Post by firestorm on Jul 21, 2012 16:15:21 GMT -6
Ooc okay so i started to write a hunger games fan fiction but then i thought that it would make a nice thread so ya also can someone take over Katniss and Peeta and I'll be their districts mentor?
The Hunger Games Fan Fiction
1
Blood, blood everywhere, reaching up to my neck and drowning me in its dark, red, swirling abyss of nothingness.
I bolted up from my pillow, gasping. My elder sister opened her eyes and smiled calmly at me, grasping my sweaty hands in her own. "Calm down Rosie, you're alright." she whispered to me. My name was Roseline but the nickname reasurred me. I sighed, closing my eyes and sinking back into the blankets. I was still scared because of the reality of my dream. Images from the past Hunger Games haunted my dreams, turning themselves into complete nightmares. I kept seeing myself fighting off other tributes, and ending up dying in so many different ways. There was never a happy ending, in my dreams I never won. Of course I didn't. I wouldn't have a chance considering that I was barely healthy and the tributes from a lot of the districts have been trained for this even though it's illegal. Not to mention that I was just turning twelve the next day. My sister continued to hold onto my hand refusing to let me sink back into nightmares. I soon found myself falling into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning I woke up to find my eldest sister getting dressed in her hunting gear. I sat up from the small cot that we shared. "Can I come hunting with you this time?" I asked, we used to always go with our father even though it was illegal, but with him working in the mines until many hours after I had fallen asleep each night, I rarely even got to see him any more, and therefore hadn't even touched any sort of hunting gear in a long time.
My sister considered my question for a while, before nodding quickly. "Sure why not, but I'm going to have to re-teach you." she says, my sister is nineteen years old, and is a great hunter. When father can't provide all the food we need through the money he earns from working in the mines, which is usually, my sister hunts, and I usually gather leaves, roots and all sorts of fruit. I found a wild raspberry bush a few years back and it's always very plentiful in the summer.
I slipped my feet into the boots Father had made for me and grabbed the leather jacket off the hook that usually hung next to my sisters.
"Lily," I ask my sister, "Do you think that I can try your bow today?" I ask.
"Well, let's see how you do starting off with a few knives to throw. Those big muscles might break my bow." she laughs, squeezing my bone thin fore arms. I had nearly no muscle and she knew that, but I didn't mind, I knew she meant well. I laughed in return, "Well come on!" I say, running out the door of our house.
It was rather early, and even the soot covered streets of district 12 were wet with dew. I grabbed Lily's hand and tugged her along, until we had to duck behind the bushes near the fence enclosing district 12 before we were able to get out into the woods.
Once we were right near the fence, my sister held me back as she listened for the low hum of the electric fence. Of course there was none, we were lucky just to get a few hours of electricity here in district twelve at night and the fence was rarely working, but my sister always checked, just in case.
"Come on Rosie." my sister whispered, as she slowly guided me towards the fence, I could barely see through the thick leaves of the bush that we had ducked inside, but soon I was able to see the silver wiring of the fence and was able to get under myself. Once my sister joined me, we set off into the woods. Lily grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows from a tree and grabbed a bag filled with sharp knives from under a stone. She handed the bags of knives to me. I was excited, I hadn't ever actually been able to hit game before.
After a while walking through the woods my sister pointed out a small bird to me that was pecking at the ground, searching for insects. She motioned to the knives and then nodded to me. I let out a long silent breath, and reached in to grab one of the knives. I pulled my arm back slowly, then with a quick motion, sent the knife flying towards the bird. It hit it in the side, rendering it motionless. I slowly made my way over, my sister right behind me, and reached down to the bird. I saw the pain in its eyes and was sorry that I had hurt it.
"Come on Rosie, you gotta do it." my sister said, leaning down and touching my wrist lightly. "All you have to do, is snap its neck and it won't feel a thing." I looked up at my sister, then slowly put my hands on the birds head, twisting it quickly. I shuddered at the snap of bone that ended the birds life.
"I don't like that Lily." I said.
"Just wait until it ends up in stew. Rosie, we have to eat, and this little bird will feed us. Okay? everything on Earth eats something else to survive, whether it's plant or animal. If we had more money we wouldn't have to do this, but we do, alright? Trust me, that little bird would have understood. Plus, see that worm? You just saved it's life from that bird." she chuckles somewhat darkly. "Rosie, it's okay, you get used to it." Lily says. I nod my head and stand, placing the tiny carcass into Lily's game bag. Then we continue on.
"That was pretty good aim back there." Lily says, trying to lighten the mood. I of course can't help but smile. "Thanks, Lily," I murmur, could I try your bow now? But, not on an animal?" I ask, I don't really want to do that again right now.
"Sure Rose." she says; handing the bow over to me. I place the bow in my left hand, and Lily helps me string the arrow. "Alright Rosie, now arm up, hold the end of the arrow up against your cheek. Very good." She says, "Now, aim for the end where the branch has broken off of the tree over there." I point the arrow towards it. "Alright, shoot." she says. I release the string, it seems like it would be a good shot, but it misses the targeted spot my mere inches and the arrow flies off into the bushes.
"It's really good for your first try." Lily says, taking the bow back from my hand. "Try throwing the knife." she says, after wondering for a moment. I look at her, slightly confused, before I stand and send the knife flying through the air, where it lands up to the hilt right in the center of the targeted spot on the tree. I gape at the knife as much as my sister does. I didn't know that I could do that.
"Well then," says my sister, not taking her eyes off of the wooden hilt of the knife, "it seems you have a knack for throwing knives." she turns her gaze back to me after a few more moments.
After a few more failed attempts by me at the bow she moves off a few feet to hunt some more, leaving me sitting on a moss covered rock. I break off a piece of wood from a fallen branch, and taking one of the knives, slowly begin to carve away at the hunk of wood.
