Witness [Catherine Oneshot]

[kap]

[googlefont="Fredericka the Great:400"]Catherine Spark

To the relief of myself, as well as I'm sure the majority of District Three, Larceny Theft was not reaped this year. The fact that two tributes were still reaped, however, made it so that it wasn't complete relief. There would never be complete relief unless everyone in Panem was safe. Unfortunately, that didn't look to be something that would ever happen, at least, not anywhere in the near future. Year after year, each District would have to give up two children between the ages of twelve and eighteen. In total, twenty-three of the total chosen children would die, leaving only one survivor, filled with guilt and trauma.

Of the two tributes who were initially picked at the reaping, one of them was shipped off to the Capitol, and one of them had their place taken by someone else. Curtus Dolor didn't choose his fate. Charisma Duke did choose hers. Now, the two of them would be going into the arena with a very small chance of survival. If either of them survived, it could only be one of them. That was one part of what was so terrible about the Games. Only one person would survive. If District Three were to have a victor, it would only be one of the two tributes we'd sent off to the Capitol and to the arena.

It reminded me of each of my children who had died in the Games. Bolts had died a fiery death, not surviving the Games. He never came home alive, and it broke me. His District partner, Deja, didn't come home, either, which just showed even further that the Capitol had no mercy for the Districts. Florence and her District partner perished as well, just like Industria and hers. Even though there was a chance of one of our District's tributes surviving, there was no chance of it being both of them.

Each death in the Games broke my heart more and more, whether or not it was one of my own children and whether or not it was even someone from my own District. Witnessing the murder of innocent children being broadcast on television was terribly scarring. I couldn't even imagine being one of the people involved in the Games themselves and having to kill, watch someone be killed, or kill someone myself. It's all just too much to fathom.

I didn't visit the tributes in the Justice Building this year.

I was starting to find more and more difficulty in having any sort of acquaintance with the District's tributes, so I was doing my best to avoid knowing those that went into the Games. That's why I chose not to go see Three's tributes before they were whisked off to the Capitol this year. It was likely a selfish choice on my part, but I had to keep myself sane. It had been a year since Dusty volunteered for the Games, and I couldn't yet handle knowing someone who was going into the Games again.

Was it selfish of me to just be glad that my children were safe again?

Joseph. Cal. Cordelia. Joule. They were safe, and that's what mattered to me right then.

I just wanted to live a happy life as a mother of healthy, happy children. I wanted to carry out my duties of mayor and help my District where I could. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be saying goodbye to the tributes, even if that would have been helping them. I just couldn't get myself to get to know them before the Games and potentially watching them die.

I just couldn't.
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590 words