It was a sunny day. How tragic. Me, my family, and many sibling arrived at the reaping ceremony. The sun shining, everyone 18 and under lined up into perfectly even rows. I could hear the small squeaks and whimpers of my younger sibling, worried about if their name was going to be drawn. Yet they had nothing to worry about. I was the one who got the supplies for our family. My name was in there many times. It seemed impossible that I hadn’t been picked until today. My parents knew it, and I knew it too. After all, they were the only reason my name had been entered in that many times. “C’mon Ruth, show some mercy, you’re the eldest, and you have to be responsible” my father reasoned “Your siblings couldn’t fight in the games, they’re too young!” My mother cried So I was hoaxed into listening to them. My name was entered, and I lived with the burden of training for the games ever since I was 8. After all, I am the oldest. I have to be the test object, the Guinea pig, the one who gets forgotten. The guards showed up, hushing the crowd. Everything was silent. Then, a lady showed up, in the most frivolous, ugliest thing I’d seen. Her blond curls bounced as she walked up to the microphone. “Welcomed to the 10th annual Hunger games” She spoke enthusiastically, clapping her hands together as if this was an event of celebration. To be honest, I don’t remember much of what she said. I barley listened to her after the 4th year. Then, she got to the important section. The reaping. “May the odds, be ever in your favor” she said, in a more toned down voice. Then she called the names one by one, until finally, “Ruth Mason” My siblings gasped, bless them, they didn’t know how large the odds were against me. As the guards walked to get me, I stared back to my parents. Both refused to make eye contact with me, and shuffled their feet. My father started to say something, but I blocked him out. I didn’t want to hear another word. As the guards took me away, I remember thinking. “May the odds be ever in your favor” I bloody will make them. I’ll be the bloody tester that survived.