When my sister arrives back I am dusting off my shirt of the swirly wood shavings from my carving. I picked up the small fawn statue I had carved. I had to say it was rather a good likeness. I had always been pretty good at carving. If we had lived in any other district where people could waste money on useless, little, pretty things, I could probably make good money off of them. But we don't and I can't sell them to even the peacekeepers here so, I don't bother.
I set the carving down on the rock beside me and stare up at the mottled sunlight poking through the leaves of the trees. It would be so great to find a place away from the Capitol, where life was ways like it is for me right now at this moment. I sighed. My sister always told me I worried far too much for my age.
"Come on Rosie, it's getting late. Let's go home." my sister says. Yes, home, to the dirty, sick streets of District Twelve. Where the dear Capitol cares for each and every one of us with its wonderful generosity of electricity, food, even the share of the coal we mine and letting us buy it from ourselves. The Capitol getting most of the money all of us earn here. I was trying to stay positive, and place the little deer into my pocket. "I can paint that for you when we get home." Lily says. I smile, her painting is magnificent, I grasp her hand, and we begging to run through the woods together, back towards District Twelve.
After we stash the weapons back where we had found them we walk more quietly back to the electric fence. It still isn't on. We climb through, making ourselves as unnoticeable as possible as we make our way back to our beaten up house.
As soon as I sit down, my sister grabbs the paintbrushes and I help her make the pain using juices from berries I had found a little while ago. We couldn't eat them anymore so we can turn them into whatever we want.
I set the little carving into the palm of my sister's hand and she begins to work. I sit patiently as she does, letting my mind wander. I daydream for a while, about being out in the woods with my father and my sister, about always being able to have food on the table. But I had to stop my dreaming once I began to think of the Hunger Games again.
My sister looked skeptically at one painted leg of the sculpted deer, and dabbed it with the end of the paintbrush, before she set it down. It was so life like. I gazed at it.
"It's beautiful Lily." I say as I look over, particularly fascinated by the shining black eyes of the fawn.
"Thanks Rosie." She says. "Now we have to let that dry, so why don't you go down to the market and buy a small loaf of bread from the baker, whatever you can afford. Today is a special day." she says, handing me a small handful of coins from her pocket. It wasn't much but it was what we had all saved up.
I practically skipped out the door and to the Baker's shop. I skipped up to the counter, my curls bouncing on my head. The baker turned towards me. "Hey there Rosie!" he says cheerily. I sell him most of the fruit I gather, he really enjoys the raspberries.
"What's the special occasion?" He asks, sliding fresh loaves of bread onto the shelf.
"Today is my birthday. Lily gave me some coins to buy some bread." I say, placing the handful of coins into the counter.
"Well happy birthday Rosie." He says, taking out one of the warm loves of bread, and wrapping it up in the brown paper. "And since it's your birthday, I'll give you something special." He says, grabbing a small, colorful cake from the shelf below him. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My family had never been able to afford cake, at least not from what I can remember.
The baker scoops the coins into his pocket, and then places the beautiful cake inside of a small box, and placed the bread on top of it, tying the bread to the box with a small string. Then he gives both to me.
"Happy birthday!" he calls after me again as I leave the shop.
I make my way home carefully, making sure not to drop my precious cargo, and finally make it back to my house.
My mother and my sister were standing in the kitchen preparing the food we would be having for dinner. "What do you have here?" asked my mother, motioning towards he box in my arms. I placed the box on the counter and smiled excitedly.
"The baker gave me a cake!" I say, opening up the box, showing the colorfully decorated cake. A small pink rose blossom was carefully spread across the top of the cake, a beautiful contrast to the clean, white icing.
My mother and sister stared at the cake, just as I had when the baker had given it to me. "He said it was a special birthday present." I said. My mother smiled at me, closing the box once again to keep the cake safe from rats or flies, and continued to work on the meal.
"That's great, now we can have a real birthday feast!" chimes my sister, as she unwraps the bread and begins to cut it into thick slices. I can see the steam come up from The bread. I had brought the bread home right after it had come out of the oven. It was still hot. My mouth watered at the thought of it.
I got the plates down from the cabinet and set them down on the table. My sister grabbed the forks and knives and placed them down and I grabbed the small wooden cups I had carved a while ago, after my mother's good glasses had been smashed.
After dinner had been set my mother and my sister sat at the table while I sat impatiently on the doorstep. Father promised he would come home early for my birthday. Soon I saw him and his soot covered miner outfit as he walked up the road. "Daddy!" I yelled, bolting off the step and running for him. He dropped his bag from his shoulder and held his arms open for me.
I jumped into his arms and he lifted me up, whirling me around in the air. "Hey there birthday girl." he laughs, holding me on one shoulder. Since we had the whole food shortage problem he didn't have to worry about my weight and was easily able to pick me up.
I laughed happily, I hadn't seen him in a while. He carried me inside the house, until we reached the table and then he set me down in my chair.
"Looks good." he said, looking at the contents of the pot.
"Rosie caught the bird herself." My sister said, as she passed out spoonfuls of the dark, creamy stew. My dad smiled at me.
"Oh did she now? Did she use the bow?" he asks, taking a drink from the water Mom had poured Into the wooden cups.
"No." I say.
"She has a real talent for throwing knives." my sister says, slowly taking a spoonful of the stew into her mouth and chewing slowly.
My father smiled warmly at me. "I don't think girls should use weapons at all." my mother says, "Even if it's the only thing that put food on the table for us
today, besides the bakers generous gift." I giggle as my sister laughs at our mothers comment, and our mother smiled happily. We soon were contentedly full with the stew and warm buttered bread and my mother left the room, bringing the lovely cake to the table. I had never tasted cake before, but from what I heard it was delicious.
