Sunrise on the Reaping

I ditch my pack in a patch of katniss

A fluffball of a bunny rabbit hops up to my foot and nibbles the grass next to my plate, its pale gray fur tinted lilac and pink. A shade of dove. I’m reaching for the silken coat when suddenly the rabbit startles and speeds off, bringing me to my senses.

Focus! my brain orders. What are you supposed to be doing?

First avoid the slaughter,

Get weapons, look for water.

And the smell! Like they bottled the best day of spring and uncorked it just for us

Ladies and Gentlemen, let the Fiftieth Hunger Games begin!”

Remember, Haymitch, don’t step off your plate for sixty seconds!” As the door clicks shut, she pumps the air with a fist and adds, “And keep a positive attitude!”

ce.

“Come on!” Effie guides me to the tube and centers me on a glass plate. She arranges my token so it’s outside the shirt.

The trembling of her hands allows me to ask a favor. “Will you make sure my token gets home to my girl?”

Effie nods and lays a hand over it solemnly. “I will do my absolute best.”

The intercom crackles to life. A voice greets me: “Welcome to your launch room.” At home we call it the Stockyard. The place where animals wait to be slaughtered.

I hold out my arms. Without a word, Wyatt and Maysilee join in a group embrace. Lou Lou wiggles into the center of the hug and we tighten our hold, feeling one another’s pulses and sweat and skin. Ten minutes from now, who will even still have a heartbeat?

Ten minutes from now, who will even still have a heartbeat?

sometimes the only thing you can control is your attitude to a situation.