The Dark Side of the Moon {Ping's Funeral}

My body was shaking as I watched the countdown to the bloodbath- the beginning of the Seventy-Ninth Annual Hunger Games- start. I watched Ping's face on the screen whenever the camera cut to show her, and I knew I wasn't the only one. The other girls- Merida, Moana, Belle and the others- they were there with me, watching in terrible anticipation of what was to happen. The countdown ended, the gong sounded, and the tributes were off. Ping actually managed to be the first tribute to make an attack, stomping on the foot of the boy from One, no doubt breaking it. I actually smirked a little bit when she did this, glad that she was going strong so far. I didn't really like to see Ping have to fight, but at least this showed that she was capable of doing so, and maybe even meant that she had the chance of coming home to us alive.

The next attack that Ping made was by throwing a knife at the boy from one. She hit him, but it didn't kill. He tried to retaliate by attacking her in return, but missed. I thought it was all going rather well for Ping, until the boy from Four came out of seemingly nowhere and launched his spear at our friend. It felt like time was slowing down as it happened. The spear slid through Ping's neck in such a gruesome way as she collapsed to the ground, and the smirk immediately dropped from my face, replaced by a look of shock and fear for my friend's life. She was dying, and I knew this for sure. There was no way to survive such an attack. It was impossible. Before I could see how the others to react to what had just happened, Merida had already run off, understandably so.

I clenched my fists and tears started to stream down my face. To my dismay, the boy who'd killed her was still going strong, and Ping's allies hadn't even bothered to avenge her death. Instead, they ran away from the scene as Ping lie there on the ground, her life leaving her fragile frame. The tears that were first slowly streaming from my face turned into absolute sobbing as I collapsed to the ground, my body shaking. I didn't want to look at that screen ever again, and I didn't want to stand back up. One of the other girls, although I'm still not sure who, knelt down beside me and rubbed my back in an attempt to be consoling as I cried harder than I ever had before.

---

A few days after Ping's death, her body had arrived back in District Eleven. It hadn't been cleaned up in any way, the dirt and blood still plastering her body, and her neck still clearly destroyed from the attack that had been made on her in such a ruthless way, ending her life. Her parents, however, took the liberty to clean her up before her funeral and dress her in one of her favorite outfits that she had owned in her living days. I just wished I'd done more talking than crying when I had said goodbye to her, but it was too late to change that. Much, much too late.

---

On the day of the funeral, I dressed myself in a dark blue dress that my father had purchased for me. My rotten step-mother and step-sisters didn't approve of father using my step-mother's money to do this, but she and my step-sisters had always been so cruel to me in my lifetime that I didn't care what they thought about the situation, or really any situation, for that matter.

When I arrived at the funeral by myself, I was one of the first ones there, Ping's parents, as well as her friends Khan, Cri-kee and Mushu being the only ones to arrive before I did. When I arrived, I approached Mr. and Mrs. Lanhua, bowing my head in respect to them. I knew that respect and honor were not only a huge part of Ping's life when she was alive, but also the lives of the remaining members of the Lanhua family. Therefore, I would be sure to show that I respected Ping's parents, and that I showed them how honored I was to have known and become close with their dear daughter.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lanhua," I said to them kindly. "I'm so sorry... I know this is just as hard on the two of you as it is on me, and for that, I apologize. I hope you know how much your daughter meant to me, and how much she still means to me to this day."

I was thanked by Mrs. Lanhua, but Ping's father had chosen to simply nod, otherwise staying quiet. Her mother had tears welling in her eyes, but was clearly doing her best to prevent them from escaping and cascading down her cheeks as they so clearly had the desire to do. Mr. Lanhua stayed relatively quiet, but placed his hand on my shoulder before saying a few short yet meaningful words to me.

"Cinder, my dear," he said, "You bring honor to my family by being here, and I thank you for that."

Then, the man removed his hand from my shoulder and turned back to look at the lifeless body of his daughter once more. I was unsure if I'd be able to approach her casket quite yet, and my body was trembling with every step I took toward it. Regardless, I knew I had to see her one last time before she was lowered into the ground for the rest of our days on this planet we called Earth.

Therefore, I approached the cheaply-made wooden box that my dear close friend Ping was inside of and looked down at her now-empty shell of a body. Her soul had already left it, but she still didn't quite look peaceful and at ease. I suppose no one really could be, in death. It didn't seem like the right time for Ping to leave us, if there was ever going to truly be one. She deserved a better, longer life, but she hadn't gotten it, only living to the age of sixteen.

After I said a few goodbyes to her, I turned away from the casket, tears forming in my eyes as they had been in Mrs. Lanhua's eyes when I'd spoken to her. I then spotted that some of the other girls had arrived at the funeral. I walked over to them, my legs shaking and tears finally starting to fall from my eyes.

"Thank you for being here. I'm sure it would mean a lot to Ping, and it means a lot to me, too," I said to them upon their arrival at this place of mourning.