MightyMorphling// Fuzzy

There is a chill in the air, and it's not from the Reaping. Fall has taken over District Five and my mother has pulled out the itchy, ugly sweaters. I wear a pea soup green one with navy blue vertical stripes my mother so kindly knitted for me many winters ago. I don't truly have a choice, she wouldn't let me walk out the door without it.

It's the weekend. The Bloodbath has aired and now all the excitement and nerves from the start of the Games has melted away. Not a single tribute died in the bloodbath. My grandmother would say it was a bad sign- that much worse things were in store for the tributes, but most of the people of the district were relieved. No one wanted to scrap together a funeral basket for the families just yet. So we count out blessings, say our thanks, and look over our shoulders to make sure the grim reaper isn't creeping up behind us.


I walk into the District Square. A lot of people are still milling about, watching the giant screens as the tributes take off into the depths of the arena. This arena gives me the creeps. All the tombstones and dreary weather, it was like it was full of omens that said "Death lies here."

I pass by a couple of shops, looking for nothing in particular. I just wanted out of the house for some fresh air and the square was the best place to wander without a Peacekeeper stopping you for looking suspicious. I hoped off the edge of a sidewalk and landed near a small backpack. It looked as if it had been tossed aside in a hurry, or maybe dropped. It was unzipped, the contents falling out of it.

I wouldn't have taken a second look at it, honestly, I'm not a thief, but it wasn't anything ordinary tumbling out of that bag. They were small vials. Yellowish looking glasses with stoppers just lying in the dirt. I kicked one and it clinked against its siblings. I had never seen anything like it before. Was it medicine? Maybe some secret potion made out of herbs?

Bending down, I took a vial in my hand and studied the insides.

"What are you?" I mumbled.