I need to rant.

Can I just say how utterly rude (jumping up and down on the line of downright sadistic) it is to put 26 people in an arena in which the only way to get to the cornucopia or to the rest of the arena is to swim without first making sure each tribute had the ability to swim? I mean each tribute deserves a fair chance! Especially when they are me.

Nobody even likes a watery arena anyway. I looked down at the dark navy water that churned beneath the silver platform, lapping over the edges. The water had been sprinkled with pink cherry petals and sparkles, as if the gamemakers thought that if they making the water pretty made everything okay. Newsflash- it doesn’t. Water was all wet… and deep... and I’m pretty sure it was evil as well. I was getting sea sick just from looking at the damn stuff.

I glanced up at the big cherry tree that was on the island before me. I had to admit it was nice to see something besides a cornucopia welcoming me to my imminent death. I saw the bronze bow I had been using in training hanging in one of the highest branches of the tree.

I let out a long depressed sigh, they were definitely trying to kill me. There was no way I was going to even make it off the pedestal. Behind me the rest of the arena was even further away…. I was going to have to try though…. maybe it wasn’t as deep as it looked? Who was I kidding? It was probably a freaking bottomless abyss.

“Welcome to Memoryland!” The cheery voice of one of the gamemakers- I wasn’t even going to try and pronounce her name. Her name sounded like her mother had attempted to name her while coughing up a large hairball. “As you can see, this arena is composed of old ones, though we have done some repairs and remodeling. As for the cornucopia supplies, everything you want is on that little island. Death is in the air.” And the stupid sparkles you sprinkled on the water, more than a few of those are now in the air too! I thought irritably. I hate sparkles.

“There is so much history in this arena and we’d like you to remember you’re fallen comrades who have been in the very places you will be going.” Vibbius added in. “We wish you the best of luck.” Thank you, how thoughtful, I’ll try to remember that when I’m drowning in your pool of flower petals and glitter. I shuddered at the thought.

Then Brielle’s ditzy voice boomed, “Let the games begin!”

The countdown began, I looked around the circle of tributes. Maisy was to my immediate right while the girl from 11 was to my left. Maisy wore the same expression of terrified fear that she had sported throughout the train ride, she had stanced herself to dive her eyes locked on the prize. I sigh again trying to suppress the nervous energy that raced up and down my spine like electricity.

“30… 29…” I listened to the countdown and shuddered. 29 seconds until I had to fling myself into this water like I thought I was a friggin kid from 4. I looked down at the ominous sparkle induced water, I really wasn’t sure if I could do this.

“10… 9…” I looked at the island with the cornucopia and tried to convince myself that it wasn’t that far away. My stomach started to twist and sweat dribbled down my brow. You can make it! You aren’t going to drown! I tried to give myself a pep-talk. The only thing I accomplished was convincing myself I sucked at pep-talks.

“3….” Get ready, just pretend its... like... mud.

“2…” What the hell? That looks nothing like mud!

“1!” Everyone leapt off their pedestals disappearing under the water in huge explosions of water. They reappeared a few feet later and clawed their way through the liquid gliding toward the bloodbath.

Most of them… I looked down and saw the female from 11 struggling below the waves, her eyes wide and her black hair haloing her head as she sunk lower and lower.

Incase you haven’t already figured it out, reader, I was not with them. I was standing on my pedestal pinching my lip with my fingers. Jumping into that liquid death was not the way I wanted to go. If I stood here maybe someone would shoot me and I could die without even having to touch it? Anything was better than feeling the liquid flood my lungs as I struggled to breath, sinking lower and lower to my watery grave, I swallowed hard.

“What are you doing, Ransom?!” I looked up to see Maisy treading the water before me, her eyes wide with concern. Oh crap. “Jump!”

I shook my head, “No way. I can’t swim and I refuse to drown.” I said harshly, “Just go try your hardest in the bloodbath and die heroically.” I waved her off with my hand trying to contain my nerves. I looked up at the island, “The careers are already there.”

“Ransom, I’ll help you swim! And then you help me. We can do this for District 10! Alliance?” She gasped breathlessly throwing a quick glance over her shoulder her wet hair swinging like ropes.

If she thought she was getting me in the water she was high. “Why don’t you go ask the nice little careers for an alliance?” I suggested flatly.

Her eyes flared, “You selfish little bastard! District 10 needs the extra food and you know it! I can’t do this without you, and you are going to help me whether you like it or not!” Without warning she grabbed my ankle and yanked it out from under me.

My heart flipped as I splashed into the water. The cold liquid closed over my head, I thrashed violently pushing myself toward the surface. I broke the surface gasping, “Gah!” I choked spitting a cherry blossom petal from my mouth, feeling myself dip below the surface again.

I felt Maisy’s arm wrap under my armpits as she pushed off the pedestal and coursed through the water. “W-water.” I choked, my body shaking. I swiped my legs, unable to feet the ground. I resisted the urge to cling to Maisy, I didn’t trust her. What if she dropped me?

And then my feet were scraping the sand. I let out a breath and shook myself from her grasp. I ran through the water, splashing and tripping clumsily. Land! Oh how I love land! Thank God for land!

