, recognisable by the bands on their wrists. As Mrs. Aspinall guided our group to Panem Museum, a large museum with roman-style columns, we gasped in amazement. Inside, in the marble halls, were seventy-five large glass windows. Each of the seventy-five exhibits was dedicated to a Hunger Games, with the most notable being Edgar Parlour's last letter, in which he confesses his guilt about having to kill Rocky Turner and his own grandson Volunteering for the Games, part of the display on the very first Hunger Games; an arrow, blood up to halfway up it's sheath as well as an oval-shaped locket from the Fourth Games, Lucy Grey Baird's iconic rainbow dress and guitar from the 10th Hunger Games. Below each display was the names of every single Tribute that participated in the Games, their dates of births and dates of death listed; I found out that my birthday was the same day as Rocky Turner's, 28th April. My younger sister Darcy was born on 24th November, the same day as the twin brothers that participated for the formerly known District 12 in the Fourth and Fifth Hunger Games. My brother Nathan's birthday is May 30th, the day Rue was born. Looking at the display in front of me, I saw from the plate it was the 11th Hunger Games display. A scale model of the Arena, resting on a bed of sand, dried seeds and berries, a donation from a Capitol family that toured the Arena prior to the Arenas' destruction, the hooks Mags made, and at both ends of the display, was two outfits she wore. The first was an aqua dress, bodice made of satin and the skirt out of cotton and tulle, a shawl decorated with turquoise sequins covered the shoulders. The second was a linen dress, decorated with netting, the outfit she wore during her Tribute Interview in the 75th Hunger Games. A note beside the first dress read "This outfit was worn by Mags Flanagan during her stop in the Capitol during her Victory Tour. Her Victory Tour was the first held in Panem." The second outfit had a note, noting that the dress was the one she wore in her last ever interview, as she died in the Third Quarter Quell. At the back of the display was a painting of a younger Mags, her District Partner Dylan Colwill and Graph Giedoric, the nephew of the aforenoted District 12 twin brothers. The painting was done by Peeta Mellark, an artist that lived two hundred years ago. Looking at the picture, I could see how sad Graph looked, as he knew what his fate would be. As I was about to rejoin Mrs. Aspinall I bumped into a boy with shoulder-length dark hair and blue-grey eyes. "Sorry" I said.
"No worries there. Name's Fox Everdeen." The boy introduced himself. "My great-great grandfather painted this picture."
Peeta Mellark is this boy's great-great grandfather? I admit, I am getting quite curious about this boy from New Appalachia and his family history. "My grandfather married a woman with the surname Giedoric, and recently my mother has been looking at my family tree; she discovered my grandmother is a descendant of Martha Giedoric, Graph's aunt and the sister to both Harold and Lachlan Hennessey. My great-great grandmother can recall songs after hearing them once or twice, a trait my grandfather mentioned as being from a Maude Ivory Baird." Maude must be related to Lucy Grey Baird. This means that Fox is related to no less than seven Tributes. As I heard Mrs. Aspinall call my name, I ran to the nearest sheet of paper, torn a piece off and wrote my name and address on it before handing it to Fox.
This is the beginning of a new friendship.
Whew, this is an entirely different viewpoint. I love the idea that thanks to people like Mercedes Vonheli, people in Katherine and Fox's era start learning not just the history of Panem, but also about us; that's why the Districts are renamed in this chapter. District 7 being named "Sisikyou" in Katherine's era was a little reference to a scene in "Beyond The Pale", when Denis Rostron remembers exploring a hut in the forest of the same name. I would like to think the hut still survives in Katherine's era, but who knows? But once I finish Chapter 13 of Different Perspectives, I will publish future chapters concurrently with future chapters of "75 Years".