Sang is chosen for the Culling, a series of fights to the death that are generally played by men. In fact, Sang is the first woman selected, well, ever. As the games start, and Sang forms bonds with a group of nine men, she comes to realize that the...
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Sang
"Please don't leave me here alone!" I begged Papa, but he wasn't paying attention to me. I tugged on his hand, trying to capture his attention. Refusing to be ignored. "I want to go with you."
He had asked me to be brave, and I was trying to be. But the new man seemed to be angry at Papa for some reason, and the other kids... well, I had never really been around other kids before. But from the way they watched me as we came into the house, I wasn't sure that I was going to get along with them.
I didn't want to stay here, even though Papa had said it would only be for a little while.
So while the other man was gone, I had to convince Papa that I'd be a good girl. If he let me stay with him, I would make sure to never do anything bad ever again.
Just, please. I didn't want him to leave me.
Papa glanced down at me and sighed before he pulled me with him towards a fancy chair near a fireplace. He sat down and pulled me into in his lap.
"Sang," he brushed his big hand over my head as he spoke. "Believe me, I don't want to leave you anywhere. You are my darling little girl. I'm only going to go find Papi. I need to fix a few things, and then I'll be back for you."
That didn't make any sense. I still didn't know what was going on. Where was Mama? And the last time I had seen Papi - he had looked so strange.
I was going to argue, to beg him until he let me go with him, but then I noticed how tired and sad he looked.
Papa normally kept his pretty red hair tied back, and his beard was always neat. Right now though, his hair was loose and the hair on his face was longer than I had ever seen it.
But it was his eyes that stood out the most... Most of the time Papa was so confident and cheerful. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I was afraid I would never see that expression again.
