Where Thoughts Can Bloom - Part 1

"Into a place where thoughts can bloom
Into a room where it's nine in the afternoon...
Back to the street, down to our feet
Losing the feeling of feeling unique
Do you know what I mean?"
—Panic! At the Disco

Once upon a time, Head Gamemaker Bonnibel (or Bonnie, a nickname used solely by her friends) Beauregard placed her head in her hands, groaning and squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She leaned back in her chair, exhaling deeply.

As per usual these last few weeks, Bonnibel had locked herself in a dark room with only her holopad and big, comfy chair in an attempt to finally finish the Arena. In theory, isolating herself until she finished it was a good idea. There was just one slight problem; Bonnie simply couldn't finish it. .

She had made roughdrafts on her holopad of what seemed like hundreds of Arenas. Rainforests and graveyards and mazes and tundras and islands and—

"Mommy?"

The door squeaked open slowly, creaking and groaning.

"Mommy?" Bonnibel's daughter, Beatrice (or Bee as she so often insisted she be called), whispered into the dark room once more as the Gamemaker turned in her chair.

Bonnie smiled despite herself, looking at the six year old dressed in light pink footy pajamas, mottled with hot pink candy patterns. Bee held her favorite stuffed animal in one hand, a light yellow bee, and a thick leather book in the other.

"What is it Bee?" She asked gently, "Mommy's working now. You should be in bed right now."

Bee shuffled over, scraping her pink slippers against the hardwood floor. After placing her items on the floor, she wrapped her thin arms around her mother, resting her head on her shoulder.

"I can't sleep," Bee muttered sadly into her shoulder.

The Head Gamemaker hesitated only momentarily before speaking again. "Do you need me to read you a bedtime story?"

Instantly, Bee perked up, bobbing her head up and down, sending big bouncy brown curls flying. "Yesyesyesyes! Daddy bought me a new book for us to read! He says it's from the Dark Days, 'member those? You taught me 'bout them, 'member that? It looks sooo cool, mommy. There's pretty pictures in it, Daddy showed me!" She stooped down and picked up the brown leather book from the floor, hugging it close to her chest.

Bonnibel nodded wearily, standing up while placing her hands on her knees. "Alright, my Bouncy Bee. Let's go."

With that, Bee took off, suddenly full of happiness and energy, all the way out the door of the room, down the hall, up the spiral stairs, past the various doors, and all the way to the end of the upper-floor where her room lay.

By the time Bonnibel managed to do all those things, Bee had curled up under the blankets of her purple bed and placed the book on her bedside table.

The Gamemaker pushed a white chair from the corner of the room, positioning it next to the bed. She sat down and placed the book in her lap, squinting her eyes to examine it.

The book was a long rectangle shape, composed of worn out brown leather. In gold and bold fancy lettering, 'Once Upon A Time' was written, the beginning letters surrounded by a gold square. Gold stitching made a border around all of the text, encasing it in a little square.

Bonnie traced over the lettering with her finger, feeling the smoothness of them. She carefully opened to the first page, a musty smell flying up from the pages as soon as she opened the book.

"Once upon a time," She began reading, careful not to stumble over her words, "There was a beautiful, lovely fair maiden who went by the name of Snow White."

"Snow White's mother had died when Snow was very, very young, so she lived in a very gorgeous and grand castle with her father and his new wife, who took Snow's mother's spot as Queen."

Bonnie held up the book, showing Bee the pictures of a woman with fair skin and jet black hair, standing in front of a castle. "The new Queen was very pretty, but even more so cruel. She wished to be the most beautfiul woman in all of the Enchanted Forest. Every day, the Queen would approach her magical mirror and ask, 'Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? And the magic mirror would reply, every day, 'You are, your majesty.'

The Gamemaker glanced over at her child, who was holding her bee close with her eyes closed.

"However, one day, the mirror replied, 'Snow White is, your majesty," A tiny snore came from Bee as she flipped over onto her side.

Bonnibel kept reading the book aloud despite her sleeping daughter, and as she did so, with every sentence, a bigger and brighter smile appeared on Bonnie's face.

"And they lived happily ever after."

