—Prologue—
I walk to the end of the path, to the small wooden mailbox that Father built when my parents were first married. Of course he's long gone now, but I don't like thinking about it. The wind is cold, it's mid-fall and freezing.
I pull my hunting jacket up closer to make myself warmer. I reach the mailbox, about five minutes from our little cabin in the pine forests of District 7. I open the mailbox and peer inside, two beige looking envelope. I pull them out to find that each are stamped with a peculiar looking seal. Each envelope is written in a fine print, only one is addressed to my sister and one is addressed to myself. I decide not to open mine until I am with my family.
Once I am walking through the screen door to my cabin, my sister, Iris, is at my side at once. "Anything for me?" Iris asks. I nod, "Yeah, there were two identical letters for us, but there's this seal on them," I show Iris the seal. "Oh, I've seen that before!" exclaims Iris. "Do you remember when we had that whole week, when the whole school was learning about the Games and the Capitol?" asks Iris. I nod, "Vaguely. Why?" Iris then explains how close to twenty years ago, there was this thing called the Capitol, and how they were cruel and forced each district to send a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to fight to the death on live television and only one could survive. Then when I seem to piece everything together I begin to worry. "Mother! Mother!" I call. "What is it?" My mother calls from her bedroom. "I need you to come here now!" I yell. Mother hurries into the room and I hand her my letter. Mother scans the outside of the envelope and when her eyes fall on the seal, her face loses all color. "Mother?" I say quietly. My mother rips the envelope open and frantically reads the contents of the letter, saying each word under her breath.
"Dear Miss Sage Heywood, we are pleased to tell you that the 'rebel' party is no longer in control of Panem. To replace President Paylor we have elected a new president, Alfred Silas, or to you President Silas. We would like to congratulate you and the citizens of District Seven, the annual reaping will take place on April Seventh of this year. We thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, The Capitol…"
Mother looks up at me and then to Iris. She drops my letter and grips the back of our dining room chair for support. "Mother, what does this mean?" I ask trying to keep my voice calm. "Mother?" Iris says, obviously worried. "I want you both to know how much I love you both. But this means, one of you might have to compete in the Hunger Games." Mother says slowly fighting to keep her voice steady. "W-what?" My voice shakes. I grasp for Iris' shoulder. Iris, or me, fighting in a arena, with twenty-three other competitors. This is all just a bad dream... It has to be! Iris and I are so safe here in 7! How could President Paylor, I mean Paylor, let this happen! This man, what was his name Alfred Silas? Well Alfred Silas knows nothing about Panem, and certainly doesn't know how to run it stably without people killing each other. Literally! Isn't this why the whole human race almost disappeared once? Because we had a rebellion and we fought? I don't know. But if one thing is true, I need to do everything in my will to protect Iris from these people, and my mother. Because safety, it will no longer exist after today.