The Abnormal

Chapter Seven

The next day I wake up sweating. I had an awful dream that I bumped into the Sheik- Oh wait. That wasn't a dream. That makes me feel so much worse. A shiver goes down my spine as I remember that today might be my last day alive. Well, time for breakfast! After my bowl of lukewarm stodgy porridge, my mum comes up to me and hands me two parcels, one big and one small. "Open them, I got them especially for your first choosing day." I vaguely remember four years ago when it was Mark's first choosing day, he got a beautiful blue shirt and some black trousers; I don't remember a small package though. I open them and am amazed to find a silky black dress with red lace covering it making it have a flower pattern. The dress also comes with a black pearl necklace. I am worried for a second wondering if they're going to get killed because this must have cost a lot and what about that small package; it now feels like a death wish rather than a gift. My mother can obviously sense me start to panic so she calms me down by telling me how they afforded it. "The necklace was your great grandmothers from when she lived during the time before now. The dress was mine before so I fixed it to fit you and the small package wasn't much at all. Open it." I tentatively peel off the paper to reveal some fresh fruit and some toffee sweets. To you, this may seem stupid but I was so happy, I'd never had fruit before! The rules are so strict here that you have to have the same meal everyday: Porridge, boiled chicken with rice, we don't get dinner. The reason I heard about it is because I once heard the guards talking about what they were having for dinner, they told me (with a smirk on their face) that it was another meal you had after lunch. I was so fascinated that I asked mum to make some for me but she told me with a sad smile that we weren't allowed to eat anything more than what the Capitol provided for us if we paid for the meals on time. If not then you didn't eat that week. I ate the food and then got ready.