The Seed is Strong (Hunger Games Fanfic)

The Reaping

Ela stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror in her bedroom. She was wearing a light purple dress, that had once belonged to her mother. It was floaty and light at the bottom half, so it covered her pregnancy bump perfectly.
Whenever Ela left the house she had to make sure that her bump wasn't showing. This prevented her from wearing tight fitting clothes of any short.
Ela and Glen had decided not to tell their friends and family about the pregnancy. Because Ela thought that their community might frown upon it. Due to her not being married, and the fact that she was only 18.
Ela and Glen knew that they were going to keep their child, but they hadn't yet decided how they were going to raise their baby in secret.

Ela's father Stewart called her to come down stairs, as they would soon be leaving her Ela's last reaping. When Ela arrived downstairs, she saw her father holding a small white box in his hands.
"What's that?" Asked Ela curiously.
Her father smiled at her, "It's a present for you, on your last reaping day".
Ela looked to the kitchen as her mother came out, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Well hurry up and open it. We need to leave" said her mother Melanie.
Ela nodded and stepped towards her father, as he handed he the box.
Inside was a beautiful golden, butterfly hairclip.

Stewart removed the clip from the box and placed it into his daughters hair.
"Thank you" said Ela.
Melanie rolled her eyes, "Come on, it's time to go".
Her father was the sentimental one in the family, whereas her mother was a stern woman, who rarely smiled.
The family left the house, and joined the rest of District 12, who were also making their way down to the town square.

Ela followed her class mates and they all made their way into the section where the 18 year old girls had to stand.
Ela's friend Tilda quickly spotted her in the crowd, and made her way over to her side.
"Nervous?" Asked Tilda.
"A bit. You?" Replied Ela.
Tilda shrugged, "I suppose I am a bit. But the chances of two people in my family being chosen is quite rare".
Ela nodded encouragingly. Tilda's older brother Mitch had been chosen three years before. He hadn't made it home.

Ela looked up at the stage where this years tributes would be chosen. On the stage were two large glass balls, filled with children's names. One for the boys. And one for the boys.
The Mayor of District 12, sat beside the district's only surviving winner of The Hunger Games. Haymitch Abernathy. He was a middle aged, drunk, unshaven man. His unhelpful manner, was probaly one of the main reasons that the district hadn't had a winner since him, as he became the tributes mentor.

The last person to appear onto the stage was Effie Trinkett. She came from the Capitol, a rich prosperous land that ruled over all the districts.
Their children didn't have to take part in The Hunger Games. Instead they got to watch it, and take bets on who they thought would win. Effie Trinkett became the tributes escort while they stayed at the Capitol, and made sure they behaved themselves while they were there.
As Effie droned on about how The Hunger Games started, Ela began to zone out. Instead she focused on the dress that Effie was wearing this year. It was a hiddious bright green colour, with a green wig to match the rest of the outfit.
She looked totally out of place in District 12, but by the Capitol standards, her outfit was considered quite normal.

Tilda nudged Ela gently, bringing her back to the present.
Effie had begun to make her way over to the bowl containing the names of the females.
Tilda grabbed hold of Ela's hand, and Ela gave her a reassuring squeeze. Their palms started to sweat as Effie pulled out a name from the glass ball, but neither girl let go of one anothers hand.
Effie cleared her throat and read the name from the piece of paper in a clear loud voice.
"Ela Drizelle".

Tilda let go of Ela's hand and stared at her.
Other people around them also began to stare at Ela, they even began to clear a space for her. So that she could get to the stage. But Ela couldn't move, she was frozen in fear.
A Peacekeeper came up behind her, and gave her a gentle push. Ela's feet seemed to move of their own accord, as Ela began to search the crowd, looking Glen, but she couldn't see him.
When she eventualy reached the stage, Effie made her way over to the boys bowl, and picked out a name.
"Tomas Belton".

Ela recognised the name, and when the boy began to approach the stage, she realised that she knew the boy.
Boy wasn't quite the right word to describe Tomas. He was the same age as Ela, but extremely tall, and well built. He had dark black hair, but apart from that Ela didn't know anything about him. As she tended not to take notice of any other boys who weren't Glen.
Ela knew that had Glen been the right age, he would have volunteered in Tomas's place, to protect her.
Effie made Ela and Tomas shake hands, and then they were esscorted off the stage by Peacekeepers, into the Justice Building. Where they would have to say goodbye to their loved ones, before being taken to the Capitol.