Harmony & Discord [Salome & Anarchy]

Nerium Oleander. Also known as dogbane, it is one of the most common plants to appear across Panem. With beautiful pink flowers and deep red stamen, one would never imagine that every part of the plant is poison. You learned long ago not to judge the value of a man by his smile; it is no less important than with plants. Those foolish enough to eat the fruit of this shrub suffer bouts of bloody diarrhea, seizures, and ultimately, death. A boy had once been tricked into drinking Oleander tea on a dare. You remember being just shy of ten. He was a teenager and like all children felt the dependence of proving his worth based on the opinions of others. Three days after a single glass of the tea, paler than a ghost, he expired. 

District Eleven taught you much about all manner of flowers, roots, and herbs. Your abuela paid special attention to teach you what she had learned in the dark days. There were pieces of root to soothe the stomach, what was good to rub on itchy patches of skin, and what all costs you should avoid. You kneeled now among the tall blades of grass studying the various fauna. Few of them would be in the arena, but you were determined to play to your strengths. There would be no victory through violence for you—standing all of five foot two and one of the smallest tributes—so that meant doubling your determination elsewhere. Among fifty other children, you could go unnoticed for long enough. Drawing attention to oneself like a peacock served no benefit to you; better yet to learn to hide, and plot your moves carefully.

But how long could you remain unknown? And what of those that saw you as weak, easy, and expendible?

If you feared death, you would have been trembling. There were days until the bloodbath, and still you were alone. A foolish girl from District Eleven, you would be nothing but dust after your carcass was tossed aside. But you had faith—tenacity, with every step giving you more strength. When you looked across the training floor, you saw not killers but children. You had always been the big sister, the adult. They could do their worst to you, but there would be no fear. No. You returned to twisting the Oleander flower through your fingers and smiled.

“Even a tiny bit of this ground up would take down the strongest career,” You say. It’s an admonition that you are playing a different game, but you want others to hear. Salome Izar was strong enough to stand on her own two feet.