Here is task four in the Starving Artists Games. I turned it in earlier, but I just now got around to posting it. Only ten people are left in the game now, so it's getting rather intense. Enjoy :)

As my eyes slowly opened the next morning, I blinked several times in confusion. How am I still alive? The thought formed sluggishly in my mind, prickling and nudging against my consciousness.

I shifted around, expecting pain but felt none, at least not in my arm. It was numb.

I knew that wasn't a good sign.

It was a miracle I'd survived until morning, and a deep bitterness set in. Couldn't I catch a break? I was going to die, and I much rather would have died in my sleep last night.

No. Now I was going to be awake, and suffer through either starvation, dehydration or the infection in my arm, or probably all three. I wondered which would kill me first. My stomach churned at the thought, and I swallowed back a lump in my throat. Fear dug its way deep inside my chest.

As my thoughts threatened to drown me in sorrow, I felt something underneath my back where I'd fallen asleep. The pack I'd stolen from the Cornucopia was still there. Lethargically, I unzipped it and dumped out all the contents.

No water, just a bunch of fishing supplies. My heart sank and I felt like cursing, but my body was too exhausted. I shouldn't have expected much anyway.

Trying to figure out how the items could be used helped clear the fog from my mind. I realized a lot of the items would be more useful than I originally thought. I could use the net as a sling for my arm and the fishing hook and line to sew up my side. I grunted and winced, especially at the thought of pushing a hook through my own skin, but it had to be done.

I took out the hook and string, and although there was no way to sterilize it, infection was the least of my problems. I tied a large knot at the end of the string, and then swallowed deeply and pushed the hook through the skin where the cut started on my side. I muffled my screams as I slowly stitched the wound closed. By the time I was finished, it took thirteen stitches to completely sew up the wound. The hardest part was tying the knot at the end to hold the stitches in place. My hands shook and my stomach rolled. It was all I could do to hold onto consciousness. Eventually the pain faded to a dull ache.

I knew I had to get moving. I glanced out from behind the rock. The two rhinos were gone. As I slipped out from my hiding place, my right arm touched something wet.

It was water. There was only a little, not even enough to drink but it was there. It came from a patch of sand that was darker colored than the rest. I started digging, using only my right hand, and pressed down.

Water pooled up inside the temporary hole. Laughing in pure bliss and thankfulness, I cupped both of my hands together and drank greedily. The coolness of the water soothed my dry throat, and it was as if my body and mind returned to life. The fog in my mind lifted and everything became so much clearer. I pressed again to get more water, and filled the empty canteen from the pack.

Leaving the cover of the rocks, I traveled until I reached the blown up supplies. Fortunately, there was still no sign of the rhinos, so I searched around for anything to salvage. In a stroke of good luck, I found my katana, still intact, half buried under all the sand. I slid it into my belt and kept searching.

One box had broken open, but all the supplies were still good. There were syringes filled with various medicines. I grabbed one specifically for infection and stuck one into my side and my arm. I managed to find a few broken open bags of dry food, and ate greedily. With my hunger finally satisfied, I felt so much better.

Maybe, just maybe, I could survive. I still worried about the infection in my arm, and whether the medicine really would fix it or not. However, I was going to focus on enjoying my small victories of finding food and water, no matter how temporary.

The edge of my vision caught something, but I was unsure what it was. Expecting another tribute, or worse, another rhino, I tensed and placed my left hand on my katana.

As it grew closer, it looked like some sort of fog.

In the desert? I was confused, trying to figure out how it was possible to have fog in such a hot place. The mountains weren't too far away; maybe it came from there...

When the fog settled around my legs, it was cold. Too cold, and also very wet. Instantly, the bottom of my pants were dotted with water droplets. I tried to move my legs to get away from it, but my legs wouldn't move.

I grunted and collapsed onto the ground. As the mist spread over the rest of my body, the coldness enveloped me, especially my arms. I tried forcing my legs or arms to move, or even my fingers to twitch, but nothing worked.

The human survival instinct kicked in, and I wanted to thrash and shake, crawl, anything to get away, but I couldn't.

I was trapped.

Desperation griped me so hard I could barely breathe. Fear clawed into me, digging its hooks deep. What if the rhinos came back? I could still feel everything... What if they ate me alive?

I mentally cringed away from that thought, but couldn't help my mind from running wild. Desperation eventually was replaced by the deep, blank void of hopelessness and sorrow.

I was going to die here, slowly. All progress I'd made had been for nothing, and I was once again at death's door.

"Yes, Akari, you will die here." Cara from district one, stood next to me. There was blood all over her chest and stomach, dripping down onto the sand below her. A gaping wound in her chest left many of her rips exposed, blood and organs oozing among the bones.

I wanted to throw up. "Y—You're dead."

She smiled brightly, despite the horrible state she was in, showing rows of perfectly white teeth. "Yes, I am. And you will be too." She cocked her head, looking at me sideways. "See you soon, Akari Okada." She giggled and disappeared.

I blinked my eyes and tried to shake my head. No, she's—she's dead.

In her place, my brother Shinji appeared.

"No," I murmured, but my voice broke. "You're dead. You've been dead for years. You're not here!"

He nodded, but smirked.

The infection... hallucinations... my thoughts were a blur.

"Alright, little sister, it's time for you to hear the truth. You're going to move those limbs of yours and get yourself moving! You can't die here!"

I shook my head, tears spilling over my cheeks. "I will die here. I can't... there's nothing I can do. I can't move or do anything no matter how hard I try! I failed you... just like I'm failing Toshi and the others!" I screamed at him as my internal dam of emotions I'd kept locked away finally shattered.

He knelt down and poked my cheek, right where a tear was. "You already failed them, little sister. You've always tried to be just like Mother, but you aren't! You'll never be her, so do us all a favor and stop trying to be! The kids back home? They don't need you to return as their mother; they need their sister back!"

As he disappeared, I shook. I clenched my fists and slammed them into the sand, screaming at the top of my lungs.

With sudden realization, I looked at my clenched fists again. I could move.

When I glanced around, the mist was gone.

I forced myself shakily to my feet, wincing at the ache that had settled deep in my bones. My mind replayed the hallucination of Shinji over again. Had I acted like a mother to all of them, when what they really needed was a sister?

In that moment, I made a vow that I would return to my siblings, not as a mother, but as the sister they'd always needed.

I grabbed what medicine I could, and put it all into the pack with my canteen full of water. I slipped the pack over my left shoulder.

After being trapped inside the cold mist, being unable to move, I wanted to avoid the cold, and I was going to need more food to last more than what I had, so I decided to head back to the Cornucopia in the marsh. More than likely I would have to fight whoever was still there, but I needed the food badly.

I walked out of the desert, heading back toward the marsh, hoping that I would get another lucky break.

It's easy to be optimistic when you don't know the terrible fate that awaits you.