Happy 125th Hunger Games!

When I wake up I hear my little brother snoring from the room next to me and I can’t help but smile. He is the best brother a girl could ask for. I get out of bed and walk over to my calendar which has the words “Big Day! Reaping!” written on it by my mother. She won the Hunger Games and she expects me to do the same. Well, I will try. No promises.

I trod over to my closet and go through my clothes trying to find the perfect dress. I settle on a knee length dress that is white with a large blue and black rose on the side. I examine my hair, It is jet black unlike the rest of my family, who have brown and blonde hair. It is about shoulder length so I brush it through a few times and I decide to put a little navy blue bow in it to make my mother happy. I take the silver locket from my dresser as my token and discover I am finished getting ready to meet my death. Couldn't be happier. Hah.

It is still a little early and no one is awake yet so I eat my breakfast in peace watching my cat walk back and forth across the living room. After I’m finished, I scoop up the cat and just look at him face to face. He is pudgy and his nose is too big. His yellow eyes look at me in confusion and I ask him, “Do you think I can win the Hunger Games?” He just stares at me in response. I put him down and he scurries out of the room. Well that was positive. I’ve resorted to asking cats about my fate, of course I’m not going to get a good answer. I laugh at myself, certain that if someone was watching me they would deem me mentally unhealthy. Maybe I am. No, I don’t think so.

I sit on the sofa for a few minutes and then I hear my mom shuffling out of her room. She is wearing a deep red dress that goes to her mid thigh. Of course she’s wearing a dress the color of blood. Just for me. She gave me a huge smile and said in a perky voice “So you’re volunteering today! Oh I’m so excited for you! You will definitely win! After all, I am your mother.” She flipped her hair around and gave me her camera face. I just chuckled.

“Yes mother, I am volunteering today and I will win!” I flipped my hair in a mocking way but she just smiled even wider and said,

“Good girl, you are going to need your practice with all the cameras that will be filming you soon!”

I sighed quietly and she walked out of the room. I strode over to my brothers room and flung open the door striking a ridiculous pose and shouted “I am going to WIN the Hunger Games!” He just giggled at me since he hardly even knew what the Hunger Games were. He was 8. He knew enough to know I was kidding around though. I went over to the bed and gave him a bone crushing hug and he smiled at me.

“Are you going to try to win for me Felicity? Please. I don’t want you to die.” He started to frown and I pushed his frown upwards with my finger.

“Of course I’m going to try to win little man. For you.” I beamed at him and this made him happy because he ran to his closet and picked out some clothes. I left the room with a gut feeling that this would be the last time I would see him acting “normal”. I heaved a sigh and left to go down to the kitchen and then go to the reaping.

I went out to the kitchen and saw my dad sitting in his favorite chair. He didn’t want me to volunteer but he knew I had to because of my mother. He gave me a half hearted smile and I hugged him. When I pulled back, I saw he had tears in his eyes. I pecked him on the cheek in a silent promise that I would do everything I could to make it home.

“Bye Dad, bye Parker… bye mom.” They smiled and waved as I left the house. I walked down the pathway towards my best friend Jake.

“Hey Jake.” I said when he was within hearing range and he replied,

“Hey Felicity. You excited for THE 125th Hungerrrr Gamess!?” He said in a mock Capitol accent. I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him, ruffling his light brown hair. He smacked my hand away and put his hair back into place. We made idle chit-chat like nothing was out of the ordinary. When it was time for the treaty to be read he held my hand and looked at me with an encouraging ferocity. He wanted me to win this. For everyone I care about. We separated and I walked over to the 17s section, barely taking my eyes off of him. Soon, it was time for the tributes to be selected.

Our district escort Lindy Little had normal looking skin and silvery blue hair that went to her waist. She was relatively normal looking. She had bright purple tattoos on her calves that went up in swirls. That part wasn’t so normal.

“As usual, we will start off with ladies first.” She looked at the crowd then delicately plucked a piece of paper off the top. I sucked in a deep breath and shouted “I volunteer!” My voice cracked a little but I quickly covered it up by putting a confident look on my face. I walked over to Lindy.

“What’s your name?” She asked with a look I can’t quite describe.

“My name is Felicity Boulder and I will be the winner of the 125th Hunger Games.” I heard cheering and sat down while I waited for the next person to be sentenced to their death. This was great.