Make Me A Bird Chapter One

   Abraham didn't sleep, he hadn't for days, the young boy sat in his bed, exhausted and frustrated but most of all terrified. In mere hours he'd be forced into town square, in front of a stage and huge screens, probably televised and watch some poor sap being sent to his death. But the worst part is that poor sap could be him..

   The Hunger Games, simply thinking about them sent a shudder through Abraham. There where few in Panem who didn't feel the same way, but they whereby the ones who could do a thing about it. Since Panem had been established the entire country was controlled by the Capitol hidden in the mountains, the Capitol ruled over thirteen districts. Each district specializing in one thing, and getting poorer and poorer the further away from the Capitol they where. Sixty seven years ago the districts rebelled against the abuses of the Capitol...and lost. District thirteen was completely destroyed and as retribution for their defiance each of the remaining districts had to offer two tributes, one male, one female to be taken to the Capitol to fight to the death in a tournament dubbed The Hunger Games.

   About a week before the games began a 'Reaping' was held to pick the tributes. That's what today was... The reaping. They were all filmed of course, because the games became a festival in the Capitol and everyone in all the districts was forced to watch., so that everyone could watch all the reapings consecutively they where all staggered. District Seven's was at seven in the morning. That only left a couple hours to do chores, eat and get all gussied up.

   The boy pushed himself out of his small bed, carefully folding the blankets back over where he laid. Abraham made his way out if his room and into the kitchen. He swept as quietly as he could to not wake his parents or tiny sister. When he finished sweeping the floor he cleaned the dishes and wipe the counters and table. That all took about an hour, or at least the sun was up now so it wasn't long until the reaping so Abe decided to skip breakfast and go back to his room to get dressed.  It was custom to dress nicely for the reaping, for what ever reason we all liked to not look like homeless children but only on reaping day.

   The rest of the house was still quiet, either asleep or pretending to be. Abrahams parents weren't the shinning example of how to raise your children. They always came first, if it was a hard month and it came down to very little food they fed themselves leaving Abe and his very young sister, Maura to fend for themselves. His dad didn't work anymore, he lost a hand cutting lumbar into planks at the factor and has been collecting from the district since and his mother was frail and tiny- and that's probably where Maura got it from- and could only press pulp into paper. They where piss poor, like the outlying districts, and they had no right having children. Abe, now fourteen, had been working chopping trees since he could pick up an axe -which was only two years ago- he hoarded his pay from his parents to afford a place away from them for him and Maura, but every time his parents didn't put food on the table he had to dip into his funds to feed his little sister.  So he hasn't actually saved much. Asleep or not Abe doubted anyone would be at the reaping for him...

   He changed into a jade green button up shirt and black slacks that he'd worn three years in a row and threatened to split if he bent the right way. Abe left the house to go find his classmate Cain before they both had to be in town square.

  Cain was sitting in a tree just along the fence that bordered district seven, the guy was like a monkey, in fact he prided himself in how fast he could scale a tree. All the boys in district seven could climb trees, whenever new boys started working chopping the trees down he Cain and Abe had been friends since they could walk, they went to school together and worked together. He was taller than Abe, was fair skinned where Abe was tan, had brown hair where Abe had dark red hair but both boys had green eyes. Cain hoped out of the tree and landed about a foot from the trunk, "That time already?"

   Abraham shook his head, "No we still have a little bit of time..."

   Cain smiled and threw an arm around Abraham's neck pulling him into a choke hold, "I bet there's enough time for me to kick your ass then!"

   "Come on Cain..." Abraham whined, " we both know to this day you haven't been able to 'kick my ass'."

   "No but this is the day I can feel it!"

   Abe rolled his eyes and grabbed Cain's arms and kicked out the taller boy's feet out from under him, "Can you feel it now?" The red head asked as he watched Cain double back and fall over.

   Cain cackled and got to his feet, "Next time, Rose, next time I'll get you."

  Abe reflexively rolled his eyes, "Suuuure you will, come on... Let's get going."

  Cain and Abe got to the town square just in time to get caught in the long line to check in that by itself took half an hour. We they got to the front a blood sample was stolen from their fingers and then they where ushered into a crowd of children ages twelve all the way to eighteen. The crowd was divided into males- on the left- and females- on the right-, then the sides where divided into age groups with the twelve year olds in front and the eighteen year olds in back. Cain and Abe went in with the other fourteen year old girls. Parents and everyone exempt from reaping -which was really and child younger than twelve, or an adult older than eighteen, and of course the victors of previous games, in which district had a handful. But illnesses or ailments never exempt you from the games. A couple years back they even sent some poor schizophrenic from district eight.- stood on the outside quartered off from their loved ones.

   Once everyone was in the square the very bubbly, very blue district seven escort, Cecilia Myers walked over to the microphone on the stage in front of crowd and promptly began talking so fast in a voice so high she sounded more like a bird chirping than a human speaking, "GoOD morning District Seven! And of course, Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor. First on the do to list, a very special video from the Capitol."

  The stupid video that played ever year played, foreboding the power of the Capitol to completely ruin the lives of everyone in the Districts if they wanted. It finished and Cecilia walked back over to the podium. On each side of of her where huge glass balls with hundreds of little papers with names written on them, everyone's name was in there, one for each year they've been eligible for the games and more if they signed up for Tessera. On one side behind the ball, right I front of the Justice Building sat Mayor Green, and district sevens mentors, former tributes who came back alive and now had the job of trying to bring their tributes back in one piece, Lazarus Lepidous and Vouge.

  "Well District Seven how about we get this show on the road and pick the tributes for the sixty seventh hunger games! Of course well do the ladies first," the escort chirped and click-clacked her way to the ball for the girls and pulled out a single piece of paper, unfolding it genially between her perfectly manicured nails, "Our female tribute this year is Serena Green! Come on up here sweet heart!"

  Serena... She's the mayors daughter, seventeen, sandy blonde hair, tall curved figure.... Beautiful. The mayor let out a cry before he dashed into the Justice building. Serena made her way from the back of the crowd without a word. Once she was on the stage she moved her long blonde hair behind her shoulders and took Cecilia's hand.

   "My my what a beautiful girl you are Serena... It's a pleasure." Cecilia smiled and left Serena to walk over to the boys ball, again reaching her hand in, "And now for our male tribute....Abraham Rose."