An arrow sailed over my head, barely missing me. I looked up at the scene before me, the island was alive with death, tributes slicing each other desperately grasping at life. Corpses scattered the ground along with supplies and cherry petals staining them red.

Fear tightened around my neck. This was a massacre.

But it was way better than water.

I started running ducking around a fight between the District 1 female and a small child with messy brown hair. I heard Maisy yell after me but I ignored her, she could handle herself. All she had to do was open her mouth and kill an attacker with her vomitous positivity. I bent over and grabbed a green backpack from the fallen body of of the female from 9. I tried not to look to closely at her mutilated body, the blood from her head wound staining her red hair even redder, as I pulled the backpack free.

Suddenly something connected with my head. I felt an explosion of pain explode in my scalp. I tumbled backward knocking into the trunk of cherry tree. I sat up quickly, just in time to see the capitol boy- there was no mistaking him, he looked like he had decided to turn his skin into a child's coloring book (and judging by what I’d seen of him in training he about the IQ of a coloring book)- swinging his sword at me. I let out a cry swinging the backpack around like a shield. My body jerked as I felt the sword connect with my bag.

He grunted irritably as if he wasn’t used to not getting his way. (Oh boo hoo, you poor little lapdog.) I shifted sending a powerful kick into his gut, my foot connected and he let out a pained ‘umph’ as he tumbled backward into the boy from 8. The small malnourished kid was literally road kill beneath the well-fed capitol boy.

I probably should have decided to save the kid, but I’ve never really been a kind person and I seize opportunity where I see it. I ignored the little voice in my head that screamed, ‘You can be strong and kind’ and leapt to my feet and began climbing the tree, pulling myself higher and higher with each branch. I heard a young boy’s piercing shriek rise above the clang of metal and the dying cries of the defeated.

I paused for half a second, a cool breeze rushed past my face as I found myself wondering why somebody else didn’t save that kid, or why we were running around killing people in the first place.

Heres a tip for all you out there who have never been in the Hunger Games; never pause when you're in a fight to the death, its a bad idea as I found out. I hadn’t paused a minute when a spear flew at me. I felt a sharp pain streak across my lower back as the spear skinned it. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming as I forced myself upwards.

Above me a girl was reaching out to grab a knife that was dangling on the edge of a branch, I’m not quite sure what drew my attention to her but something did. As I moved upwards as fast as I could I watched the slight girl with freckles reach out toward the knife. Her fingers just missed it. She bit her lip and forced herself out a tad farther- and the branch gave out. Her body crashed like a ragdoll through the branches until she hit the ground crushing a boy I didn’t know.

Well… I’d have to make sure I avoided doing that.  I looked upwards and saw my bow only a few branches above me, the sunlight hit it making it gleam and I wove my way through the branches quicker. Except… I saw a boy above me going for it as well.

He was going to have to die. That was my bow and I had always sucked at sharing things. It had actually gotten me held back in the elementary school back home. Apparently I had needed to ‘learn to play with others’ better.

I reached upward with one achey arm and grabbed his ankle, trying not to think about the seriousness of what I was doing and I yanked with all the force in my body. He screamed as he tumbled downwards crashing through the branches.

“Ops, sorry man.” I yelled after his tumbling body as if he cared. “These branches are slippery.” His head hit a thick branch and his skull shattered sending blood and brains everywhere. I stared numbly swallowing my nausea.

I climbed the last few branches and grabbed the bow, slinging the quiver over my back. My eyes darted to the rapidly dying (Ha!) bloodbath below me. I bit my lip, I certainly didn’t want to be the last outer district guy standing here when the careers regrouped and even more importantly I didn’t want Maisy to leave without me because you know I kind of couldn’t swim. I wasted no time in starting my descent, I half climbed half jumped with a recklessness and speed that really would have gotten me killed if I wasn’t so agile.

My feet crashed into the ground with a hard thump. I scanned the war zone for Maisy, my eyes locked on her blonde head of locks only seconds after looking for her as she fought my old pal coloring-book guy. I loaded my bow quickly, my clammy hands slipping against the bronze as I did. I locked it on the guy, my heart pounding in my chest. Why was I so nervous? It was probably all this water, it was making my loose my calm.

I let the arrow fly, it spiraled through the air, narrowly missing the female from one as she sprinted after the girl from 3. I held my breath as the arrow pegged the boy from the capital in the chest, he stumbled backward, his body splashing into the shallow water around the island.

Maisy looked over at me and waved giddily. The gesture looked so friggin out of place in this fight to the death it wasn’t even funny. The girl herself looked so friggin out of place in the fight to the death it wasn’t even funny.

I sprinted toward her, the quiver and the backpack banding against my back as I ran, dodging around the District 2 girl who took a swipe at me with knife, I ducked kicking her in the shin with barely a pause.  I felt her hot on my heels- I don’t think that kicking her in the shin had made her happy.

Maisy ran knee deep into the water beckoning me to follow her. I splashed into the shallows trying to ignore the fact I was relying on a ditzy rainbow sunshine girl to get me to the rest of the arena through a dark void of sparkly water. I shuddered forcing myself to keep going as I caught up to Maisy who grabbed my hand, pulling me deeper into the vast lake.