Mom cut small pieces of the cake off, and set a piece down on each of our plates. I scooped off a piece of the slice of cake with my fork and placed it in my mouth. It was heavenly. It was so sweet and soft and brilliantly moist, and I thought that nothing could taste better than that bread had. My entire family dove into the cake, quickly finishing our shares, wanting to leave some for tomorrow. Tomorrow... With all the great things happening today I had completely forgotten that the reaping was tomorrow. This year would be the first year I would be entered into the reaping. Lily saw my hallow face and bent down and hugged me. I felt better instantly, but though I stopped shaking, I was still afraid.
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2
My sister and I went to bed at the same time that night, but neither of us fell asleep. I felt bad for keeping her awake, but I was too afraid of my name getting picked as a tribute for the Hunger Games. My sister told me that I was just being silly, that my name was only one entree among hundreds of others, but I was still terrified.
Once it reached dawn, my sister and I silently got up, got dressed , and headed back out into the woods. I climbed up the tree to get my sister's bow down, as well as the arrows, while she grabbed my bag of knives.
My sister let me take most of the shots, I took down a few animals, making sure to kill them instantly now. I hated to see the pain in their eyes.
I hit a few more small birds, a few squirrels and even a wild turkey. We put it all in my sisters game bag, the wild turkey in first of course.
"Go back to the house Rosie, Mother has to help you get ready for the reaping." Lily says, hoisting the nearly full game bag over her shoulder again. I nodded, and quickly made my way back to the fence. It wasn't on, so I slid right under.
I trotted back to he house as quickly as I could, passing the shuttered houses, most people were probably either sleeping or getting ready for the reaping.
I stepped inside the house, my hands already beginning to shake. My father sat at the lichen table, since everyone had to watch the reaping he was allowed to stay home today. "There you are Roseline." says my mother and pulls me over to the other room. She grabs a hanger which on it hangs a, well for me, fancy cream colored dress, with a lace up back. She helps me put it on and when she is finished, begins to weave my hair into a loose fish tail braid. "You look beautiful Rosie!" says my mother, as she hands me free colored ballet flats to place on my feet. I blush at her compliment, or at least feel like I would if this were any other time of the year, but now I was far too nervous to put out more than a scared smile.
Lily walked into the house merely a moment later. My mother scurried over to her as soon as she heard the door close. "Lily! Your hair!" I heard her cry from the hall. I giggled, my mother was always fussing about appearances. It didn't matter where or how we lived, as long as we lived under her roof, we were to look as presentable as possible.
I waited with Daddy at the table as Mom helped get Lily ready. It took a while for my sister to negotiate with Mom on how she should look but she finally got off with a grey button up dress and black ballet flats. Her hair was short so she didn't have much to do with it so it was merely brushed and left the way it fell.
My mother and sister stepped out of the room. "Oh my! It's nearly two o'clock, hurry up hurry up!" my mother says, shooing the two of us, and my father out of the house. Once we reached the center of District 12, my mother and father went to stand with the adults at the square.
"Come on Rosie, you have to go and sign in." my sister says.
"Lily, I'm scared, what if I get picked?" I blubber, tears beginning to stream down my cheeks. My anxieties finally getting the best of me.
"Roseline. You will be fine. You only have one entree, you won't get picked alright? I promise." says my sister, and gently nudges me towards where I get blood drawn and am signed in. I'm then ushered to go and stand with the other twelve year olds of our District. At this point I am thouroughly shaking.
The mayor gets up on stage, telling the usual speach about how the 13, well now 12 disricts came to exist and the story on how the Hunger Games was started. Then talks about all the tributes from District 12 that have won in the past Hunger Games. There were four, but only three are still alive. Haymitch, Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark. All three of these people sit up on stage next to the mayor. After the speech is finished, the bubbly Effie Trinket bounces up to the microphone, "Happy Hunger Games!" she calls out ecstatically, looking out over the crowd. "And may the odds be ever in your favor! Now, it is time, to chose one courageous young man and woman, to take part in this years Hunger Games! Now, first the girls." she says, walking over to the large glass ball filled with slips of paper with names of the girls of District 12. One of them is mine.
Effie scoops her hand around in the bowl before plucking up one folded slip of paper in her perfectly uniformed shaped purple nails. She moves back to the microphone, clearing her throat and unfolding the slip of paper.
"Roseline Celdmon." she reads out. My heart stops. How was it me?! Lily swore it wouldn't be me. I hear absolutly nothing, but numbly begin to walk forward as someone nudges me along. The crowd clears for me as I begin to walk up to the stage. I hear my sister scream.
"No!" Lily's voice cries out. "No!"
I try to block out her screams. I step up on stage, and Effie grabs my arm. I look out and see my mother, who has collapsed in my fathers arms.
"Congratulations Roseline!" Effie calls out with a wide smile. "Now for the boys." I look over at Katniss, one of the victors from the hunger games the year previous. She tries not to show any emotion, but she looks sick. Peeta reaches over and grabs her hand. He looks me in the eyes, tryig to send a reassuring smile my way but I duck my head, just in time to see Effie unfurl the slip of a boys name.
"Colt Filmenser." Effie cries out. I didn't know the boy, but he was a burly 17 year old boy. He was gruff, and strong. I was a goner. I knew I was. "Congratulations Colt!" Effie says, as Colt steps onto the stage. "Happy Hunger Games!" Effie cries again, "and may he odds be ever in your favor!"
I am quickly escorted into the Justice building by a pair of Peacekeepers. Tears are streaming down my face now. I didn't care about the cameras.
