The Games The Capital Forgot

District 5 Reaping

District 5 Reaping

Celesta DeLuna:

"Celesta, wake up, sweetie." I slowly opened my eyes sleepily, beautiful sunlight streamed through the window behind my mother, framing her beautiful but tired face as she slowly coaxed me into a sitting position. I smiled raising my arms above my head in a stretch as I breathed in the musty smell of the attic.

"Momma..." I laughed a little, happy to see her crystal blue eyes looking into my own. She stroked my long flowy blond hair and I sensed a nervous tension within that brief movement.

"What is it Momma?" I asked, unhappy to see any emotion but happiness in my mother.

She bit her lip as if she wanted to say something, but just couldn't bring herself to. "Honey, you know what today is, don't you?"

I looked down, a bit uncomfortable. Today was the reaping, my first, I hated the games, they always made me cry, to see people pushed to such extremes that they hurt each other. I know none of them really want to kill each other, nobody is really a killer at heart.

"You're going to have to go. I don't have a choice, believe me if I could it would be me standing there in the crowd waiting to have my life determined, but I can't." My mother said barely above a whisper beginning to cry. I hugged her, throwing my arms around her trying to comfort her.

"Momma, I'm not scared for me." I said honestly, a bit odd as it sounds I had no concern for myself. "I'm scared for whoever gets picked."

Her grip tightened a second before she let go, sighing as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Look at me, a wreck, getting all worked up about nothing at all. You'll be fine, your name is only in there once." She said, more towards herself than me. "Get dressed sweetheart, I let you sleep late, you don't have long. I laid your clothes out on the chair, when you're done come downstairs. "Momma abruptly stood up and wiped her hands on her apron, turning away from me and disappeared as she slowly climbed down the rickety ladder.

As soon as she was gone, I slowly removed the blanket and swung my legs downward, wincing as they hit the cold wooden floor. I moved toward the chair, much faster than I had gotten out of bed a few seconds earlier. I tried to ignore the unpleasant stinging of the freezing floor as I looked at the clothing my mother had laid out.

Draped over the chair was a beautiful blue dress I had never seen before. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at it, it couldn't be new could it?

My hand slowly reached forward grabbing the slightly coarse material that shone brilliantly as I held it up and it caught the light. The dress was about knee length, it had short puffed sleeves, a pretty ruffled collar, and  a beautiful satin ribbon was tied around the waist. It took my only a second to recognize my mothers stitching, when had she done this? It must of taken ages!

Without another thought I slipped it on, it fit absolutely perfectly! I twirled around the room a few times, feeling absolutely beautiful.

I climbed quickly down the ladder, jumping the last few feet and ran over to where my mother was getting breakfast ready and threw my arms around her. "Momma! It's beautiful! How did you manage?!" I exclaimed elated.

A small smile plays on her face, momentarily masking her worry lines. "It took some work, but darling it was worth it. You look so grown up!" She said handing me some toast with a little butter on it. "Careful not to get that on your dress." She warned as she guided me over to the flimsy set of table and chairs and sat me down. I felt her fingers start to comb my hair into braids as I slowly bit into my toast, savoring every last bite of the buttery goodness.