Hunger Games 1

Chapter 9 The Burning Girl (1)
rip off--!Vinia, green-haired and with a gold tattoo above her eyebrows, is plucking hairs from my legs with an adhesive strip, and I grit my teeth.

"I'm sorry," she said sharply to me in her weird Capitol accent, "you've got a lot of hair!"

Why are these people talking so sharply?Why don't you open your jaw when you speak?A rising intonation is used at the end of every sentence, as if to ask a question. The "s" is always hissing and sounds weird... No wonder the Capitol accent is so irresistible to imitate.

Venia had a sympathetic look on her face, "Good news, this is the last time, are you ready?"

I sat there, clutching the edge of the table beside me, and nodded.My leg trembled in pain, and the last handful of hairs were pulled from my leg with a snap.

It has been more than three hours since I came to the image design center, but I haven't seen my image designer yet.Apparently, he wasn't interested in meeting me until the rest of the image design team had worked out the main issues.They scrubbed my whole body with scrubbing foam - not only did they wash off the mud, they even rubbed off three layers of skin, cut my nails into exactly the same shape, and, mainly, plucked all the hair on my body - legs, arms My upper, underarm, and some eyebrow hairs were plucked as well, making me look like a plucked chicken waiting to be cooked.I really don't like this.My skin was so sore and numb that I couldn't touch it.But I had to listen to Haymitch, and I didn't say no.

"You're doing well," said a man named Flavi.He was shaking the orange-red hair-plucking clips while applying purple lipstick on his mouth. "What we can't stand is people who cry. Grease her whole body!"

Octavia, a pudgy woman dyed watercress green, and Vinia put a lotion on me.It tingled at first, but then the skin felt very comfortable.Then they pulled me away from the table and removed the thin robe I had been wearing and taking off.I stood there, completely naked, with the three of them surrounding me, tweezing every last bit of hair off my body.I know I should be ashamed, but I'm not.They didn't seem human at all to me, no more ashamed of me than three oddly colored birds pecking at my feet.

The three of them took a step back and admired their work. "Great, you look like a man now!" Flavi said, and they all laughed.

I also put a smile on my face, showing how grateful I am to them. "Thanks," I said sweetly, "we don't have many occasions to dress up in District [-]."

This statement completely won their approval. "Of course you won't, dear poor fellow!" said Octavia, clasping her hands in pity for me.

"But don't worry," said Vinia, "when Cinna dresses you up, you'll be absolutely refreshed and pretty!"

"Absolutely! You know, we've washed all the hair and dirt off your body, and you don't look scary at all!" Flavi said encouragingly, "Let's call Cinna!" Then, they walked out of the room like a gust of wind.It's hard for me to hate my image design team.They're a bunch of complete idiots, and while they feel weird, I know they're really helping me.

I looked at the cold white walls and floor, and tried to resist the urge to put on my robe.Even with it on, that Cinna, my stylist, definitely took it off right away.I run my hands through my hair—the only place the stylist won't let me move—and stroke the braids my mother has carefully braided for me.My mother, I left her blue dress and shoes in the train compartment and never thought of getting them back, leaving a little thought of her and this home.But now, I wish I had it!
The door opened, and in came a young man who must have been Cinna.He doesn't look like much out of the ordinary, which surprises me.Most of the designers featured in the TV interviews have dyed their hair and had plastic surgery, resulting in a weird-looking appearance.Corcina's hair was subdued and seemed to be a natural brown.He wore a plain black shirt and trousers, the only touch-up being a touch of bright gold eyeliner, speckled in his green eyes.As much as I hate the Capitol and their vulgarity, I can't help but find him attractive.

"Hello, Katniss, I'm Cinna, your designer." He spoke softly, without the Capitol's affectation.

"Hello." I said boldly, being cautious.

"Give me a few minutes, okay?" he asked.Then he looked around my naked body, he didn't touch me, he just looked at me carefully.I resisted not covering my chest with my arms.

"Who did your hair?"

"My mother," I said.

"It's beautiful, it's classic, really, it goes perfectly with your shape. She's got great hands," he said.

I had imagined my designer to be a flashy middle-aged man who tried to pretend to be a young man, someone who treated me like meat on a dinner plate, but Kesina was very different from my imagination.

"You're new here, aren't you? I don't think I've seen you before," I said.Most of the designers are familiar faces, always serving different "tributes", some of whose faces I have seen for years.

"Yeah, this is my first time working on The Hunger Games," Sienna said.

"So they put you in charge of District [-]," I said.The new ones always serve us, it's the last area nobody wants.

"I asked for District [-]," he said, without further explanation. "Put on your robe and let's talk, shall we?"

Putting on my robe, I followed him through a door into a drawing room.Two red couches were placed opposite each other across a small table. There were no decorations on the three walls of the room, and there was a whole glass wall from which the city outside could be seen.Judging from the light outside, it should be noon now, and the clear sky has become gloomy at this time.Cinna invited me to sit on a couch and he sat down opposite.Then he pressed a button next to the table, and the top opened in the middle, and another small table rose from it, with our lunch on it: roast chicken, flower-shaped egg rolls, and a dish with white rice underneath. , small green peas and diced onions, topped with diced oranges and a cream sauce, and for dessert, a honey-yellow pudding.

I was thinking about what it would take to make such a meal at home.First of all, chicken is too expensive, I can use wild turkey instead, and I have to hunt another turkey so that I can get oranges.Goat milk instead of cream.We can grow some peas in the garden.I'm also going to get wild onions from the woods.I don't recognize that kind of rice, the rice we trade for food stamps is light brown when cooked.To make a nice omelet would have to go to the baker for a change, and maybe two or three squirrels.As for the pudding, I couldn't guess what was in it.It took many days of hunting to make this meal, and it had to be exchanged everywhere. The food I made was probably far less delicious than the Capitol's meal.

I thought to myself, what would it be like to live in a world where meals appear at the touch of a button?How can I pass the time I spend running in the woods for three meals a day here?What else do these Capitols do besides adorning themselves every day and waiting for a few "tributes" to be brought here to die for their pleasure?
I looked up to see Cinna staring at me intently. "See how contemptible we are to you," he said.

Did he see it from my expression?Or read my mind?But he was right, a despicable and dirty bunch of them.

"So, well, Katniss," Cinna said, "about the costume you wore to the opening ceremony, my partner, Portia, was the designer of your companion Peeta. Our current idea is to let you Put on a nice dress, you know, traditionally, the kind that reflects the district."

At the opening ceremony, each player will wear a costume that reflects the main development of the district.For example: the eleventh district is agriculture, the fourth district is fishery, and the third district is industry.That said, Peeta and I were going to dress like coal miners.Because the bulky overalls of miners are not suitable for this kind of occasion, our players often replace them with better-fitting overalls and hard hats with headlights.One year, our "tribute" was naked and covered in black powder representing coal.This look is terrible and it is difficult to win the love of the audience.At this time, I also prepared for the worst.

"So, I'm going to wear a miner's costume?" I asked, thinking it wouldn't be too shameful.

"Well, not exactly. You see, Portia and I both feel that the miner's costume has been worn too much before, and no one will remember you. All we have to do is make the players in the district [-] memorable ’” Sina said.

"I'm definitely going to be naked," I thought.

"Then we'll look at coal rather than mines," Sina said.

"Nude, painted in black ash." I thought.

(End of this chapter)