Quickly, I brushed the poisonous creature off of my arm. My left hand reached for my saber once more and struck down the little green frog. His blood, along with the others’, formed a tiny pool of red on the forest floor. I could not even fathom the idea of sleeping at that moment, considering I had no idea whether or not another dart frog would attack again. Instead, I decided to take a little walk. Before I left, I noticed I was a bit parched. I cupped my hands together and scooped up some blood from the pool. The warm, tasteful blood slipped down my throat and made me eager to kill. I would definitely catch the other tributes off guard if I found them right after they awoke. That would be a fantastic way to say good morning.

The sun was peeping its way out from the horizon as I took my first steps through the jungle. I ventured for a couple of  hours, and I still hadn’t found anybody. I wiped off the tiny trickle of sweat from my forehead as I pondered the situation.

Where was everybody? Was I the only tribute left? Had I won the Games?!

I was a bit incredulous, but I still felt a large feeling of accomplishment as I stood there underneath the blistering sun. I had won the 80th Annual Hunger Games! Not that it was any surprise; I knew I was going to win all along. Now I just needed the Gamemakers to get me out of there and back home to District 8. I waited for a couple minutes. The minutes became hours, and eventually the hours became days.

Had I really won the Games? I had to have won. Nobody else was in the arena…or at least that’s what I thought.

Anxiety took over me. My mind was racing; my stomach was growling. I couldn’t take it anymore. When were they going to get me out of this horrible place? Killing was my only way to cope, and even that was taken away from me. There wasn’t a person, an animal, or anything that I could murder…except for myself. Without really noticing, my hand had made its way into my pocket, the pocket that held my light-saber. I grasped the weapon and slowly brought it up to my neck. My thumb gently pressed the bright red button. The weapon ignited immediately and I started to inch it towards my throat. I was about to do it, but then I finally reconsidered what I was doing. I suddenly fell to the ground and broke out in tears. For the first time in the Games, I was scared.

After countless hours of nonstop searching, I finally gave up in despair. I couldn’t find anybody to kill, especially since it was pitch-black outside. Fatigue started to settle in. I knew it was time for some rest. It had been a hectic and stressful day and my body urged me to sleep. I laid down softly on the cool, damp grass and attempted to shut my eyes.

Right before I did so, I noticed a small, piercing red object lurking in one of the remaining trees. It seemed peculiar, so I rose up to go investigate. As I stepped closer to the tree, I realized there were more small objects hanging around in it, each one a different color. I saw blue, yellow, orange, and now I was totally intrigued. I finished walking up to the tree and peered through the leaves to find out what the objects were. My eyes could make out that these objects were spotted and had four, moist legs. That’s when I knew these were no objects; these were frogs…poison dart frogs.

I quickly backed away from the tree and reached for my saber. The red blades ignited and lit up the night sky. Immediately, a frog leaped towards me. As it flew through the air, I swung my saber around and sliced through the frog like a knife slices butter. I watched as the frog’s head dropped to the ground, surrounded by a small puddle of blood. The remainder of the frogs sat still on their branches. Now I could tell there had to be at least a hundred of these tiny, little amphibians and they all wanted revenge. I probably should’ve thought about my other options before I killed one of their family members. All I could hear was the constant croaking of the frogs until one of them jumped towards me, followed by the rest of his large family. I was being swarmed by these poisonous creatures, and it certainly wasn’t easy to kill all of them off. They were ruthless and wanted to make me pay for killing their friend. I sliced through all of them one by one, but soon my arms started to weaken. Luckily, I swung through the last one before my body gave out. I took a deep breath and instantaneously collapsed onto the ground. The jungle was completely silent and I could finally get my rest. I rolled onto my side and dozed off. However, I was awoken in the middle of the night when I felt something moist and sticky clinging onto my bare skin. Then, I felt it creep along my arm, and it let out a familiar noise: croak.

It had been a fantastic day. I had just received the ultimate weapon my brother had made me and I was completely overjoyed. Nothing could ruin the moment…or at least that’s what I thought.

