The Bloodshed of Winter

Because I stole bread

I didn't normally need to be running from my own house that's being raided, but some days it appeared I had to.

Hi, I am Adelaide Carson, I'm 16 years old, and running from my own home was not very common here in this poor place

I guess I should explain why I was doing this, I woke up this morning to the sound of shouting and banging against my doors, and I knew if I didn't run, I'd be executed.

The world was separated into two regions, I just so happened to get separated into the second region.

The second region wasn't bad, but we had very little money and our homes were very old and poorly built, we had bakeries and butcher shops, fruit stands and berry farms, but all of those were built before what had happened 5 years ago when we were separated.

Everyone here had something traumatic happen to them, maybe it's a separation or fighting in the bloodshed that happens every year.

My house is a small run-down cabin in the middle of the woods, I live alone due to the separation. My twin sister and abusive father were put in the first region, I have been trying to find her ever since, and my mother? She passed when I was seven.

Now running deep into the woods, I knew why those people were at my door, I may have stolen something from the bakery.

As I ran far from my house, I saw my best friend Adryan, he was a tall, muscular version of me. He had wavy brown hair, forest green eyes, and tan skin.

He noticed me and smiled, "Hey Adelaide, what's up?"

"Villagers- mad- run- hurry.", I panted.

He stood and frowned, "What? What happened?"

"I may have stolen something from the bakery.", I admitted.

"Oh, Adelaide, you know you could get in a lot of trouble for that.", Adryan groaned.

"Yeah, why do you think I was running?", I asked.

He grabbed my arm and grabbed his knife, "Well, we could always just kill a squirrel and say that you forgot to give it to them in exchange."

How do you know that they will accept it?", I asked.

" I've done it before.", He promised.

"I can't even hunt!"

"Hey, Adelaide, you are the best female hunter I know, I know you can, trust me, just try, it's better than getting executed."

He was right, the second region had very strict rules, if you stole anything, it was automatic execution.

"Fine," I grunted, " Where's my bow?"

He handed me my bow, "Here."

I took it and ran with Adryan.

After a half-hour, we had gotten two squirrels, both of them I had shot, but Adryan helped me angle it correctly.

"It's about time we got something.", I said, "Let's get this to the baker."

We went through our usual path, over the river, and straight ahead, I had memorized the directions from all the times we went to the center of town. This was the easiest path to get to without dealing with the kids who would beat up anyone near them.

We walked into the bakery, the kind man who ran it looked at me and said, "Oh, hi there Adelaide!"

"Hello Mr. Smith, I came to give you something, because you know, I took that bread and kind of didn't give you anything.", I said.

"Oh, well, it didn't bother me, it happens a lot, I would've given it to you, either way, I wish you told me though.", He said.

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh, well, I still felt bad, and also, the mayor and some other people were banging at my door, I guess they're mad because I stole."

"Oh, it wasn't big, people got hungry! It happens, now, I'll tell them that you are okay, and you didn't do anything.", Mr. Smith turned.

"Wait, wait, I brought you a squirrel, two of them!", I said.

"A squirrel?", His face was bright and happy looking, "Two? Wow, I've never been offered a squirrel before!"

"Well, I am.", I thrust them towards him.

I turned to leave, but he stopped me, "Wait, Adelaide dear, here, take some more bread!"

He handed me two fresh loaves of bread, and I was about to leave when the mayor and some angry villagers stepped in, "Hi Adelaide, finally we found you, you know you stole, you know the consequences."

They were about to pull me out when Mr. Smith stepped in, "Wait, sir, Adelaide was allowed to have the bread, she just forgot to give me the squirrels."

The Mayor eyes at him furiously, "Well, perhaps she did, but she will get punishment, not death, but she will be put into the war."

Mr. Smith yelped, "The war? S-she would have to be picked for it."

The Mayor scoffed, " I do as I want, one more word and she gets execution."

Mr. Smith knew better than to talk, he gulped and nodded.

I knew I shouldn't have taken the bread, but I also knew I would go into this war one day. We walked out, I avoided Adryan, I wasn't in the mood for talking.

"I'm so sorry Adelaide.", Adryan said.

I waved him off and shoved my hands in my pocket, the January wind biting my face, I walked towards my house, of course, I was drafted into this war, I should have known the consequences, I'm just an idiot.

It was ten o'clock in the morning and I hadn't had breakfast yet due to the little break-in that occurred this morning, I jogged towards my house, which I shouldn't have owned because of my age.

I investigated the wreckage from the mayor and the villagers, one broken window that was gonna make my house cold, a vase shattered, dirt all over the floor, but that was just about it.

I was about to shut the door and make food, but then something hit me.

The last picture of my mom and twin sister. I ran to the shelf where it stayed, it was still there, thank god.

I decided to fix my house up a little bit, fix the window as best as I could, clean up, make it nicer. I picked up the broken vase, and I felt a tear roll down my cheek, I was crying? Why? Maybe it was my family, maybe it was the war, which I had seen on T.V before, it was bloodshed, that was where it got its name, gruesome, violent, and not something I would wish to be a part of. The worst part, only 1 person would most likely make it out alive. At the beginning of the bloodshed, all fifty nominees are chosen by the victor of the previous year, every year here it was 12 boys and 13 girls, in region 1 it was 13 boys and 12 girls. One of the Bloodsheds, the first one, a young man and woman had been crowned victors, they were the only ones, and in the five years we have played, the winner always suffered, mourning the loss of friends, potential love interests, and people who were too young, too small to die. From ages, 12 to 20 people are put into the Choosing Ceremonies jars. I looked around my house, now all clean, it was 10:30, but I didn't intend on leaving my house, so I got a piece of bread, and sat, waiting for the end of the day, where the other nominees are chosen.