Hey guys! So I wrote this a while ago and thought I would post it. It's like my other fanfic only it's The Hunger Games from Peeta's point of view. Please review! All of the characters belong to Suzanne Collins!
I wake up to the usual smell of fresh bread from the bakery below. Father is certainly awake by now, and probably has been for a while. At first it feels like any other day but when I see the clothes my mother laid out for me the night before, I remember. It's reaping day. I'm filled with dread at the thought, every year the Capitol puts on a huge show, two tributes from each of the 12 districts to be put in a fatal arena and fight to the death until one lone victor remains. Here in district 12 we rarely have victors. The last one was and old drunk named Haymitch Abernathy who's spent the last 24 years of his life trying to drown the memories of those terrible 2 weeks when he watched the others, between the ages of 12 and 18 brutally destroy one another in order to stay alive.
I hear the bakery door open followed by the rough voice of Gale Hawthorne. He's best friends with none other than Katniss Everdeen, a girl my age from the seam.
The seam is the even poorer part of the district where almost everyone has dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin. The entire district suffers from poverty but those in the seam suffer from starvation and malnutrition that makes me shiver at the thought of it.
I hear the door close downstairs and creep into the bakery. "What did he want?" I ask my father. "A loaf of bread," he replies gesturing to the dead squirrel that he had used as payment.
"You nervous?" he asks. Of course I'm nervous. I think back to the previous arenas that I could never survive and feel fear spread through me. Instead of saying this I merely shrug my shoulders.
I look into the empty street. Usually it's filled with children going to school and the miners catching as much sun as they can before disappearing into the darkness of the miness. This is the one day we can all sleep in before the reaping.
I don't know how long I stand there before my mother comes down, "Peeta!" she exclaims, "it's almost time, go and take a quick bath and get dressed, we can't be late!"
I coot past her on the stairs to get to the tiny bathroom in our small apartment that rests above the bakery. I see my mother has already filled our sad excuse for a tub with the cool water from the tap.
I undress and lower myself into the water. As I clean myself I pray and hope and wish my name isn't pulled from the bowl. My mind goes to Gale, he could win, he's a known hunter who wouldn't have any trouble surviving the whatever the gamemakers throw at him. There's a banging at the door so I slip out of the bath, towel my hair, and wrap myself in the motheaten piece of cotton.
I open the door to my mother standing there. I go and dress myself in my only nice button down and a pair of my father's old khakis, the whole district will be dressed up extra nice for the reaping.
Once I'm dressed my mother begins to grease my blonde hair until it's finally flat. I look in the mirror and see a terrified 16 year-old boy and his mother trying to suppress her fear. Today she could lose the youngest of her three sons for the entertainment of those in the capitol.
At one o'clock we head to the square where, despite the bright banners, there is no sense of joy.
After signing in I go over to the section roped off for the boys adjacent to that of the girls. The oldest are in the front and the youngest in the back so I find myself surrounded, towards the front, by others my age. In front of the justice building sits several chairs for authoritative figures, a microphone, and two large glass bowls, each filled with hundreds of folded slips of paper.
At precisely 2 o'clock the mayor steps forward and reads to us the history of Panem. This is a country that rose from the ashes of what was once North America. He tells us how America had been destroyed in a terrible war and from it's rubble came a shining Capitol surrounded by 13 districts. However the districts rebelled and the dark days were born. 12 of the districts were defeated and one was completely destroyed. Then came the Treaty of Treason, which provided new laws to maintain peace, and as a reminder of the Dark Days, the Hunger Games were created to prevent the repetition of history.
After his story a very drunk Haymitch stumbles onto the stage yelling something indecipherable. Mayor Undersee then tries to draw the attention away from him and introduces Effie Trinket. Her pink hair is is one of her many qualities that makes her almost like a different species. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" She bubbles in her thick capitol accent. "It's such an honor to be here in District 12, I only wish I could come more often!" She says this as sincerely as she can but she clearly doesn't mean it. No wants to come to 12, it's small, desolate, and covered in coal dust. "Ladies first!" she exclaims as she makes her way to the glass bowl with the girl's names in it.
She buries her hand in the papers and pulls out a single slip. She scurries back to the microphone and slowly unfolds it as the entire district holds their breath.
"Primrose Everdeen."