the greatest show | vali & lucky

l u c k y
nachtnebel

Within days, the Training Center's lobby became Lucky's favorite place to sit late at night. He wasn't allowed to leave the building, and most people in the Capitol weren't allowed to enter. He read in a book somewhere in District Four that the early tributes in the Games' history were held like hostages for the Capitol to watch and mock. Ninety-something years later, Lucky scanned the passersby, lying on the wide windowsill.

They were the exhibit, and he was the spectator.

His fingers smudged the freshly wiped glass as they walked across the street with the Capitolites. Fruity scents of persimmon and apricot bled through. What a life it would be if he ignored the words ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED floating above their heads. He stretched out on the sill, lowering himself until the citizens compared to the skyscrapers behind them. Tall, as if they could squish him at any point. A boy and a girl, undoubtedly twins, skipped by the window. They stopped around his chest and stared, and Lucky's fingers stopped as they did.

Their words blurred into murmurs behind the heavy glass panes, but their fingers smeared against the window, back and forth, back and forth, tracing the length of Lucky's lying body. He remained completely still as they came back to his face. Both of them placed a single finger to match his index and middle on the glass.

That's when he struck. "GRAHHHHHHH!"

"AHHH!"

"ARGHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH-ahahaha."

The kids' fingers clawed against the window as they shook off their fear and ran off down the street. His laughter was uncontrollable. They would be scared shitless of the wisps back in Four.

Lucky leaned back against the window frame once more. He turned back to the lobby, where another tribute caught his eye. Seven. "Hey! C'mere, I'm watching the circus." The doorman and Lucky exchanged a look.

"Come watch the greatest show."