I was escorted, well rather shoved inside of a room, with tears still streaming down my face. I sat down on a couch, waiting for my family to arrive. My mother was the first to come in. She immediately ran over to me, and threw her arms around me. She was sobbing.
"Oh my poor baby! My precious little baby!" she wailed, refusing to let go of me. This was doing nothing to help with my emotions.
"Mama?" I asked, another tear dripping into her hair.
"Yes Rosie, I'm listening." my mother answered, her voice cracked on my name.
"What's going to happen to me? I asked, I was so terrified, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay here and live with my mother and my father and with Lily.
"I-I don't know Rosie, I just don't know." my mother sobbed. We clutched onto each other for dear life until a Peacekeeper came in and tore my mother away from me. I called after my mother, but the doors closed, shutting her from my life.
My father came in next, his hands were still layered in coal dust. Something I had always known him with. He walked into the room. I sprang off the couch and ran into his arms.
"Daddy!" I cried out, the only word I was able to muster at the moment." I could feel him shaking and I felt his hot tears on the back of my neck. He pulled away to look at my face. This was the first time I have ever seen my daddy cry.
"Rosie, I want you to fight as hard as you possibly can, alright. Know that my heart is always with you." He says. I place two of my fingers to my forehead and then over my heart. It was a sign my father and I had ways done whenever he was home early enough to tuck me in at night. It meant that we each were in each others mind and in their hearts.
He chuckled grimly, then placed his hands on each side of my face. Kissing my forehead tenderly.
"Goodbye Rosie." He said, as the Peacekeeper arrived once again, forcing another family member from my life.
Finally, Lilly came into the room, tears were running down her face more than there were mine. She threw her arms around me.
"Oh Rose! I'm so sorry." she cried. Though I couldn't see what she could possibly be sorry for. None of this was her fault.
"What are you sorry for?" I asked, trying to force a smile, but barely able to lift the corners of my mouth at all.
"I couldn't help you. Like Katniss did for Prim. I couldn't-" she continued to cry on my shoulder, as if she were the one who was being sent to her death. "Wait. Before I forget." she says, she reaches her hand in the pocket sown into her dress. She pulls it back out and placed something small in my hand. I look down to see the small wooden fawn she had painted for me.
"Thank you." I'm barely abled to whisper, before another Peacekeeper comes in to rip away the last piece of my life that I had. My sister gives me one last hug, before she is forced from the room.
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3
I used the rest of my time alone trying to rid myself of the tears that seemed to stream down my face in unlimited excess. I could tell my eyes were puffy and had to stop before my nose turned red.
The Peacekeepers that had herded me into the Justice building then came back into the room to escort me to the train.
My family stood on the platform, holding each other, but I wasn't allowed to speak with any of them. I was forced onto the train, the tears less now, but only because of how dehydrated my body had become. The doors then closed behind me. Shutting me out from my life.
I slid down on the all-too-poofy cushions of one of the seats on the train, my face finally drying, but my lip still trembled. Colt sat across from me, his eyes shifting over me. Sizing me up no doubt. I could tell by his cocky smile that he didn't see me as any sort of threat. I really didn't blame him.
There was a table to the right of me completely covered in food, but it felt wrong to even think of touching it. Colt seemed not to be bothered by the same thought however, and scooped up a large plate of food right away.
After a few minutes, in through the door walks Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, Colt and my district mentors. Katniss stands right at Peeta's side, not seeming to want to move, until she looks at my tear stained face. I duck my head to look away, but she's already at my side, not touching me, but close enough to make me shy away. She reached her hand out to me, and after hesitating, lightly touched my arm.
"Hey," she said quietly, "you're Roseline, right?" she asks. Of course she knows my name. Everyone in District 12 does by now after my name was announced at the reaping today, but I can tell that she's just trying to be friendly to me.
I nod my head, not wanting to talk in case it sent me into another emotional fit.
"Hey," she said again, I looked up at her seeing though this felt strange to her, she wanted to do this to help me. "come with me." she says. She reaches her hand out for me to take, and I do. She then leads me to another car, where she sits me down on another seat like the one in the previous car. She kneels in front of me and doesn't let go of my hand.
"Come on Rosie, it's alright." The nickname causes a chocked sob to escape from my mouth, and I collapse ito Katniss' arms, sobbing.
Katniss lightly touches my hair, I remember she had a sister, Prim, who must be fifteen now, but had been chosen for the Hunger Games when she was my age. Luckily for her though Katniss was there to take her place. I wasn't that lucky. Lily was far too old to have volunteered and therefore, I was alone. She must feel like I have some sort of connection to her, but I welcomed the affection none the less.
Katniss pulled away as I continued to cry. "Hey, you have to stop that now, you'll only make yourself sick."she says, grabbing a cloth napkin from one of the tables and wipig my cheeks with it. My mother used to do the same whenever she would find me crying.
"Thanks." I murmur as soon as my face is dry. "Katniss? Can I tell you something?" I ask, finally meeting her eyes without completely shying away.
"Of course." She says, still staying where she was, and listening to what I had to say.
"Katniss..... I'm scared." I murmur, I felt cold, empty, and terribly afraid.
"It's alright Rosie. Everyone is."
"Not Colt! He was sizing me up back there!"
"That means that he is afraid. Everyone is Roseline. Now come on, let's go back and meet up with Peeta so we can have some actual introductions." She says, standing, grabbing my hand, and leading me back to the first car.
Once we were seated back at a table in another car Peeta and Katniss began to talk with us about how exactly we should plan our attacks, whether Colt and I would consider becoming allies, of course he said no, I'd only slow him down. Katniss and Peeta decided then that we would train separately. I didn't mind, I understood why Colt didn't want to.
