Mind Muser - by Daniel

Mind Muser – Your task is to imagine you have the ability to appear as a character in your book. For example, you might be Kino’s brother from The Pearl, charged with helping Kino make it to the city to sell his treasure. Or maybe you’re Juliet’s sister from Romeo & Juliet, providing her with advice and solace. The idea for this activity is to allow yourself to get lost and absorbed in the world of your story and interact with its characters. You will appear as yourself, yet will be linked to a character(s) in a manner in which you see fit. You may also acquire skills or abilities based on the events in the text.

Task: Write a creative vignette (a short, descriptive literary text) using present-action language, engaging description, and lively dialogue where you’re experiencing the events of the reading alongside a character or characters. Flex your creative muscle and have fun. Your literary sketch should be at least 150 words.

(Post your response on Writer's Forum and add a graphic.)

“Ladies and gentleman, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!" I can't think straight. The image of Cinna, beaten and bloody, consumes me. Where is he now?

What are they doing to him? Torturing him? Killing him? Turning him into an Avox? But for some odd reason, I hear his voice telling me: “Katniss, It’s okay.” Obviously his assault was staged to unhinge me, the same way Darius's presence in my quarters was. And it has unhinged me. All I want to do is collapse on my metal plate. But I can hardly do that after what I just witnessed. I must be strong. I owe it to Cinna, who risked everything by undermining President Snow and turning my bridal silk into mockingjay plumage. And I owe it to the rebels who, emboldened by Cinna's example, might be fighting to bring down the Capitol at this moment. My refusal to play the Games on the Capitol's terms is to be my last act of rebellion. So I grit my teeth and will myself to be a player.

Where are you? I can still make no sense of my surroundings. Where are you?! I demand an answer from myself and slowly the world comes into focus. Blue water. Pink sky. White-hot sun beating down. All right, there's the Cornucopia, the shining gold metal horn, about forty yards away. At first, it appears to be sitting on a circular island. But on closer examination, I see the thin strips of land radiating from the circle like the spokes on a wheel. I think there are ten to twelve, and they seem equidistant from one another. Between the spokes, all is water. Water and a pair of tributes.

That's it, then. There are twelve spokes, each with two tributes balanced on metal plates between them. The other tribute in my watery wedge is old Woof from District 8. He's about as far to my right as the land strip on my left. Beyond the water, wherever you look, a narrow beach and then dense greenery. I scan the circle of tributes, looking for Peeta, but he must be blocked from my view by the Cornucopia. Another tribute comes over and I just dodge his sword, then Daniel, the boy from District 1 surprisingly not a career, kicked the woman into the water. I was debating to shoot him, but thought he could be useful. Also I think to myself what if Daniel is part of the rebellion. That would make sense if he’s sparing me.   

I catch a handful of water as it washes in and smell it. Then I touch the tip of my wet finger to my tongue. As I suspected, it's saltwater. Just like the waves Peeta and I encountered on our brief tour of the beach in District 4. But at least it seems clean. There are no boats, no ropes, not even a bit of driftwood to cling to. No, there's only one way to get to the Cornucopia. When the gong sounds, I don't even hesitate before I dive to my left. It's a longer distance than I'm used to, and navigating the waves takes a little more skill than swimming across my quiet lake at home, but my body seems oddly light and I cut through the water effortlessly. Maybe it's the salt. I pull myself, dripping, onto the land strip and sprint down the sandy stretch for the Cornucopia. I see another tribute and he dives into the water and tries to catch up. I can see no one else converging from my side, but the tribute behind me, although the gold horn blocks a good portion of my view. I don't let the thought of adversaries slow me down, though. I'm thinking like a Career now, and the first thing I want is to get my hands on a weapon. Last year, the supplies were spread out quite a distance around the Cornucopia, with the most valuable closest to the horn. But this year, the booty seems to be piled at the twenty-foot-high mouth.  My eyes instantly home in on a golden bow just in arm's reach and I yank it free. Daniel takes another one to my left, but it’s a silver bow. He shoves me into the water and punched a man who was going to stab me. There's someone behind me. I'm alerted by, I don't know, a soft shift of sand or maybe just a change in the air currents. I pull an arrow from the sheath that's still wedged in the pile and arm my bow as I turn.

Daniel comes over “Move Katniss!” and he shoots an arrow over my head into a tribute chasing me. Daniel went around looking for more useful items. Well if it wasn’t him that made the noise I heard, who was it? Then I see Finnick, glistening and gorgeous, stands a few yards away, with a trident poised to attack. A net dangles from his other hand, Daniel jumps to his right into the water, thinking Finnick is aiming at him.