a date with the plate {frankel}

jenoah.

It’s expected of those from lower Districts to be indulging on the feast that the Capitol has on offer but obviously as per usual, I am a slight anomaly in that statistic. So far I have only tried two foods that I haven’t touched before, olives and smoked salmon, I can’t say I rate either of them. The olives had a rather bizarre oily texture once they hit my mouth and the aroma of the salmon was too pungent. I’ve had to share rooms with sweaty old men in the past, along with their stench filled clothes and well, it didn’t compare to the fishy odour on my plate.

Filling my plate with the norm of a slice of meat and vegetables, I try to take a seat in the dining hall. All the tributes are segregated into areas, the career Districts have their own table. It’s odd seeing people separated into different groups. I am so used to being a part of a large gathering of people. Whenever my father throws a feast for the family and the men, we all gather around one big table although through the night, everyone usually ends up on the floor. The table being used for means that I highly doubt it was designed for…

I have quickly gained the title of ‘the loner boy’ and really, that goes against the entirety of my existence. I yearn for human interaction every hour of the day but so far, I’ve been unable seat myself next to fellow tributes but today could be the day.

Taking my plate to the seating area, I try to find the least intimidating tribute to sit with. The District Nine boy being the first to meet my vision. My eyes quickly drop to the plate of food that sits before him…wow. Without even asking, I place my plate onto the surface of the table and sit opposite the boy. ”Do you even have a plate under all of that food?” A grin painted onto my face accompanies my words.

jenoah.

I stab the fork into the centre of the cut of beef, peeling away at its insides, trying to carve it into smaller chunks best suited for my mouth. I have never felt bad about eating animals, even if I despise the death of humans. The animals get their own back in due time; they forage on the land that we get buried under. If humans were to ever vanish from this land, I am sure the animals would take over in due course. Finally, a world free of the slaughtering monsters that supposedly pride themselves in keeping balance with the ecosystem, the animals will be relieved.

The boy from nine responds to me, mid eating some marine animal, likely stolen from District four. There are some very peculiar animals that live in the depths of the ocean, which unfortunately find themselves on our plates. "I decided to go rogue and just load it up in my hands and place it on the table." A grin remains on my face as he speaks, a chuckle rolling out from between my lips.

It’s nice to find company with someone like this male, we are both facing an untimely doom together yet here we are, entertaining each other with the vast mountain on food in front of the male.

”Yeah there is some variety of food on offer, I’d do the same but I don’t think my stomach could take it. A giggle replaces my earlier serious chuckle, a childish side of me breaks out as I shovel the meat into my mouth.

jenoah.

It’s strange seeing people live in their last moments, when people are preparing for death, many seem somewhat at piece, while others are in a state of sombre. I’ve seen death come to people almost unexpectedly, their minds not prepared for its end and the fear that controls them is more severe that what I see in this dining hall. Everyone prepares for death the day they are born, it’s expected of us. It’s just people would rather it come many years in the future, not now. Not the way that I and the other twenty two are likely to be granted death. It isn’t a peaceful way to go but twenty three tributes will just have to deal with it.

I am like the piece of beef that sits on my plate; hopefully it had a healthy happy life, grazing in the many fields of District Ten. Unlike me, it likely didn’t know it was deemed for slaughter but its whole existence was leading up to the day that it’s meat is to sit atop a plate and to be consumed. Hopefully my body won’t meet the same fate as the piece of meat; rather it is returned to my family and joined in the earth with my mother.

My laugh is contagious with the District Nine boy, chuckles and giggles break out between us. I can feel the eyes targeting our table, wondering why we are laughing. He makes his piece of meat walk across the surface of the table. He is just re-enacting the games. The tributes are that crab, the Capitol the ones making it walk.

"Could it handle this piece of crab? I don't even know what it is, really, but it's from district four." I haven’t a clue what he means but I just nod. "Nothing like making it all finger food." Table manners was one of the many obscure traditions that my father drilled into me, even the men were forced to eat with cutlery.

“What could handle the piece of crab?” I ask before finishing the last piece of beef. ”I’ve only eaten one seafood and that was salmon, I can’t say I enjoy the foods from District