Katniss decided that she would mentor me, and Peeta would mentor Colt. I liked this plan, don't get me wrong, Peeta seemed like a really nice guy, it's just that Katniss reminded me of my sister, and I felt more comfortable around her anyways.
The Hunger Games Fan Fiction
1
Blood, blood everywhere, reaching up to my neck and drowning me in its dark, red, swirling abyss of nothingness.
I bolted up from my pillow, gasping. My elder sister opened her eyes and smiled calmly at me, grasping my sweaty hands in her own. "Calm down Rosie, you're alright." she whispered to me. My name was Roseline but the nickname reasurred me. I sighed, closing my eyes and sinking back into the blankets. I was still scared because of the reality of my dream. Images from the past Hunger Games haunted my dreams, turning themselves into complete nightmares. I kept seeing myself fighting off other tributes, and ending up dying in so many different ways. There was never a happy ending, in my dreams I never won. Of course I didn't. I wouldn't have a chance considering that I was barely healthy and the tributes from a lot of the districts have been trained for this even though it's illegal. Not to mention that I was just turning twelve the next day. My sister continued to hold onto my hand refusing to let me sink back into nightmares. I soon found myself falling into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning I woke up to find my eldest sister getting dressed in her hunting gear. I sat up from the small cot that we shared. "Can I come hunting with you this time?" I asked, we used to always go with our father even though it was illegal, but with him working in the mines until many hours after I had fallen asleep each night, I rarely even got to see him any more, and therefore hadn't even touched any sort of hunting gear in a long time.
My sister considered my question for a while, before nodding quickly. "Sure why not, but I'm going to have to re-teach you." she says, my sister is nineteen years old, and is a great hunter. When father can't provide all the food we need through the money he earns from working in the mines, which is usually, my sister hunts, and I usually gather leaves, roots and all sorts of fruit. I found a wild raspberry bush a few years back and it's always very plentiful in the summer.
I slipped my feet into the boots Father had made for me and grabbed the leather jacket off the hook that usually hung next to my sisters.
"Lily," I ask my sister, "Do you think that I can try your bow today?" I ask.
"Well, let's see how you do starting off with a few knives to throw. Those big muscles might break my bow." she laughs, squeezing my bone thin fore arms. I had nearly no muscle and she knew that, but I didn't mind, I knew she meant well. I laughed in return, "Well come on!" I say, running out the door of our house.
It was rather early, and even the soot covered streets of district 12 were wet with dew. I grabbed Lily's hand and tugged her along, until we had to duck behind the bushes near the fence enclosing district 12 before we were able to get out into the woods.
Once we were right near the fence, my sister held me back as she listened for the low hum of the electric fence. Of course there was none, we were lucky just to get a few hours of electricity here in district twelve at night and the fence was rarely working, but my sister always checked, just in case.
"Come on Rosie." my sister whispered, as she slowly guided me towards the fence, I could barely see through the thick leaves of the bush that we had ducked inside, but soon I was able to see the silver wiring of the fence and was able to get under myself. Once my sister joined me, we set off into the woods. Lily grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows from a tree and grabbed a bag filled with sharp knives from under a stone. She handed the bags of knives to me. I was excited, I hadn't ever actually been able to hit game before.
After a while walking through the woods my sister pointed out a small bird to me that was pecking at the ground, searching for insects. She motioned to the knives and then nodded to me. I let out a long silent breath, and reached in to grab one of the knives. I pulled my arm back slowly, then with a quick motion, sent the knife flying towards the bird. It hit it in the side, rendering it motionless. I slowly made my way over, my sister right behind me, and reached down to the bird. I saw the pain in its eyes and was sorry that I had hurt it.
"Come on Rosie, you gotta do it." my sister said, leaning down and touching my wrist lightly. "All you have to do, is snap its neck and it won't feel a thing." I looked up at my sister, then slowly put my hands on the birds head, twisting it quickly. I shuddered at the snap of bone that ended the birds life.
"I don't like that Lily." I said.
"Just wait until it ends up in stew. Rosie, we have to eat, and this little bird will feed us. Okay? everything on Earth eats something else to survive, whether it's plant or animal. If we had more money we wouldn't have to do this, but we do, alright? Trust me, that little bird would have understood. Plus, see that worm? You just saved it's life from that bird." she chuckles somewhat darkly. "Rosie, it's okay, you get used to it." Lily says. I nod my head and stand, placing the tiny carcass into Lily's game bag. Then we continue on.
"That was pretty good aim back there." Lily says, trying to lighten the mood. I of course can't help but smile. "Thanks, Lily," I murmur, could I try your bow now? But, not on an animal?" I ask, I don't really want to do that again right now.
"Sure Rose." she says; handing the bow over to me. I place the bow in my left hand, and Lily helps me string the arrow. "Alright Rosie, now arm up, hold the end of the arrow up against your cheek. Very good." She says, "Now, aim for the end where the branch has broken off of the tree over there." I point the arrow towards it. "Alright, shoot." she says. I release the string, it seems like it would be a good shot, but it misses the targeted spot my mere inches and the arrow flies off into the bushes.
"It's really good for your first try." Lily says, taking the bow back from my hand. "Try throwing the knife." she says, after wondering for a moment. I look at her, slightly confused, before I stand and send the knife flying through the air, where it lands up to the hilt right in the center of the targeted spot on the tree. I gape at the knife as much as my sister does. I didn't know that I could do that.
"Well then," says my sister, not taking her eyes off of the wooden hilt of the knife, "it seems you have a knack for throwing knives." she turns her gaze back to me after a few more moments.
After a few more failed attempts by me at the bow she moves off a few feet to hunt some more, leaving me sitting on a moss covered rock. I break off a piece of wood from a fallen branch, and taking one of the knives, slowly begin to carve away at the hunk of wood.
