I'm not your damsel in distress{Mylee}

[Anna Banana]

[presto]

Ally Deveroux

How many times do I have to tell my sister that I don't play these games anymore with her. She always insists on doing this stuff, when will she grow out of it, or better yet, when will she realize that I'm sick of being the princess that she saves. This isn't to say that seeing my sister come charging around a tree or run through the fields to rescue me isn't nice, she looks beautiful with her scarlet hair flowing behind her as she runs at me. Her eyes sparkle with that warrior spirit and her sword cuts the air striking down the imaginary foes that stand between her and I.

It was always part of our little game, DJ would come and save me from the fighters, she was the knight in shining armor and I was the princess that needed saving. It would be a lie to say that part of me didn't enjoy looking into her eyes after she saved me from the imaginary foes. There was a special kind of sparkle to them after she "saved" me and I always felt this tug in my gut to kiss her like the princess always did after the knight saved her. That just seemed wrong on so many levels though, especially as we got older...it wasn't so much to do with a moral code with me, I just didn't think she'd appreciate the gesture.

Never the less, here I was sitting in the usual field waiting for her to show up. A loose fitting light blue tank top covered my torso, and a white layered skirt that fell to about mid-thigh covered my hips and part of my legs. To be honest I wore it because DJ was always a fan of that particular outfit of mine, gods what was I thinking, I needed to stop doing that. I was here, against my will, to play a game I no longer had any interest in. With a sigh I reclined in the grass and looked up at the sky wondering what had possessed my twin to want to play today. We actually hadn't done this for at least two years, and if she had been it wasn't with me.

With a sigh I lift an arm and trace small patterns in the sky. I'm not usually a dreamer, I'm more of a realist, this make believe stuff was never me and probably never would be. I just felt that living that way would lead to a lot of problems, the fact that the Hunger Games exists was a bad enough nightmare, we didn't need to create more problems for ourselves. Rolling my eyes I sit up and draw my knees up to my chest, not bothering to smooth out my skirt and rest my chin on my knees, wondering just how long it would take my sister to get here.

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[Deleted]

M I N D O F A W A R R I O R H E A R T O F A C H I L D

[presto]

D A L I L A H ▲ D E V E R O U X

The wind has blown me past the field I am now frolicking through. I am no longer here, I am far gone. I am flying with the wind on my wings and the sun in my heart. The grass rippling below is but a sea, my body swimming through it as effortlessly as could be imagined. There is nothing to fear, nothing to dread. I am happy. I am free. The dry wheat in the field is as golden as the sun that lies far above me. The sky is as crystal clear as the ocean with just a few clouds here and there, striking a beautiful blue across the artist’s palette.

I am now running, not in fear, but in adventure. The stick that I was yielding as a sword now at my side as I had valiantly killed the foes that stood between my sister and I. I had my left hand on it, however, just in case anybody else decided to show up. A warrior must always be ready, only a split second could decide who lives and who dies. I push the scarlet red hair out of my eyes, the tangles getting caught in my fingers as I run them through them. There is no time to fix the knots now, no, I have better things to do. I look to the horizon with eyes full of wonder, and before I can control any part of my body, my feet are pounding the ground, my eyes only having a split second to gaze at the ground flying beneath my feet as I run towards the castle in the distance.

By the time I reach my sister, I am out of breath and my legs are weak. Unlike a knight, I do not pick her up and carry her off, but instead I simply sit down beside her, pulling my hair back once again. We are both quiet for a moment, the breeze striking our skin with a bite that could only be winter. Once air is not coming in heaving breaths, I look to her and ask, “How long did it take me to get here this time?” I knew the answer, as my sister always said the same thing every time, although I never bothered to point out that I knew her trick—or lack of interest for that matter. I knew she never enjoyed any of this, but for some reason, she continued on and on, playing along with the little games that held so much stock in my mind, but none at all in hers.

I reclined onto my back, the ground stable beneath my ever-shifting mind, my thoughts springing between dinner and the upcoming games. I almost wanted to be in them, to die a warrior’s death, to wield a sword and slay the beast. What an honor that would be, what a show of pride I would bring to my parents. What more could I, as a warrior of the King and Queen, ask for?

But as my mind slowly drifts back to the sturdy ground beneath my back, I think about what I would leave behind. My sister, my home, my parents. Could I really put myself and my desire for an adventure above my family? I wouldn’t be gaining them anything, I could not win. And so once again I will struggle with the wants and desires of my mind which never seem to stop, never stop bombarding the walls of my mind as I lay sleepless in bed. I look back to my sister, who even though she is the same age, seems wiser and older. She knows the harsh reality of the world, and she hardly forgets to remind me the world is but a dream. No matter how many times I tell her I believe in happy endings, she hastily corrects me, telling me that those things only happen in stories. In adventures made up by the writer of an unknown story, but I will not believe her. My name is Dj Deveroux, and I will find a happy ending within a reality that is anything but happy.

