Survivor: The Forty-Seventh Hunger Games

Chapter 10

Hey hey hey, it's another District pair!

Gael Orford, 16 (D10M)

History class was my favorite. I wasn't the best at math, and the other classes were mostly a waste of time. We all knew it didn't matter whether we could do square roots or diagram a sentence. We lived in Ten. Nine-tenths of every class became farm workers. The two smartest students might have a chance to become accountants or actuaries, but the rest of us would spend the rest of our lives shooing cows and cutting up meat.

That was why I liked history class. We didn't have many books, but the others were glad to leave them behind the second the bell rang. Ms. Finke was overjoyed when I asked to borrow one. She must have thought I wanted to "study hard and improve my lot" like she was always talking about. I didn't have the heart to tell her I just liked history books. I read them for fun, not for a nonexistent chance at a better life.

A lot of the books had pages missing, since they were really old and beat-up. I suspected some of the missing pages had been about things that were missing entirely from newer editions. I wondered about what was so dangerous, but I enjoyed reading what was left. The book I brought home was a history of agriculture, since the Capitol didn't waste much money giving us books that weren't relevant to the District. Almost all of the pre-Dark Days pages were intact, since they wanted us to see how great it had been before we went and screwed it up. It was a good idea- there was really great stuff there.

One of the pictures in the book was of a farmhouse. That was what it said, anyway, but it wasn't like any farmhouse I'd ever seen. Most of us farmers lived either in shacks or in company housing for one of the giant Capitol-owned cattle ranches. Only the overseer would have a house like the one in the picture, and he'd have been pretty lucky. It was two stories, with white paint and a porch that went all around. There was a giant red barn behind it and cows milled around in a field. It was like what the rest of Panem must have imagined we lived like. The house had one wall removed to show what was inside. There was all sorts of furniture and even a refrigerator. My family just put things in the cellar if they needed to stay cool, and we had to dig that out ourselves.

It was almost as infuriating as amusing to read the books. I liked to daydream about all the nice things there used to be, but that was all they ever were. Daydreams weren't reality, and that wasn't fair. The things in the book weren't as nice as the things in the Capitol, and people had those- just not us. It was hard to be happy in such a bare-bones life when I knew there was a lot more out there. I wanted to live like that, and if I ever figured out a way how, I'd be on my way.

Bailey Arroyo, 16 (D10F)

People from Ten did not all wear cowboy hats. We did not spit tobacco- we couldn't afford tobacco. We did not run around barefoot everywhere unless we couldn't afford shoes. And I had never once in my life said "yee-haw". Which made my livelihood all the funnier.

People had this idea that Ten was a farm paradise where people ate eggs and chicken and garden plants and rode bulls and horses for fun. I did have a horse, but that was by subverting stereotypes, not following them. Since the people in the Capitol thought we all raced horses, rich vacationers came by every now and then to see the quaint little races. We hadn't had any quaint little races, but when we saw how much they wanted them and how much money there was to be made, we started some up. The people from the Capitol didn't know that our "adorable tradition" didn't start until they came.

There were no races on Reaping Day. Most of the jockeys were young, like me, and none of us would be on our proper forms. The Capitol people were all busy watching who got Reaped anyway. That left me and Quicksilver some time in the morning when I would usually be doing chores or preparing for a race. I jumped on her back without even putting on her saddle. On fun runs, I liked feeling her fur and her soft back under my rump. We trotted out into the cow field. It was either that or the bull field, but that was generally not a good idea.

You never knew what you would find in the field. Usually it was just grass and fairy rings that were really just cow wallows, but sometimes there were cool things. One time I found a garter snake, which I brought home and showed to my mom, who shrieked and whacked at the "rattlesnake" with a hoe until I convinced her it was a garter snake. Sometimes if we didn't get home early enough I would hear coyotes howling, and I pretended they chased us home, nipping ravenously at Quicksilver's heels.

Mom (I refused to call her Ma, even though that was something most kids from Ten did say) had a very singular way of calling me in when I was out of sight. I was usually halfway across the District, so she had to get loud. Instead of shouting until she got hoarse, she modified something she learned from a sheep farmer who used a dog in the fields. I'd never heard such a unique whistle. It sort of went "FWEEEEEEEooooWEEEP!" As soon as I heard the noise, I turned around and booked it. Mom did not like to be kept waiting. She was waiting for me in the doorway, hands on her hips.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Just riding Quicksilver," I said innocently.

"You're going to be late for Reaping Day!" she said. Usually she got all weepy on Reaping Day, but she seemed to have seized the opportunity to be mad at me instead.

"Shoot, I'd be in trouble then," I said. "They might even kill me."

I need YOU! I'm working on a side project, and I need input. I am currently seeking suggestions on which Tribute you think most deserves to win an All-Stars. This isn't for an All-Stars story- I have one in progress, this is just a separate question. Go ahead and PM whoever you think would make for a cool and interesting Victor. It can totally be your Tribute, or maybe you have someone else you'd like. You can add reasons or whatever if you like.