When my sister arrives back I am dusting off my shirt of the swirly wood shavings from my carving. I picked up the small fawn statue I had carved. I had to say it was rather a good likeness. I had always been pretty good at carving. If we had lived in any other district where people could waste money on useless, little, pretty things, I could probably make good money off of them. But we don't and I can't sell them to even the peacekeepers here so, I don't bother.
I set the carving down on the rock beside me and stare up at the mottled sunlight poking through the leaves of the trees. It would be so great to find a place away from the Capitol, where life was ways like it is for me right now at this moment. I sighed. My sister always told me I worried far too much for my age.
"Come on Rosie, it's getting late. Let's go home." my sister says. Yes, home, to the dirty, sick streets of District Twelve. Where the dear Capitol cares for each and every one of us with its wonderful generosity of electricity, food, even the share of the coal we mine and letting us buy it from ourselves. The Capitol getting most of the money all of us earn here. I was trying to stay positive, and place the little deer into my pocket. "I can paint that for you when we get home." Lily says. I smile, her painting is magnificent, I grasp her hand, and we begging to run through the woods together, back towards District Twelve.
After we stash the weapons back where we had found them we walk more quietly back to the electric fence. It still isn't on. We climb through, making ourselves as unnoticeable as possible as we make our way back to our beaten up house.
As soon as I sit down, my sister grabbs the paintbrushes and I help her make the pain using juices from berries I had found a little while ago. We couldn't eat them anymore so we can turn them into whatever we want.
I set the little carving into the palm of my sister's hand and she begins to work. I sit patiently as she does, letting my mind wander. I daydream for a while, about being out in the woods with my father and my sister, about always being able to have food on the table. But I had to stop my dreaming once I began to think of the Hunger Games again.
My sister looked skeptically at one painted leg of the sculpted deer, and dabbed it with the end of the paintbrush, before she set it down. It was so life like. I gazed at it.
"It's beautiful Lily." I say as I look over, particularly fascinated by the shining black eyes of the fawn.
"Thanks Rosie." She says. "Now we have to let that dry, so why don't you go down to the market and buy a small loaf of bread from the baker, whatever you can afford. Today is a special day." she says, handing me a small handful of coins from her pocket. It wasn't much but it was what we had all saved up.
I practically skipped out the door and to the Baker's shop. I skipped up to the counter, my curls bouncing on my head. The baker turned towards me. "Hey there Rosie!" he says cheerily. I sell him most of the fruit I gather, he really enjoys the raspberries.
"What's the special occasion?" He asks, sliding fresh loaves of bread onto the shelf.
"Today is my birthday. Lily gave me some coins to buy some bread." I say, placing the handful of coins into the counter.
"Well happy birthday Rosie." He says, taking out one of the warm loves of bread, and wrapping it up in the brown paper. "And since it's your birthday, I'll give you something special." He says, grabbing a small, colorful cake from the shelf below him. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My family had never been able to afford cake, at least not from what I can remember.
The baker scoops the coins into his pocket, and then places the beautiful cake inside of a small box, and placed the bread on top of it, tying the bread to the box with a small string. Then he gives both to me.
"Happy birthday!" he calls after me again as I leave the shop.
I make my way home carefully, making sure not to drop my precious cargo, and finally make it back to my house.
My mother and my sister were standing in the kitchen preparing the food we would be having for dinner. "What do you have here?" asked my mother, motioning towards he box in my arms. I placed the box on the counter and smiled excitedly.
"The baker gave me a cake!" I say, opening up the box, showing the colorfully decorated cake. A small pink rose blossom was carefully spread across the top of the cake, a beautiful contrast to the clean, white icing.
My mother and sister stared at the cake, just as I had when the baker had given it to me. "He said it was a special birthday present." I said. My mother smiled at me, closing the box once again to keep the cake safe from rats or flies, and continued to work on the meal.
"That's great, now we can have a real birthday feast!" chimes my sister, as she unwraps the bread and begins to cut it into thick slices. I can see the steam come up from The bread. I had brought the bread home right after it had come out of the oven. It was still hot. My mouth watered at the thought of it.
I got the plates down from the cabinet and set them down on the table. My sister grabbed the forks and knives and placed them down and I grabbed the small wooden cups I had carved a while ago, after my mother's good glasses had been smashed.
After dinner had been set my mother and my sister sat at the table while I sat impatiently on the doorstep. Father promised he would come home early for my birthday. Soon I saw him and his soot covered miner outfit as he walked up the road. "Daddy!" I yelled, bolting off the step and running for him. He dropped his bag from his shoulder and held his arms open for me.
I jumped into his arms and he lifted me up, whirling me around in the air. "Hey there birthday girl." he laughs, holding me on one shoulder. Since we had the whole food shortage problem he didn't have to worry about my weight and was easily able to pick me up.
I laughed happily, I hadn't seen him in a while. He carried me inside the house, until we reached the table and then he set me down in my chair.
"Looks good." he said, looking at the contents of the pot.
"Rosie caught the bird herself." My sister said, as she passed out spoonfuls of the dark, creamy stew. My dad smiled at me.
"Oh did she now? Did she use the bow?" he asks, taking a drink from the water Mom had poured Into the wooden cups.
"No." I say.
"She has a real talent for throwing knives." my sister says, slowly taking a spoonful of the stew into her mouth and chewing slowly.
My father smiled warmly at me. "I don't think girls should use weapons at all." my mother says, "Even if it's the only thing that put food on the table for us
today, besides the bakers generous gift." I giggle as my sister laughs at our mothers comment, and our mother smiled happily. We soon were contentedly full with the stew and warm buttered bread and my mother left the room, bringing the lovely cake to the table. I had never tasted cake before, but from what I heard it was delicious.