As I studied the bomb, I sensed there was a distinct smell looming in the air. I cautiously sniffed and realized the scent was salt. It was growing stronger, yet I had no idea why. Then, I heard a loud and emphatic roar. I knew right at that moment that I was in deep trouble. I twisted my body only to face a gigantic tower of blue. It kept growing and I knew it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. My feet dashed through the bushes, trying to escape the giant wave of death. I clutched onto my bomb as tight as I could. Even though I was running as fast as possible, I knew the wave was gaining on me. I looked back and noticed it was about to collapse. The wave came down like a hammer and shook the ground beneath me. Instantly, I was knocked down to the surface. The impact had shaken me up a bit, but I was alright. That is, of course, until I took a glance and saw tons of water coming rapidly towards me. I tried to stand, but by then, it was too late. The tide hit me like a truck and I was immediately dragged underwater. Luckily, the tide calmed and I was able to pick myself up within a couple of seconds. My head ached in pain as I stood up on the damp and cold ground. However, I still realized I was missing something: my bomb. The wave had washed away the weapon my brother had made. A sudden wave of anger flowed within me.

There was no doubt this was a tsunami created by the Gamemakers. Those no-good creeps destroyed my big shot to end the Games. I was eager to kill those morons. I was hungry for their blood, but I knew I couldn’t possibly kill them while I was in the arena. At that point, I was just going to have to take my anger out on something else…perhaps a tribute. Yeah, that sounded nice. It would serve as a good warm-up before I was able to get my hands on one of those pathetic, little Gamemakers. Bottom line was that somebody was going to pay for this and somebody was going to suffer.

I pulled out my light-saber from my back pocket and set off to kill.

I missed my brother dearly. We did everything together back home. On Saturday mornings, we would head out into the forest and slaughter the animals. It was so much fun. Darius (that’s my brother’s name) specializes in making new weapons. They’re quite effective, if you ask me. He’ll just sit down in our basement for hours and craft these pieces of art. Our mother thinks that he’s sewing material down there…she is such an idiot. She has no clue how hostile we really are. Anyway, I asked Darius to make me the ultimate weapon so I could end these games fast. I was eager to see what kind of contraption he would send me.

At that moment, a shiny and glowing object fell slowly to the ground and hit the surface as lightly as could be.

I rushed over to it like a cheetah about to pounce on a newly-found meal. After unwrapping the parachute, I teared open the box without any hesitation. What stood before my eyes was truly amazing. Darius had done it again. I gazed at the tiny, metal object that laid in my palm. It was about the size of a ripe apple, but it was far more powerful than one. This object was indeed a bomb, a bomb that could wipe out everything within a mile of it. All I had to do was chuck this thing as far as I could, run the opposite direction, and wait for the screams to come. I looked at the ground to find a note Darius had attached to the package. It stated:

Dear Blake,

I hope you like it. This can definitely help you out in the Games, and there’s plenty more where that came from. Can’t wait to see you when you get back. Good luck, brother.

Darius

P.S. Make them suffer

‘Don’t worry’ I thought to myself, ‘…that won’t be a problem.’

I ran as fast as the speed of light towards the cornucopia. Since I was by far the first person there, I was very selective about what I would grab. After surveying all the items in the large, steel contraption, I picked up an odd piece of metal. It was tube-shaped and there was a small button on the outside. My thumb lightly pressed down on it, only to ignite a red blade of light from one end of the tube. Almost immediately afterwards, another blade came out of the opposite end. I was mesmerized by the humming and glow of the unknown weapon. However, the tributes were sprinting towards me and I knew it was time to kill. I swung the blade at the first weakling I saw. He let out a painful squeal as my weapon sliced his legs off completely. I noticed he was still alive, but I didn’t even bother to finish him off. I would get much more satisfaction if he died a long and painful death. I smiled as I watched him suffer.

The cannon fired about ten minutes later. Everybody else had snatched whatever they could and scurried away like a bunch of pansies. Instead of taking the coward’s way out by hiding, I stayed right by the cornucopia. I was outraged that I only got to kill one person, so I paced quickly back and forth, planning my first attack. Without really noticing, I spent a good hour or so doing this. The day had died and now the full moon was shining bright overhead, so I figured it was time for some sleep. I hadn’t set up a shelter, considering I wasted lots of time thinking about how I would destroy those sissies. Slowly, I laid down on the cool, dry grass and shut my eyes.

