Emily didnât sleep all night and only got up when the sun was rising. Today was the day of the reaping. Emily had to carefully get off the floor as her siblings were frighten last night thanks to the reaping. They didnât want their family to be torn apart. They all slept together on the floor in a pile pretty much last night. Quickly she bathed and dressed for the day. She put on a large straw-hat, white button up shirt, dark blue overalls, and thick black knee high boots.
The reaping wasnât for a few hours, but she had to do something to relax. She went to the barn where the cows were. She grabbed a stool, bucket, began to milk Betsy. Emily stroked the cowâs side a few times as she milked her. She watched as the milk flowed into the bucket.
âHey Betsy, how did you sleep? I slept horribly. I kept thinking about the reapingâŠyou are lucky you are a cow,â she said. Emily continued to talk to Betsy as she milked the cow. Once she finished, she poured the milk into a tin and put it in the storage.
She returned home to get her siblings ready for the reaping. They had to attend the reaping or death would be the result. After a few hours she finally got them ready. They all went to Thomasâs house to make sure he was ready and well (as well as he could be). They went to the center of town together. This is where they were going to choose the two tributes.
Emily squeezed Quinnâs left hand and Hanselâs right hand. She didnât want them to wander off. They were the youngest, three and five years old respectfully. Emily was trying to hold it together, but she felt very stressed too. They were doing the men first and she hoped Oliver or Thomas wouldnât be chosen. Tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She finally stopped holding her breath when some stranger was chosen. No one volunteered to take his place.
Emily was worried her sister Cleo would be chosen. The past month and a half, Emily had been bedridden. She was able to forced herself to get back to work about two weeks ago. Emily should of stayed in bed, but her mind was able to win the battle against her body. She had been flogged for pushing a peacekeeper into a pile of manure. Em just pushed him because he was about to hit Oliver for knocking over a few buckets of milk.
Stone was worried because Cleo received tesserae for each member of their family while she was stuck in bed. She scolded her sister and they got into a big fight. Emily decided to get tesserae too since her sister was at a high risk of getting picked. Emily would volunteer if one of her siblings got chosen. She was still mad at Cleo since the reaping just caused Emily to stress out. Though, she understood why Cleo did it. It was hard to feed everyone in her family and Thomas. Emily usually stole food when the opportunity presented itself, but she obviously couldnât do that while bedridden.
ââŠStone,â said the person choosing the name, the picker. Emilyâs head snapped in the direction of the ridiculously dressed woman. She felt stinging in her neck and high up on her back. Emily knew she just reopened a few wounds. She hadnât heard the first name at all. Though, she saw Cleo going towards the picker. Emily had Quinn and Hansel each take one of Oliveâs hands. She ran towards Cleo and grabbed her. She looked at the peacekeepers that pulled their weapons out.
âI volunteer!â she yelled and watched the peacekeepers relax. They still held their weapons though. Her back was on fire by the time she went to whisper into Cleoâs ear. Emily was actually breaking into a sweat as her body was under stress.
âTake care of Thomas and the family. Stay safe and healthy and no more getting tesserae. Just stay alive,â she whispered before walking up to the picker. She ignored the look in her sisterâs eyes that told her to stay alive as well. Emily doubted she would win the games, but maybe somehow she could.
Tears were still running down her face as the picker continued to speak. Emily really didnât hear what she was saying as she got dizzy. A second later she collapsed. She woke up on the train that would take her to The Capital. Emily was lying on a bed pretty much just wearing her overalls from the waist down. Someone had wrapped her back and neck up in bandages. Emily bit her lip to try not to cry, but tears came. It just hit her she wasnât able to say goodbye to her family and Thomas. She fell unconscious again from the pain.
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Em woke up again once they got to The Capital. Em just stayed in her room. She didnât want to talk to anyone, not even the male tribute. She had no idea who he was and knew itâd be best if they didnât get to know each other. She only left when they had to go to the training room. She knew she wouldnât be allowed to stay in her room without some type of consequence.
Surprisingly District 11 tributes were the first to enter the training room. Emily just looked around. She didnât pay attention to the male from her district that went to some spears. She just stood there with her arms at her sides. Whoever bandaged her back and neck did it too tightly. She didnât find the outfit she was in the most comfortable either. It was silly The Capital choose what theyâd be wearing to train.
The whites of her eyes were blood red, as she couldnât stop herself from crying while in her room. It was a miracle she wasnât crying now. Her eyes just scanned around. She looked lost at what to do.
Emily had no idea what she should do for training. She dealt with cows and plants. Emily didnât exactly have any skills that would benefit her in the game. Those were her current thoughts anyways. Her healing back limited her movement too. The pain didnât bother her. It was just something that was there that she couldnât really push her luck with. A sigh escaped her lips and she finally walked over to the camouflage area. She could learn this. Itâd help her survive in the game for more than an hour.