They say it gets easier. The reapings.
Your first reaping is when you are twelve. Your last reaping is when you are eighteen. But don't listen to them, it doesn't get any easier, but harder.
They pick a piece of paper out of one of the bowls, unfolding it and call out a name, and when you process it isn't yours, a rush of relief flows through you but quickly dissolves when you realize it is someone in your class at school. You watch them walk right by you. You used to sit beside them in class, by the cracked window.
As they make slow and stiff steps to the platform, their fate has already been sealed. You will never see them again. Oh, the odds could be in their favour you suppose, you hope. But who actually believes that? Your district isn't 1, 2 or 4.
The two names are called and no one volunteers.
No one ever does, no one never will.
And then it is over, for a year. You watch the Games, the victory tour, but you aren't in the arena. You aren't in front of the camera.
But next year, usually a couple of weeks before the reaping, the same worry consumes you. You can't sleep, tossing and turning. What if, what if?
You grit your teeth and bare it. You can't help but wonder, what if it is you this year?
YOU ARE READING
The Hunger Games: Union J Version
FanfictionJJ, Jaymi, Josh and George are all from different districts, all from different walks of life. They have never met, and if they were lucky, they wouldn't. But this year, luck has not been on their side. They have all been reaped from their districts...