She closed the book and tucked it under one arm. Bonnibel planted a quick kiss on Bee's forehead, tucked her blankets in once more, flicked off the light, and hurried out of the bedroom.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her holophone. As she raced down the hall and down the spiral staircase, Bonnie dialed up President Cristalle.

Immediately, the President's sharp and hollow face appeared in front of her, pixelated and transparent. "Miss Beauregard, this is the second time this week you've awoken me at a late hour of the night. Explain yourself at once."

Bonnibel flushed with embarassment, remembering earlier that week when she rang the President and insisted that Regina Cristalle—according to her coworkers' gossip—was going to be assasinated. As it turned out, she had misheard and her coworkers were instead talking about how Miss Cristalle was reveiwing applications for new Gamemaker positions. Oops.

Bonnie cleared her throat and rid her face of emotions. "I apologize, Miss President. However, I'm just informing you on a new Arena idea that has popped into my head. I really do think you'll enjoy it."

The President sighed and rolled her eyes, "Just send me the hologram, Bonnibel. I don't have the time for you to explain the entire Arena to me. I've got an interview with Pollux Flickerman in the morning, and I really do need my rest."

"Miss President, this will only take a minute and I can promise you you'll be pleased."

Regina Cristalle narrowed her eyes slightly before giving a nod so slight Bonnibel almost missed it.

"Fairytales," Bonnibel began, spreading her hands, "They were very common back in the Dark Days. They were told to children at bedtime, just as we tell stories about the Victors. These fairytales usually had some evil villain in it; typically, the villains possessed some magic power."

She paused and pretended to be clearing her throat once more, but instead her eyes desperately scanned the President's face for some emotion.

"For instance, in the story I just read my daughter, there was an Evil Witch who tried to poision the main character, a princess named Snow White. However, I took the time to scan through this book that is filled with fairytales; one my husband bought my daughter," She glanced at the book that was placed on the stair next to her.

"There's all sorts of stories. There's a wolf, more witches, assasins, talking animals, giants. . ." Bonnie's voice trailed off as she remembered all the stories she quickly skimmed.

President Cristalle knit her eyebrows together, leaning forward in the hologram. "What are you getting at, Bonnibel?"

The Gamemaker took a deep breath, running a quick hand through her ombre-brown-to-blonde hair. "I was thinking, perhaps we could have a fairytale themed Arena. Bring these fairytales from my daughter's book to life. The Capitol would love it."

"Love it? How so?"

Bonnibel responded instantly, "It's simple, really. Magic."

"Magic," the President repeated, an amused expression on her face.

"Yes, President, magic. Everyone loves magic. Everyone wants to believe in it. This arena," Bonnie spread her hands and gestured around her house, "it will truly be the definition of magic. They'll be thrilled, intrigued. My daughter's book... everyone will be grabbing one of their own. Shirts, pocketwatches, pins. ." She let her voice trail off.

The corners of Regina's mouth curled upwards; her eyebrows raised slightly. "You've impressed me, Bonnibel. Your idea truly is intriguing, fascinating even."

"Thank you, Miss President," Bonnibel grinned, bowing her head in appreciation.

"Don't get too excited, Miss Beauregard. If I recall correctly, you haven't even began the Arena's hologram. You have until sunset tomorrow. I expect big things, Miss Beauregard."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Tomorrow? That's.. that's rather unreasonable, don't you think? Quite soon. ."

The President nodded sympathetically. "Yes, Bonnibel, it is quite soon. But all magic comes with a price, and this Arena is no exception."

Bonnibel's throat went dry. She found herself unable to speak for a moment, so she went with a simple nod. "Alright," Bonnie finally managed, "I'll.. get right on it."

Regina beamed brightly, "Excellent. Good luck, Bonnibel. I'm looking forward to these magical games of yours."

"As am I, Miss President, as am I."

A/N:
Alright alright! So, this is my first SYOT and I'm really excited. I've spent a bit thinking of a decent [and hopefully somewhat original?] Arena idea, and I think I've finally got it all worked out. The forum and most information is on my profile. If you have any questions, just PM me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Good luck, and have fun creating your tributes. I look forward to seeing them!