Mom cut small pieces of the cake off, and set a piece down on each of our plates. I scooped off a piece of the slice of cake with my fork and placed it in my mouth. It was heavenly. It was so sweet and soft and brilliantly moist, and I thought that nothing could taste better than that bread had. My entire family dove into the cake, quickly finishing our shares, wanting to leave some for tomorrow. Tomorrow... With all the great things happening today I had completely forgotten that the reaping was tomorrow. This year would be the first year I would be entered into the reaping. Lily saw my hallow face and bent down and hugged me. I felt better instantly, but though I stopped shaking, I was still afraid.
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2
My sister and I went to bed at the same time that night, but neither of us fell asleep. I felt bad for keeping her awake, but I was too afraid of my name getting picked as a tribute for the Hunger Games. My sister told me that I was just being silly, that my name was only one entree among hundreds of others, but I was still terrified.
Once it reached dawn, my sister and I silently got up, got dressed , and headed back out into the woods. I climbed up the tree to get my sister's bow down, as well as the arrows, while she grabbed my bag of knives.
My sister let me take most of the shots, I took down a few animals, making sure to kill them instantly now. I hated to see the pain in their eyes.
I hit a few more small birds, a few squirrels and even a wild turkey. We put it all in my sisters game bag, the wild turkey in first of course.
"Go back to the house Rosie, Mother has to help you get ready for the reaping." Lily says, hoisting the nearly full game bag over her shoulder again. I nodded, and quickly made my way back to the fence. It wasn't on, so I slid right under.
I trotted back to he house as quickly as I could, passing the shuttered houses, most people were probably either sleeping or getting ready for the reaping.
I stepped inside the house, my hands already beginning to shake. My father sat at the lichen table, since everyone had to watch the reaping he was allowed to stay home today. "There you are Roseline." says my mother and pulls me over to the other room. She grabs a hanger which on it hangs a, well for me, fancy cream colored dress, with a lace up back. She helps me put it on and when she is finished, begins to weave my hair into a loose fish tail braid. "You look beautiful Rosie!" says my mother, as she hands me free colored ballet flats to place on my feet. I blush at her compliment, or at least feel like I would if this were any other time of the year, but now I was far too nervous to put out more than a scared smile.
Lily walked into the house merely a moment later. My mother scurried over to her as soon as she heard the door close. "Lily! Your hair!" I heard her cry from the hall. I giggled, my mother was always fussing about appearances. It didn't matter where or how we lived, as long as we lived under her roof, we were to look as presentable as possible.
I waited with Daddy at the table as Mom helped get Lily ready. It took a while for my sister to negotiate with Mom on how she should look but she finally got off with a grey button up dress and black ballet flats. Her hair was short so she didn't have much to do with it so it was merely brushed and left the way it fell.
My mother and sister stepped out of the room. "Oh my! It's nearly two o'clock, hurry up hurry up!" my mother says, shooing the two of us, and my father out of the house. Once we reached the center of District 12, my mother and father went to stand with the adults at the square.
"Come on Rosie, you have to go and sign in." my sister says.
"Lily, I'm scared, what if I get picked?" I blubber, tears beginning to stream down my cheeks. My anxieties finally getting the best of me.
"Roseline. You will be fine. You only have one entree, you won't get picked alright? I promise." says my sister, and gently nudges me towards where I get blood drawn and am signed in. I'm then ushered to go and stand with the other twelve year olds of our District. At this point I am thouroughly shaking.
The mayor gets up on stage, telling the usual speach about how the 13, well now 12 disricts came to exist and the story on how the Hunger Games was started. Then talks about all the tributes from District 12 that have won in the past Hunger Games. There were four, but only three are still alive. Haymitch, Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark. All three of these people sit up on stage next to the mayor. After the speech is finished, the bubbly Effie Trinket bounces up to the microphone, "Happy Hunger Games!" she calls out ecstatically, looking out over the crowd. "And may the odds be ever in your favor! Now, it is time, to chose one courageous young man and woman, to take part in this years Hunger Games! Now, first the girls." she says, walking over to the large glass ball filled with slips of paper with names of the girls of District 12. One of them is mine.
Effie scoops her hand around in the bowl before plucking up one folded slip of paper in her perfectly uniformed shaped purple nails. She moves back to the microphone, clearing her throat and unfolding the slip of paper.
"Roseline Celdmon." she reads out. My heart stops. How was it me?! Lily swore it wouldn't be me. I hear absolutly nothing, but numbly begin to walk forward as someone nudges me along. The crowd clears for me as I begin to walk up to the stage. I hear my sister scream.
"No!" Lily's voice cries out. "No!"
I try to block out her screams. I step up on stage, and Effie grabs my arm. I look out and see my mother, who has collapsed in my fathers arms.
"Congratulations Roseline!" Effie calls out with a wide smile. "Now for the boys." I look over at Katniss, one of the victors from the hunger games the year previous. She tries not to show any emotion, but she looks sick. Peeta reaches over and grabs her hand. He looks me in the eyes, tryig to send a reassuring smile my way but I duck my head, just in time to see Effie unfurl the slip of a boys name.
"Colt Filmenser." Effie cries out. I didn't know the boy, but he was a burly 17 year old boy. He was gruff, and strong. I was a goner. I knew I was. "Congratulations Colt!" Effie says, as Colt steps onto the stage. "Happy Hunger Games!" Effie cries again, "and may he odds be ever in your favor!"
I am quickly escorted into the Justice building by a pair of Peacekeepers. Tears are streaming down my face now. I didn't care about the cameras.
I was escorted, well rather shoved inside of a room, with tears still streaming down my face. I sat down on a couch, waiting for my family to arrive. My mother was the first to come in. She immediately ran over to me, and threw her arms around me. She was sobbing.
