Broken Pieces| Esme Oneshot
Sept 21, 2014 12:21:24 GMT -5
Post by Knuckles on Sept 21, 2014 12:21:24 GMT -5
Esme Truus
District Ten
If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
In a split second, the peacekeepers led me away from the stage into the justice building where I could say goodbye to my family. It wasn't something I wanted to accept, but I had to. The room is amazing. It's beauty is beyond anything I've ever seen before in my entire life. Curtains made of fabric, probably fabric I'd never be able to afford, I've never seen before rest in front of the windows blocking the sun out. A small, wooden table rested in the middle of the room with a chair extended out from it. The wooden chair was more than any chair I ever had at home. Makeshift chairs was all I ever knew. We used old rusted out buckets for chairs. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like having the money the Capitol citizens have, but I don't think I would ever want that much money. Life here in Ten wasn't that bad, yet it was all I knew. With a sigh, I sat down in the chair wondering if my parents would show.
I rested my head on the edge of the table with my eyes staring at the floor. Just this morning Ma promised a good dinner after the reaping was over, but now my parents wouldn't have a good dinner. They'd lock themselves in the house mourning. I wasn't dead, yet, but I was as good as dead. The tears I held back in front of everyone started falling down my face. How? How was I reaped? Oh, you know the escort just drew your name out of the ball. But that didn't answer my question. It wasn't possible, but here I was sitting in the justice building about to be whisked away from the district for the rest of my life. I was one of those cows Pa led to slaughter. That was all this was. A giant slaughter. And they expected me to be happy. I couldn't be happy. For the first time I didn't have a reason to be happy.
I was going to die.
The door flew open, and my parents walked inside. I jumped out of my seat and ran over to them. Pa opened his arms like he always did, and I didn't hesitate to run and embrace him. The tears fell down my face at a rapid pace. He placed his hand on top of my head attempting to calm me down, but it was impossible. "Oh, Esme...." His voice was broken, shattered, and for the first time in my entire life, I saw Pa start crying. He was always so strong, so brave; he never cried when he killed one of his precious cow's. My stomach felt hollow like I had been cut open, and my organs removed. "Don't cry. Please don't cry Pa." My own voice shook. Right now, I needed him to be the strong, brave man I knew him as. He leaned forward, and I wiped the tears from his eyes. I couldn't tell him I would make it home alive because he must he must have knew it was impossible.
I removed myself from his embrace, and I ran over towards Ma. She was standing in the corner with her chin dropped to the floor. She looked sick. Her face was very white like the clouds that were in the sky sometime. Ma looked like she was in shock. I didn't blame her, but I needed her. "Ma..." I wrapped my arms around her tight, but she couldn't respond. She just stood there staring off into space. "Ma, please... I love you. I need you." It appeared that was all she needed before she completely lost it. She began sobbing violently as her arms wrapped around me in return. Listening to her cry caused more tears to fall from my eyes. I was leaving them. I was leaving them behind because the Capitol was tearing us apart all because of some stupid reaping.
"Esme... I'm so sorry. I... I love you so much more than you'll ever know." Her voice was no more than a whisper as she finished the sentence. It was like I felt her heart break, like someone had poked it over and over with a cattle prod breaking her into pieces. I looked over at Pa who was standing next to the door. Standing in this room watching them cry made me feel like my cannon had already sounded. I was dead, and they knew I was going to die, but I couldn't speak those words. I couldn't bring myself to lie to them. I heard his feet connect with the wood floor as he walked closer to us, and he finally wrapped us both in his arms, and we stood there, hugging, for what felt like an eternity, but it ended too soon.
Pa removed something from his pocket. "Esme, hold on ta this. Me and your ma was gonna give it to ya later, but I figure now is the right time." He placed a small wooden cow in my hand. I looked up at him with a grim smile. "Keep it with ya." I didn't know what to do, say, anything. It's like the world stopped moving. Many times I saw Pa sitting outside the house carving things into wood. Never thought he was making something for me. I look down at the tiny cow, and it reminds me a lot of Cowie. "A token." I felt myself breaking. It wasn't much, but this tiny cow meant the world to me. Pa made it himself, and he wanted me to have it. "I'll keep it forever. I'll never let it go."
The door flew open and the peacekeepers walked inside. Ma was screaming, Pa was shouting, and it didn't help the matters anyway. Tears rolled down my face as I fought to remain connected to them. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want this to be the last time I ever saw them. "Ma, Pa, I love you both so much. Please stay strong. Please. For me. I need it. Please." The peacekeepers jerked them away from my grasp. "Esme... We love you." They both spoke together as they were closer to being thrown out the door. I wanted to hug them, I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I was trapped. I was a cow that the Capitol now owned. "Take care of Cowie!" I called out as the door slammed shut. And they were gone, like that.
