sunset into night <> M&R {JB}

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From the stage of the act far more can be witnessed of the annual scene, then within the hurdle of potential victims below. A fearful relief sighs from the majority, though not too loudly as if too much satisfaction will guarantee their spot for slaughter next year. Surprise coaxes the likes of others, in utter disbelief that a victor child was chosen. Anger spews from that very victor who overcame a game before the birth of my existence. From a few familiar faces I absorb their disappointment, that one of their toys to be rented is being shipped off to please others. Such a mixture of emotions weave through the crowd before me, distracting me from my own, even long after I exit the stage.

Confusion rattles me in an inability to swallow what’s occurring amongst the four walls of my new temporary prison, as I await for victors to wish me goodbye. Surely Mycelium is ferociously clacking her heels across the boiling pavement to this building to visit me. Will our parents be following her, or are they already in a desperate search to find employment on a day declared for all to rest? Will our cousins also be venturing to my room, or will the sorrow prevent their bones from moving - as if them visiting would be accepting my fate? The lack of control to know all these things pains me where the pain of this reality should truly be.

With arms crossed, and tense legs refuting me from sitting, I stare out the window overlooking the District I may never see again. The door jostles to an open, an intruder invading upon my space of disbelief - while my eyes don’t venture to who it may be. By no doubt it’s Mycelium, standing with her arms crossed above her stomach that will one day soon have a baby bump, confidence forcing a radiance from her in a determination that this is not the end of me.

“Well this is a fucking mess. You better start screwing the right people to stay alive.” Sarcasm sprinkles from her tone, unraveling a grin across my features as my eyes remain gazing out to the realm beyond the sole window in here.

Finally my gaze detaches from the dreary view, shifting to my sister with eyes that lack even a single tear. “What? But I would never give up my precious body to stay alive.” Even darker sarcasm replies back from my lips that are still coated with a smile. “I’ll just sleep with all twenty-three tributes, the game-makers, maybe even a few past victors. Then I’ll be the last to kill on everyone’s list, and I’ll pick off whomever remains - all in a night’s work, right?” Sarcasm’s now absent, a lack of fear swirling through my words, still unable to absorb the truth of the matter - while in actuality there is no stopping me from sleeping with whom I need to to stay alive. We have done exactly that for two years, no point in stopping now.