67th Reaping [D7]

It was strange not having to go to work. As much as I hated it, I always found myself tripping over my own feet trying to find something to do in the hours that led up to the reaping. Usually I just sat around with my family, trying to console my younger siblings and all at the same time, myself, but today they all seemed more keen about me than themselves. Mabel laced her fingers through mine from across the small wooden table. “It’ll be okay, right?” “Right.” I agreed. They were fair for being worried. Being eighteen, being so close to pulling my name from the reaping for good, yet closer to having my name pulled than ever, it wasn’t something they were blind to.

I was almost free, but I had to earn it.

A quick glance at the old clock above the sink in the kitchen revealed that it was nearing ten o’ clock. I had promised Bryony I would be at his house no later than ten-thirty, so I gave each member of my family a quick hug and headed for the door. “I’ll see you all there, okay?” Then, just before I closed the door behind me, I added four simple words: “Nothing bad will happen.”

The walk to Bryony's house had become sort of a habit, from the countless trips I had made to his family’s tool shop and, yes, the simple attempts I had made just to see him, so before I knew it I was standing at his door, where he greeted me before I could even knock. “Ready?

With Bryony by my side, I felt a load lift from my chest that I hadn’t even realized was there, like when I was outside and didn’t notice it was getting dark until the sun was completely gone from the sky. I wanted so badly to reach over and grab the boy’s hand, squeeze it for good luck, not just for myself, but for him as well. I don’t like to think about what I would do if his name were called- probably the same thing I would do if any of my brothers or sisters were called: break.

Once at the square, things felt a bit more real than before. This was it. This was his last time he would stand among other terrified children, the last time he would watch as someone emerged from the crowd, someone that could have been him. He stared at the bowls like snakes, since they held just as much poison as the things.

“It is time,” a voice boomed. “To once again send two of our own children to the Capitol to compete in the Hunger Games. Let us begin the Reaping!”” My heart stopped as I watched the Capitol escort, Jacquelyn, twitch over to the first bowl. “Ladies first,” As was customary.

“Spruce Oak!” It was a name I hadn’t ever heard, and even though it was terrible, I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t my sister. It was always scary with her at the reapings, considering that if her name were called, there was absolutely nothing I could do. My brothers, on the other hand, I could and I planned to if any of them were called. But in the end, none of them were called, they were all safe.

But I was not.

“Ventus Blanchard” Instinctively I found Bryony, who looked positively mortified. I assumed I looked similar. Whispers broke out around me, and I forced myself forward. Me. Ventus Blanchard. The boy that has never harmed anyone. I was about halfway through the crowd and into a clearing that would lead me straight to the stage, where the girl I had never met stood, when a hand grabbed my arm. “You don’t have to go up there.” The voice claimed, but he was wrong, I did. I did. “Because I am volunteering.” I stared at him, at the boy who was volunteering his own life in place of mine, and my eyes began to sting with tears. “You…?” He nodded, a head full of dark curls bouncing freely around.

“Yeah, I’m volunteering.”