My heart dropped into my stomach. Tears never stopped falling down my face, and now, they were falling faster and harder. I already feel like a stranger in the district. Nobody was going to care if I died as I was just another useless kid. My name wouldn't be spoken anymore. The other people were just glad they were safe another year. I wouldn't be returning home. Well, I take that back. I was going to return home, but it would be in a casket cold and stiff prepped for burial. Everyone would return home, but only one lucky child would return alive. I guess this was my purpose in life. It wasn't what I wanted, but nobody gets what they want. The Capitol takes it away in the blink of an eye.
Didn't matter anyway.
My cannon was ready.
And it would sound.
I was dead, already.
I rested my head on the edge of the table with my eyes staring at the floor. Just this morning Ma promised a good dinner after the reaping was over, but now my parents wouldn't have a good dinner. They'd lock themselves in the house mourning. I wasn't dead, yet, but I was as good as dead. The tears I held back in front of everyone started falling down my face. How? How was I reaped? Oh, you know the escort just drew your name out of the ball. But that didn't answer my question. It wasn't possible, but here I was sitting in the justice building about to be whisked away from the district for the rest of my life. I was one of those cows Pa led to slaughter. That was all this was. A giant slaughter. And they expected me to be happy. I couldn't be happy. For the first time I didn't have a reason to be happy.
I was going to die.
The door flew open, and my parents walked inside. I jumped out of my seat and ran over to them. Pa opened his arms like he always did, and I didn't hesitate to run and embrace him. The tears fell down my face at a rapid pace. He placed his hand on top of my head attempting to calm me down, but it was impossible. "Oh, Esme...." His voice was broken, shattered, and for the first time in my entire life, I saw Pa start crying. He was always so strong, so brave; he never cried when he killed one of his precious cow's. My stomach felt hollow like I had been cut open, and my organs removed. "Don't cry. Please don't cry Pa." My own voice shook. Right now, I needed him to be the strong, brave man I knew him as. He leaned forward, and I wiped the tears from his eyes. I couldn't tell him I would make it home alive because he must he must have knew it was impossible.
I removed myself from his embrace, and I ran over towards Ma. She was standing in the corner with her chin dropped to the floor. She looked sick. Her face was very white like the clouds that were in the sky sometime. Ma looked like she was in shock. I didn't blame her, but I needed her. "Ma..." I wrapped my arms around her tight, but she couldn't respond. She just stood there staring off into space. "Ma, please... I love you. I need you." It appeared that was all she needed before she completely lost it. She began sobbing violently as her arms wrapped around me in return. Listening to her cry caused more tears to fall from my eyes. I was leaving them. I was leaving them behind because the Capitol was tearing us apart all because of some stupid reaping.
"Esme... I'm so sorry. I... I love you so much more than you'll ever know." Her voice was no more than a whisper as she finished the sentence. It was like I felt her heart break, like someone had poked it over and over with a cattle prod breaking her into pieces. I looked over at Pa who was standing next to the door. Standing in this room watching them cry made me feel like my cannon had already sounded. I was dead, and they knew I was going to die, but I couldn't speak those words. I couldn't bring myself to lie to them. I heard his feet connect with the wood floor as he walked closer to us, and he finally wrapped us both in his arms, and we stood there, hugging, for what felt like an eternity, but it ended too soon.
Pa removed something from his pocket. "Esme, hold on ta this. Me and your ma was gonna give it to ya later, but I figure now is the right time." He placed a small wooden cow in my hand. I looked up at him with a grim smile. "Keep it with ya." I didn't know what to do, say, anything. It's like the world stopped moving. Many times I saw Pa sitting outside the house carving things into wood. Never thought he was making something for me. I look down at the tiny cow, and it reminds me a lot of Cowie. "A token." I felt myself breaking. It wasn't much, but this tiny cow meant the world to me. Pa made it himself, and he wanted me to have it. "I'll keep it forever. I'll never let it go."
The door flew open and the peacekeepers walked inside. Ma was screaming, Pa was shouting, and it didn't help the matters anyway. Tears rolled down my face as I fought to remain connected to them. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want this to be the last time I ever saw them. "Ma, Pa, I love you both so much. Please stay strong. Please. For me. I need it. Please." The peacekeepers jerked them away from my grasp. "Esme... We love you." They both spoke together as they were closer to being thrown out the door. I wanted to hug them, I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I was trapped. I was a cow that the Capitol now owned. "Take care of Cowie!" I called out as the door slammed shut. And they were gone, like that.
My heart dropped into my stomach. Tears never stopped falling down my face, and now, they were falling faster and harder. I already feel like a stranger in the district. Nobody was going to care if I died as I was just another useless kid. My name wouldn't be spoken anymore. The other people were just glad they were safe another year. I wouldn't be returning home. Well, I take that back. I was going to return home, but it would be in a casket cold and stiff prepped for burial. Everyone would return home, but only one lucky child would return alive. I guess this was my purpose in life. It wasn't what I wanted, but nobody gets what they want. The Capitol takes it away in the blink of an eye.
Didn't matter anyway.
My cannon was ready.
And it would sound.
I was dead, already.
Notes
