just from nine: coriolanus snow and his tribute

one - district nine - the shops

the sound of feet cause me to awaken. i open my eyes quickly, and move my head to my right to see who the footsteps belonged to. i notice my older sister standing in the doorway glaring at me. i quickly sit up and swallow nervously.

"well good morning to you" she states sarcastically.

"um- what's wrong?" i ask confused.

"why haven't you gotten up yet?"

"are we in a rush for something?"

"oh my. of course you forgot" she mumbles, "today we have to go to the market and get food  for the after-reaping meal!"

"oh right. the reaping is already tomorrow"

"they're doing it again so we have to be prepared."

i stand up and push my hair behind my ears. "when shall we leave?"

"as soon as we can" ruby says with a rushed tone as she walks out of room.

i go over to the small, cracked mirror and brush my hair. i put on my clothes and lace up my shoes. i quickly jog out of the bedroom and into the main living room. ruby is standing near the door, "ready?"

"yeah" i say out of breath.

she opens the door and we step out locking it behind us. the air is a bit chilly and the sky has many clouds. most of the population of district 9 is out harvesting. they are far out in fields or some are working in the shops since it's especially busy today. everyone buying the special reaping dinner for when they don't get chosen.

ruby leads us into a tent that is selling small squirrels. "hmm. 2 please"

"4 dollars" ruby hands the women some of our money. ruby hands me the squirrels to carry. technically hunting is illegal so if we get caught the peacekeepers have the right to beat us or lock us up. that's why we stay low in the alleyway shops.

next, she leads us over to the unofficial bakery. we only have enough to buy one small roll. we purchase it anyways. this is the one time a year when we care to buy nice food for ourselves.

lastly, on our way home we pick up some leaves, flowers, and roots to make a lovely salad.

as we slowly walk home i look off into the distance. i always have wondered what the other districts are like. only the peacekeepers, important people from the Capitol, and the victors of the Hunger Games get to tour them.

***

we place our new items on the counter and begin to prepare for tomorrows dinner. we take the squirrel skin off and keep the edible enough parts.

we clean the greens and go through to make sure they can all be eaten. we hide the roll in case anyone sees through a window and tries to take it.

we make a small portion of salad for tonight and eat it while the sun goes down. when it rises again it will be time to get dressed for the reaping.

we eat in silence. whatever waits for us tomorrow is something that neither of us want to discuss or even think about in the slightest.

after the dinner, which did not take long to eat since we didn't eat much, finished we cleaned up. we store everything where it has to go and sweep the floor. dust and dirt picked up and i pushed it outside. ruby washes the windows and i wipe the table.

when curfew occurs we decide to call it a night and we lay in our beds. my stomach churns with nerves. the reaping day obviously means everyone is on edge, but even more so now because most people thought it wouldn't happen at all this year.

last year during the ninth Games, not many people watched. so, the districts assumed we would not have one again. but, here we are. getting ready and stressed for a ridiculous and monstrous game made and controlled by the Capitol.