However, I could not sleep. It was hours of nonstop tossing and turning. I needed to kill, and I couldn’t go to sleep until I had done so. After I wiped all the grass off of me, I picked up my weapon and set out for the forest. With each step, I knew I was getting closer to making someone else suffer. I marched through the forest, ready to destroy anything in my sight. Suddenly, I found a group of humans. Those weaklings had formed an alliance. I knew this was going be fun because you know what they say, “The more, the merrier!” I crept up cautiously behind them. They didn’t hear a thing…until I ignited my weapon. They spun around in fear. They tried to run away, but my saber had already cut through them like butter, all in one swing. Each one of them dropped to the ground immediately. Three cannons fired right in a row. That made four deaths today, and I was responsible for all of them. I kneeled down to look at one of the dead tributes. They would make a good late-night snack, but before I was about to dig in, the four tributes were shown across the sky. I watched with a great sense of pride and then let out a yawn. Slaughtering people definitely did take a toll on my body. I laid back down and slept happily, dreaming of pain, suffering, and blood.

The adrenaline rushed within me. I stood there on the hard, metal circle, eager to elevate up to the arena. I reached into my back pocket and removed my rabbit’s foot. I could still smell the blood as I grasped it in my right hand. Gosh, what a wonderful smell it was. The scent seeped through my nostrils and gave me an even bigger rush. I was ready to kill. I was ready to make THEM bleed. I was ready to win. Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet started to rise and I was on my way up to the arena. It was pitch-black and I couldn’t see anything from inside my tube. It was cold, dark, and scary, and I loved it. Finally, I reached the surface. The sunlight hit me like a punch, and it took me awhile to readjust to the brightness. Soon, I was focused again and thirsty for some blood.

I glanced around at the other tributes. There were some who had a look of determination on their face as they prepared for the cannon to sound. It was so cute. They actually thought they had a chance of winning the Games. Most of the tributes were worried, however. They didn’t really show it, but I could sense their fear. I fed off of it; it made stronger. After scouting the competition, I gazed at the area surrounding us. There was a large body of crystal-clear water, tall and lengthy palm trees, but what interested me the most was a massive volcano. Red, hot lava oozed out the side and rolled slowly down to the ground. All I could think about was throwing one of these wimps in that giant volcano and watching them die a long and painful death.

Ten…

I had gotten so caught up about killing that I hadn’t even realized the Games were about to start.

Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two…

Yes. This was it. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

One…

BANG!

It was the beginning of the Hunger Games, but it would soon be the end for those pathetic weaklings…

After all the wimps stopped crying at the reaping, Harper Hayes informed all of us tributes that we were allowed to bring a “tribute token” to the Games for good luck. I immediately let out a loud chuckle. I didn’t need luck; I was going to destroy these pansies! However, Harper did mention how most tributes brought a special item with them, so I decided to do so as well. I had a hard time thinking of what I could bring. I stood there on the wooden stage, my mind racing. After some deep thought, I finally thought of a good luck charm: a rabbit’s foot. The only problem was that I didn’t actually have a rabbit’s foot, so I headed out to the forest.

I stood there in a sea full of nervousness. I looked around at the people surrounding me and a large smirk grew across my face. Sweat trickled down foreheads. Tears were streaming down faces. I could smell the fear. It was great. These people wouldn’t stand a chance in the games. I felt a certain feeling of satisfaction as I studied the competition. Suddenly, a strange lady named Harper Hayes strolled up to the center stage. Everyone turned to face her, and feared what she was about to say next. She spoke with great pride into the microphone and kicked off the reaping for the 80^th annual Hunger Games. No one applauded. Their faces were blank, with a hint of hatred. I noticed there was a large jar filled to the top with tiny, white strips of paper. I could tell these strips had names on them, including mine. Harper reached into the jar. The fear within everybody started to build up like a skyscraper. I, on the other hand, was eager to be called.

Harper’s hand circled the bottom of the jar and grasped onto a strip of paper. She slowly brought it up to her face, unfolded it, and leaned into the microphone. Some people just couldn’t handle the suspense. They were sobbing before Harper even read out the name. Finally, Harper did so. She started to move her chapped lips and the words tumbled out immediately afterwards. I was utterly disappointed when she didn’t call out my name. The person she did call, however, trudged up to the stage with her head down and a couple tears forming in her eyes. Another twenty tributes probably were called after her, and each one had the same reaction. Then, Harper called my name. I gave off a smile of excitement as I strutted up to the stage. I made sure to give each tribute a dirty look as I strolled by them, a look that they would never forget, a look that said “I’m gonna destroy you”. I took my place at the end of the line and stood there until the reaping ended. As everyone slowly walked off the stage, I couldn’t help but think, “I can’t wait to kill these weaklings.”