I wake in the wee hours of the morning to the cries of my sister. I roll over to face her. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I ask in a soothing tone.
"Nightmare." Scottlynn squeaks.
"Shh," I wrap my arms around her shoulders and squeeze her tightly. "You'll be fine. Nothing to worry about." She nods slightly, and falls into a light doze. I carefully remove my arms from her and roll over. The sun hasn't risen yet. I close my eyes and fall into a light sleep.
I rouse an hour or so later to see the top of the sun peak over the horizon. Hunting time. I walk into the closet our family shares and pull out the leather jacket my mother gifted to me. I wrap it around my shoulders. My stomach angrily growls. I pop a few of the strawberries my father and I had recently gathered into my mouth. As I continue eating in an attempt to fill myself up, I continue to feel hollow and empty inside. I give up, as I've been hungrier, and walk outside.
I slip under the fence that prohibits citizens of District 12 to enter the forest surrounding the district. It didn't work though, as the bottom of the fence was rotting out and was easy to slip under. My stomach somersaults, and my veins are filled with a sudden rush of uneasiness. As I walk deeper into the forest, I see the back of my father's slightly graying brown hair. "Hi dad!" I say, trying to show any sort of happiness, miserably failing in trying to do so.
"Hi Haylynn." he says dully. I sit beside him. I immediately notice the sadness in his voice.
"C'mon dad. Its only reaping day. Its Van's first year, he won't be picked." I say, knowing he's thinking about Van.
"No Haylynn. Its you I'm worried about. I know I've trained you with a bow like a Career since you were 8. You keep signing up for tesserae every year! Your name is going in 5 extra times every year!!" he says. I can tell he's fighting back tears.
My father is a strong man. He hardly ever shows any emotion, but on reaping day every year since I was 12, he turns into a totally different person.
"My name is only in there 25 times," I point out. "You told me that when you turned 18, your name was in like 60 times! And you never were reaped!"
He looks at me and sighs. "I was reaped when I was 15," he says hoarsely, almost fighting for words. "My best friend volunteered for me. He got 6th place. He got into a fight with the male from District 4 and lost."
I gasp and look at him. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" I ask.
"I never had enough courage to speak of Daniel once he passed." he says.
I pat him on the back and stand up. "Well, we're just not going to sit here and let the family starve, are we?" I ask with a slight smile.
Dad smiles back, and we walk to the hollow tree in which we hide our bows inside. We pull them out and sling our quivers over our shoulders. The mood was easily lightened as we find a family of rabbit, a few squirrels, and some ducks at the lake. Dad and I talk about the past tributes of District 12. We've had weak ones, strong ones, and dumb ones. Three years ago, in the 95th Hunger Games, we had a girl from the merchant section who thought she was just like a tribute from District 2. Dumbly, she fought at the bloodbath, shockingly killing off a few, but was killed by the tribute she was imitating. Sometimes I wonder.
After shooting down some more duck, we decide to head back. The sun had fully risen. We slip under the fence, and I walk to the Hob to sell half of our game. After hunting, I always ensure to give enough to the Hob to supply the other citizens while keeping enough for our family. I see the trader, Cavernity, speaking with a few Peacekeepers, Lionel and Ore. I have to admit that there was not one time during my hunting sessions that I had not thanked the Peacekeepers of District 12 for being so lenient. Most Peacekeepers would publicly torture my father and I had they caught us sneaking into the forest hunting. But the Peacekeepers needed the food we supplied. So, they somewhat favored the Burns family. Our family was comprised of hunters (my father and I), healers (my sister and mother), and a cook (my brother). So the District sort of relies on us.
Cavernity turns to me. "What's the game for the week?" she asks, excitedly. She brushes her black hair out of her olive face, revealing big blue eyes. I pull out two ducks, a squirrel, and two rabbits. I see Lionel eyeing the duck hungrily. I look up at him and laugh. "It isn't even skinned, or cooked yet!" I say.
Lionel chuckles and runs his hand through his floppy black hair. "Did you sign up for more tesserae this year?" he asks.
I nod. "You could always use more food. Half the kids in the Seam die from malnutrition."
"But that increases your chance of being reaped!" Lionel says. Him and I were close, and he was always on me about signing up for too much tesserae.
"I'm not afraid of the Games, Lionel. Death is inevitable." I say firmly.
Cavernity bustles to the back, and returns with a few coins. "I'm sorry Haylynn. Its the best I could do."
I smile at her. "Every bit helps. Thank you." I sling my game bag over my shoulder and head back to the Seam to go to our house.
I walk inside and find Dad sporting a leather jacket and black pants. Van is nearly identical to him. Van attempts to dance, but its hard to do so with loafers on. He falls onto Dad, and everyone bursts into laughter. That was Van's specialty. No matter how worrisome or sad times were- he always got a chuckle out of us. Mom walks me to the closet and pulls out a lilac dress. "I wore this to the reaping when I was your age." she hands it to me and I change in the bathroom. I walk out back out, and twirl around. Scottlynn, in a white blouse and pale pink skirt, grins. "You look beautiful Haylynn!"
I smile. "I do not look like myself." I say. Mom is wearing a lacy white dress with blue tights underneath. "Lets head to the Hall of Justice." Its a bit past noon, but it usually takes a while for us to walk from the Seam to the Hall. We walk out, and I can't help but think that this might be the last time seeing our outdated wooden house.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