"Oh my poor baby! My precious little baby!" she wailed, refusing to let go of me. This was doing nothing to help with my emotions.
"Mama?" I asked, another tear dripping into her hair.
"Yes Rosie, I'm listening." my mother answered, her voice cracked on my name.
"What's going to happen to me? I asked, I was so terrified, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay here and live with my mother and my father and with Lily.
"I-I don't know Rosie, I just don't know." my mother sobbed. We clutched onto each other for dear life until a Peacekeeper came in and tore my mother away from me. I called after my mother, but the doors closed, shutting her from my life.
My father came in next, his hands were still layered in coal dust. Something I had always known him with. He walked into the room. I sprang off the couch and ran into his arms.
"Daddy!" I cried out, the only word I was able to muster at the moment." I could feel him shaking and I felt his hot tears on the back of my neck. He pulled away to look at my face. This was the first time I have ever seen my daddy cry.
"Rosie, I want you to fight as hard as you possibly can, alright. Know that my heart is always with you." He says. I place two of my fingers to my forehead and then over my heart. It was a sign my father and I had ways done whenever he was home early enough to tuck me in at night. It meant that we each were in each others mind and in their hearts.
He chuckled grimly, then placed his hands on each side of my face. Kissing my forehead tenderly.
"Goodbye Rosie." He said, as the Peacekeeper arrived once again, forcing another family member from my life.
Finally, Lilly came into the room, tears were running down her face more than there were mine. She threw her arms around me.
"Oh Rose! I'm so sorry." she cried. Though I couldn't see what she could possibly be sorry for. None of this was her fault.
"What are you sorry for?" I asked, trying to force a smile, but barely able to lift the corners of my mouth at all.
"I couldn't help you. Like Katniss did for Prim. I couldn't-" she continued to cry on my shoulder, as if she were the one who was being sent to her death. "Wait. Before I forget." she says, she reaches her hand in the pocket sown into her dress. She pulls it back out and placed something small in my hand. I look down to see the small wooden fawn she had painted for me.
"Thank you." I'm barely abled to whisper, before another Peacekeeper comes in to rip away the last piece of my life that I had. My sister gives me one last hug, before she is forced from the room.
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3
I used the rest of my time alone trying to rid myself of the tears that seemed to stream down my face in unlimited excess. I could tell my eyes were puffy and had to stop before my nose turned red.
The Peacekeepers that had herded me into the Justice building then came back into the room to escort me to the train.
My family stood on the platform, holding each other, but I wasn't allowed to speak with any of them. I was forced onto the train, the tears less now, but only because of how dehydrated my body had become. The doors then closed behind me. Shutting me out from my life.
I slid down on the all-too-poofy cushions of one of the seats on the train, my face finally drying, but my lip still trembled. Colt sat across from me, his eyes shifting over me. Sizing me up no doubt. I could tell by his cocky smile that he didn't see me as any sort of threat. I really didn't blame him.
There was a table to the right of me completely covered in food, but it felt wrong to even think of touching it. Colt seemed not to be bothered by the same thought however, and scooped up a large plate of food right away.
After a few minutes, in through the door walks Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, Colt and my district mentors. Katniss stands right at Peeta's side, not seeming to want to move, until she looks at my tear stained face. I duck my head to look away, but she's already at my side, not touching me, but close enough to make me shy away. She reached her hand out to me, and after hesitating, lightly touched my arm.
"Hey," she said quietly, "you're Roseline, right?" she asks. Of course she knows my name. Everyone in District 12 does by now after my name was announced at the reaping today, but I can tell that she's just trying to be friendly to me.
I nod my head, not wanting to talk in case it sent me into another emotional fit.
"Hey," she said again, I looked up at her seeing though this felt strange to her, she wanted to do this to help me. "come with me." she says. She reaches her hand out for me to take, and I do. She then leads me to another car, where she sits me down on another seat like the one in the previous car. She kneels in front of me and doesn't let go of my hand.
"Come on Rosie, it's alright." The nickname causes a chocked sob to escape from my mouth, and I collapse ito Katniss' arms, sobbing.
Katniss lightly touches my hair, I remember she had a sister, Prim, who must be fifteen now, but had been chosen for the Hunger Games when she was my age. Luckily for her though Katniss was there to take her place. I wasn't that lucky. Lily was far too old to have volunteered and therefore, I was alone. She must feel like I have some sort of connection to her, but I welcomed the affection none the less.
Katniss pulled away as I continued to cry. "Hey, you have to stop that now, you'll only make yourself sick."she says, grabbing a cloth napkin from one of the tables and wipig my cheeks with it. My mother used to do the same whenever she would find me crying.
"Thanks." I murmur as soon as my face is dry. "Katniss? Can I tell you something?" I ask, finally meeting her eyes without completely shying away.
"Of course." She says, still staying where she was, and listening to what I had to say.
"Katniss..... I'm scared." I murmur, I felt cold, empty, and terribly afraid.
"It's alright Rosie. Everyone is."
"Not Colt! He was sizing me up back there!"
"That means that he is afraid. Everyone is Roseline. Now come on, let's go back and meet up with Peeta so we can have some actual introductions." She says, standing, grabbing my hand, and leading me back to the first car.
Once we were seated back at a table in another car Peeta and Katniss began to talk with us about how exactly we should plan our attacks, whether Colt and I would consider becoming allies, of course he said no, I'd only slow him down. Katniss and Peeta decided then that we would train separately. I didn't mind, I understood why Colt didn't want to.
Katniss decided that she would mentor me, and Peeta would mentor Colt. I liked this plan, don't get me wrong, Peeta seemed like a really nice guy, it's just that Katniss reminded me of my sister, and I felt more comfortable around her anyways.