With apologies to Suzanne Collins
- 1 -
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is warm, the canvas blanket covering only me. Porn must've recently gotten out of bed. I wonder if she's up for the day, or if she had a bad dream and decided to climb into bed with our mother instead. Either is believable. After all, today is the day of the raping.
I prop myself up on one elbow. There's enough light in the window to see them. Porn, my little sister, is sitting on my mom's bed; mom is stroking her long blond hair, whispering to her that everything will be all right. I can't read the expression on Porn's face, which is fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the pornrose for which she was named. My mother was once sexy too. Or so they tell me.
If I could read lips, I think that my mom is trying to tell Porn that she doesn't have anything to worry about. There are lots of girls here in District 12, and it's only Porn's first year, so...
Let me back up a minute. I'm sure you're wondering what I'm talking about. You see, seventy four years ago, the outlying districts tried to sow discord and unrest against the government. As a part of the Treaty of the Treason, each district must offer up one female and one male between the ages of 21 and 28, in a ceremony called a Raping. The people chosen, called Tributes, will then be taken to Darkview in a televised spectacle of raging hormones and sexual debauchery.
In the Humper Games, it's fuck or be fucked. I'm not entirely sure how they do it, but apparently having an orgasm will cause your heart to seize up and you'll die. With a smile on your face, but you're still out. So you want to get other people to cum but not cum yourself. And you sure as fuck don't want to masturbate, even though there's something in the air that keeps the participants aroused. The last standing male and the last standing female must then have sex with each other, and the final survivor will be rewarded with a modified body. If it's a guy, he'd get a bigger dick and if it's a girl she'd get bigger tits.
I'd be lying if I said I weren't worried for myself or for Porn. Porn's only got her name in that bowl once. My name is in that bowl at least two or three dozen times because I had to get food for my family. I protected Porn as much as I could.
So I stretch and get up, hoping to keep Porn as calm as I can. When we all get together at the table, I tell Porn that the odds are low that she'll get picked. But it's something we've all got to do. My mom silently nods her agreement, wiping a tear from her eye but not saying anything.
After breakfast, we set about to getting dressed. As a part of the whole pageant of the Games, starting with the Raping, we've all got to look far more presentable than we normally have to. There's extra troops from Darkview today to oversee the whole thing.
I can see how nervous Porn is looking so I reach into my pocket and I pull out the small pin I had gotten from one of the old ladies in town and I hand it to her. Porn looks at it and I tell her it's a fuckingjay pin, and it'll bring her good luck and strength. She smiles slightly and places it on her blouse.
The sound of the bell ringing in the center of the district tells us it's time to go down and watch the video of President Blow explaining what this whole thing is about, as if we didn't already know.
- 2 -
My mom starts crying as Porn and I walk out to the town square, hand-in-hand, to be there for the Raping. There've been times when I would've shaken mom to stop crying but I can't blame her this time. Still, looking at her, she's been that way ever since dad died in a mining accident. We in District 12 are a mining town and she's basically pulled away from me and Porn since then, leaving me to keep food on the table in our household. I glare at my mom as we walk out the door, wordlessly telling her to be there, if not for me, then at least for Porn.
Long after Porn and I arrive at the Raping, my mom shows up. Effing Trinket, the diplomat from Darkview to our district, is commanding everyone's attention so I can basically only smile at my mom before the overall ceremony begins.
Effing says, "Welcome, welcome welcome! Happy Humper Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor! Before we begin, we have a very special film, brought to you all the way from Darkview!"
The crowd falls silent as a video is projected onto the wall behind Effing. It shows images of the war that ended seventy four years ago interspersed with images from past years' Humper Games. President Blow narrates the short film: "War. Terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child. This was the uprising that rocked our land. Thirteen districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, gave them orgasms, protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained. And then came the peace. Hard-fought, sorely won. A people rose up from the ashes and a new era was born. But freedom has a cost. When the traitors were defeated, we swore as a nation we would never know this treason again. And so it was decreed that each year, the various districts of Pornem would offer up in tribute one young man and one young woman to fuck to the death in a pageant of hormones, courage, and sacrifice. The lone victor, bathed in riches and given an improved body, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future."
The film comes to an end and the music dies down and Effing announces that the time has come to draw the names of the tributes from District 12. "As usual, ladies first!"
She reaches into the bowl and slowly opens up the slip. "Pornrose Everpeen."
I'm in shock. Porn slowly starts to get shuffled into the square and the guards push her forward. I scream out, "Porn!" but can barely hear my own voice.
Without even thinking, I jump out into the center of the square and call out, "I volunteer! I volunteer as a tribute!"
- 3 -
I don't really know how I find my way up to the stage next to Effing Trinket, who seems just as surprised as I am to be here. She asks me my name and I think I say, "Catscratch Everpeen." She tries to make small talk but I can't really think of anything to say. Realizing that I'm not much of a conversationalist, Effing clears her throat and says, "And now for the boys..."
She reaches into the fishbowl with the guys' names and pulls out a slip of paper. She calls out "Beeta Mellick."
I look out into the crowd and see the people standing near Beeta start to move away from him. He's got a shocked look on his face. I imagine I've had a similar look on my face ever since I volunteered to take Porn's place. But nobody's volunteering to take his place, so he slowly finds his way up to me and Effing.
Effing is still bubbly as she tells me and Beeta to shake hands and says, once again, "May the odds be ever in your favor."