Heaven Must Be Missing A Bookshop || Arena Day 1 || D10
I couldn’t contain my awe as I perused the stacks of titles on the shelves. Pulling one on ancient history, I gasped in delight as I realized the books were filled with actual information. I had assumed they would just be props, but in retrospect it only made sense for the Game Makers to go all out.
Unwilling to put the book down, I tucked it in my ‘belt’ for safe keeping, before pulling Angus from the spot that I’d left him. The store seemed safe enough and a decent place to set up camp, but I was a bit worried about how exposed we were.
Together we started moving the cases of books, forming something of a maze of paths to get to our spot, making sure to include a few emergency exit routes. The bookcases were heavy, but not impossible to move with Angus’ help, and after rearranging the books on the shelves to allow me to see the door and windows, I was feeling a lot better.
After gathering a stack of books ranging in subject from physics to biology and chemistry, to history and war strategy. I even found The Art of War, funnily enough. Settling into one of the plush arm chairs, I pulled out my stashed book and flipped to the first page of The World Before Panem: A Comprehensive History About The Dark Times which of course had a title that was basically as long as a novel because lets be real here.
Angus remained quiet in his own chair and I was surprised to see him with a book of his own. I could easily see it was a simple children's book with more pictures than words, but I didn’t comment on it. Honestly, I was surprised he could even read. I was sure he’d be illiterate.
Keeping one eye on my surroundings because I wasn’t about to assume nothing was going to attack, I began reading. The book talked about countries, governments, and economics. Riots, revolutions and wars. It was everything I could have wanted and so much more.
The more I read, the more I learned how much my mother had it wrong. There was so much more than she could ever understand. The complexities of the fall of the countries before Panem was formed. We’d always been taught about the disasters and wars, but none of our books went into the logistics of it.
Glancing up to make sure Angus was still occupied, I finally started relaxing a bit into my chair. I wouldn’t have imagined something so wonderful would be found in a shopping mall, and wondered if these were the typed of books you might actually find. I vowed to myself that, when I got out of here, I would visit every single bookstore in Panem. After all, what better prize could there be?
My ears were on high alert, and after every page, I would look up and scan the vicinity once more, but it didn’t seem like anything was going to attack any time soon.
