Chapter 2 - Accumulating Sorrow
06:14. It was time. Time for the Reaping, time for new endless pain for innocent families that lived peacefully in all 12 of the districts. Slow deaths, cruel suffering, endless pleasure, and pain. The coal district was quiet, as the day slowly began to unfold. Everyone knew what was gonna happen today. A girl and a boy, chosen to practically be sent to death for pure entertainment. Many of the people in the coal-mining district became used to this phenomenon at this point, numb to the effects that it would have on the people living around them. But some were not, some residents were fearful of their families, desperate to save them at any cost. This, for example, they would do by volunteering as tributes for the games. However, this would only be possible if the person was 18 or under, seeing as President Snow and his assistants wanted the tributes to be in the most top-notch physical form possible, and to be as naive as possible. If there was one thing the Capitol was good at, it was manipulation. To convince, that being a tribute, and becoming a victor was something to strive for. To accept all the suffering as your own, and go through with it over and over again, to even get the slightest bit of popularity. To be convinced, that everything you have to go through in the games, such as killing innocent teenagers, being starved and injured was worth the outcome of both being applauded and ridiculed.
Raven's eyes stung as they fluttered open, met by the soft sunlight pouring in through her window. The soft noises of the birds chirping, the winds blowing softly against her curtains as the day had just begun. It was peaceful in a way if you could simply forget what would happen in just a couple of hours. It had been three weeks since the announcement after all.
Slowly sitting up, the girl stretched her arms until her shoulders cracked in unison. It felt nice, she could now feel her shoulders again from sleeping weirdly during the night. She did the same with her fingers and neck, and she now felt somewhat refreshed compared to what she did before. Groggy, she finally stood up, bed hair wild and crazy since she had not showered or brushed it since 2 days back. It was as if their house was abandoned, haunted. Like no one lived there, since her father had locked himself in his bedroom, refusing to come out. This was most likely due to multiple reasons, but the main one was simply grief. The grief of losing the two kids he mentored, grief that he may lose his only family member left with the Hunger Games as well, his daughter. He was practically a zombie drinking his pain away, hiding from the cruel world outside. Would he leave his cave to support his daughter through the Reaping?
Standing up, Raven walked slowly to the bathroom. Her steps were as if they were in slow motion, like they were begging her to stay in bed, to avoid the situation that was about to unfold. However, she pressed on, knowing that if she didn't attend the Reaping, there could be severe consequences. Taking a cold shower, the only thing that could be heard was the water hitting her skin. She made no noise, the sleepiness finally leaving her body. The reality slowly sank through her skin as the cold water made her shiver.
She stood in the cold water for what seemed like an eternity, her thoughts wandering all over the place. About all the scenarios that could happen, such as what if she got chosen? How would her father handle it, mentoring her to survive in the games? What would happen if she died?
Coming out of the shower after forty agonizing minutes, the girl slowly started to put on her most delicate and beautiful clothing. It was tradition to do so after all, at the Reaping. She as well did her hair and make-up, both extremely simple and elegant even. Her make-up was natural, and her hair was in braids so it would keep out of her face. She was dressed to impress, after all, so she wouldn't stand out.
The challenge would be getting her father out of his cave, to get him ready to go outside. He needed to attend after all, he was the only living victor of District 12 and so he had an important role to mentor every tribute that got chosen. The problem was if he was up for it.
"Dad," the girl knocked on her father's door gently, so if he was asleep he wouldn't be startled awake. At first, she was met with nothing but silence as she held her head against the door. Of course, she was saddened by the state of her father, but she needed him to cooperate and attend the Reaping, as she did not want him in any more trouble than he was in.
Suddenly, silent shuffling was heard behind the door as it slowly went ajar. Behind the small crack in the door, she could see her father. A mess, a hungover one at that. His eyebags were heavy, cheekbones sharp and evident on his cheeks, indicating that he hadn't eaten in what seemed like ages. Of course, he was in that state, he was the same when her brother and mother had died. When he had blamed himself relentlessly for not saving them.
Her father was not in the right mind, anyone that took even the slightest look at him would be able to identify that. His eyes held no emotion, his body was barely moving. If he did move, his movement would be slow, sluggish as if he was a zombie. His daughter's eyes held however a storm of emotions. Sorrow, sympathy, and even pity. She felt bad for her father, she knew that he had gone through too much already in his life, and this was just the cherry on top of it all.
"Dad..." The girl whispered once again, eyes almost unable to face the state of her father in front of her. She felt horrible as if she could have prevented this, but she couldn't dwell on such a thing now. She needed to get her father ready, to get him showered and dressed. To make him look somewhat presentable.
"Come on Dad, we need to go soon." She said, looking up at her father as she was tugging the hem of his shirt to get his attention. His eyes were glazed over, cloudy and disconnected. But he had his eyes on his daughter, seemingly flaring back to life as he recognized her. His face didn't show much, just a hint of surprise and perhaps sympathy, but it seemed now as if she had her father back, only just for a moment.
Her father did not respond, but she knew he was now alert and listening. She had his attention, however, he would be silent. Not a single word would be spoken by him, but he would be cooperative, letting his daughter help him get ready for the Reaping. Getting him in a suit, gelling back his hair to make it look nice. He was about to go through hell once again.
09:28. About 30 minutes from the scheduled Reaping at the city center. Required to be there early, her father had left just a couple of minutes before. Raven was still polishing her appearance, making sure she looked the part of being a victor's daughter in the crowd.
09.47, she arrived and saw soldiers from the Capitol, her father, and a colorful-clothed woman standing on the podium patiently waiting for the center to fill up with young girls and boys. In the middle of them all, there was a huge glass that looked like something close to resembling a fish bowl, filled with paper slips. It would be there, her name would be, where her name could be drawn.
Where her name could be selected.
YOU ARE READING
Is this what the world has become?
Mystery / ThrillerIs this what the world has become? Endless torture, endless pain, and endless grief? Was greed and power, all that mattered in the Capitol of Panem? The world watched, as the star-crossed lovers, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen... committed suici...