[/presto]
T E M P L A T E B Y C H E L S E Y

[Anna Banana]

[presto]

Ally Deveroux

I always found it odd when she asked me how long it took her to go on her little adventure. She knew that I gave the same answer every time, she knew that I only played along with this for her benefit, that I wasn't really involved in any of her games. I just wanted her to have all the fun she could have now, because there was no guarantee that she would be able to do this much longer. She might have to face the reality of the real Games soon, and suddenly play time would be real, except she would have to fight real people, and they would be trying to kill her. Not for the first time in these last few nights I thought about reaping day, thinking about her being reaped...would I have the courage to try and volunteer for her should that happen? Would I be ready to take her place in something I wasn't any more prepared for than a newborn is?

I looked over at her and wondered what glory there was in fighting, how she could possibly enjoy something that dirty that...violent. She was a warrior to be sure, but dad had told her so many times that she wasn't ready for it all, that she had no idea what it was like when you were faced with a life or death decision. He used to tell us horror stories about what happened in the Games, and how we should hope that we're never reaped. Despite what he told us though DJ still had this insane desire to be in the Games, she wanted to make a name for herself and bring our family out of the poverty we lived in. I knew better though, I knew that neither of us would survive if we were in the Games, I knew it was nothing but a slaughter. I would do anything to keep her from getting in though, I would volunteer if that's what it took to keep her alive and safe.

"You took fifteen minutes DJ, just like you usually do, you neither get better or worse, you are perfect as usual. DJ...can I ask you a question about something?" I turned to look at her and reached between us, taking her hand into my own and smiling shyly at her. "Why do you want to be in the Games so bad, it's just a slaughter, dad told us that there is almost no way either of us would be able to survive? I wouldn't be able to live if you were taken away from me, I don't want to think about losing you. I know that we have our disagreements and we're like...total opposites of each other, but I still care about you, and I don't want to see you die in the Games. It would break my heart if anything happened to you."

How could I even tell her that there was a little more to my feelings for her than just a sisters bond? How could I tell her that I cared about her more than a sister should care for her sister. She looked like me and yet she couldn't be any more different than me, the way her hair seemed to blow around her face like she was a wild girl, or the way her eyes sparkled from all the exercise she got. She was the most beautiful girl in the world and I couldn't even tell her that. I also didn't have the heart to tell her that I would volunteer myself should her name be called for the Games. After all, I wasn't just a pretty face...I wasn't just her damsel in distress for her little games. I was no warrior, but I had a lot of fight in me.

[/presto]

[Deleted]

M I N D O F A W A R R I O R H E A R T O F A C H I L D

[presto]

D A L I L A H ▲ D E V E R O U X

With nothing more than a murder sentence just days away, I find the conversation my sister and I to be having quite ironic. What doesn’t she understand about my want to save her? She rambles on with words full of concern and love, and I would be lying if I said I did not zone out. Dj, she loves you, pay attention! But I can not be bothered, not with paying attention or with caring for myself. I begin to even my breathing out, to take the heaving breaths that rack my body and turn them into sharp intakes of air. I place my hands above my head and close my eyes, and imagine that I am not here. I am not being told to give up what I want, and I’m not having my goals and aspirations taken away from me.

I ponder over my words carefully, because even if my sister is slightly annoying me, I do not want to upset her. She’s too fragile to be hurt, and I’ve always told her I would save her, not fight her. This is why we played this “stupid” game (as she called it). I had always considered it real, to be the one link between realities and fantasies that I had, and now she wanted to take it away from me? Maybe not exactly her thoughts, but that was the only way I could interpret it. I was trying to show her how I would protect her, and how it was always my job to take on any evil that crossed our path. Our path. Not mine, and not hers. We walk as one, two sisters, hand in hand down a path that ultimately leads to one of us being killed, and if I have my way, that will be me. We have always been close, in our strange and different ways, and there has always been a certain mutual understanding between the two of us. We can fight for no longer than a couple of hours, and afterwards all that can be heard are sobs and “I’m sorry’s.” But now, standing here in front of her, I feel wrong. I feel as though I have done nothing but mess up, but I can’t fix that anymore. I’ve committed to my mistakes, and there I shall stand.

“Ally, I have always wanted to do something brave. I’ve always wanted someone to prove that I am more than I think myself to be. I live in these worlds far away because they give me what I want, and that’s hope.” I refuse to meet her eyes, to read her expression that could only be hurt. “I don’t know if what I want is right, or even if it’s important, for that matter, but I need something. Ally, I need something that is going to show me that I am not worthless. I need hope, and I’m only trying to find it wherever I can. If that place happens to be in the games, then so be it. You say you don’t want anything to happen to me, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. One of us has to be willing to take the love the other is laying down, and more than anything, I want you to take it. So please, take it from me. Don’t let it be futile.”

I do not sound like the child that has not matured that everyone has made me to be. I am beyond my years, only doing what I believe to be right. I’m only trying to follow my heart, but I didn’t realize it would be as hard as it now was. I had always believed things, no matter how complex they seemed, could be boiled down to a simple, easy to understand solution, but now, as I grow up and older into this world made of nothing but complex things, I have realized I was wrong. I am still wrong, and I will continue to be wrong until I realize that growing up is the only option left.

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T E M P L A T E B Y C H E L S E Y