I'm suddenly awakened by Prim's loud screams. I open and see her to my right, crying and yelling. I can tell she had a nightmare, because today is the reaping day, and it is her first year. Her name will have one entry, so the chances of her being chosen is close to none. However, she's still afraid, since there is always that slim chance. Though I ignore that last thought. I get up from our bed and I rush to her side of the bed to comfort her.
"It was me Katniss, it was me, and they picked me, Katniss, what if…" Prim can't even continue because I am quick to respond to her.
"Prim, your name's only been in there once. And there are so many names in that bowl, Prim, trust me, nothing will happen. Not as long as I am there." I tell my younger sister. She looks at me with her blue eyes that are on the verge of tears.
"Do you promise?" She asks me.
"Yes." I tell her, reassuringly. Suddenly our mother gets up from her bed to see what is going on.
"What's going on? Prim did you have another bad dream?" My mother asks. Unfortunately she was too late, and the situation is essentially resolved.
"Yes. But everything is fine now. You can go back to bed." I tell her coldly. All she does is nod and head to her bed and Prim follows her, just like every time she has a nightmare. I used to do the same, until my mother stopped living when my dad died. Now when I have nightmares, I just keep to myself and go back to bed.
I look at the clock; it is four o'clock in the morning. I jump out of bed, knowing I won't be able to fall back asleep. I reach in the drawer for some undergarments and pick a black long sleeved shirt and some black pants. After I dress I braid my hair, brush my teeth, put my hunting shoes and jacket and head out. The only people awake in the district at this hour are peacekeepers and sleep deprived miners heading out to work.
...
I haven't been in the woods for a long time, but I'm still disappointed in the lack of game I've managed to catch. Only a few measly squirrels that I could perhaps sell to the baker.
I start to get a little bit bored without my hunting partner, Gale. When we hunt, we help each other out by signaling if there's good game, or by being silent when we see the other trying to catch an animal. When we're done, we go to our usual spot, the rock. It's a nice grassy area with a beautiful view of the mountains, where we talk, vent our frustration with The Capitol or crack jokes. However, it wouldn't make any sense to wake him up at four in the morning just because I can't get back to sleep. It's his last year at the reaping, so I say to give him some time to sleep.
Suddenly, I hear noises coming from the trees; it seems to be walking slowly. What could it be? Peacekeepers? I Doubt it, they are one of our best costumers. The creature reveals itself to be a big, male deer. I grin to myself as I prepare my bow, and aim into his eye. I'm just about to release my arrow until I hear a male voice which spooks the deer away. I frantically attempt to shoot it, unsuccessfully.
"Hey Catnip!" The voice belongs to Gale. I turn around and show him my frustration.
"Damn you Gale! I could have caught that!" I almost yell as I walk towards him. He simply laughs.
"Catnip, what were you going to do with a deer on reaping day?" Gale asks me, still smiling. Is he for real?
"Sell it. What do you think?"
"To who?" He questions.
"Peacekeepers." I answer coldly. He starts laughing, and I grow more frustrated. I don't like being laughed at.
"It's reaping day Catnip, do you think the peacekeepers will take it?" He asks me smiling like a fool.
"Ok fine, maybe peacekeepers won't take it, but Sae would! Damn it Gale! I'm mad at you! It's not funny!" I say, mad as hell. He notices and stops laughing so frantically. He suggests we head over to the rock, our usual stop. I reluctantly agree.
...
"We could do it you know." Gale says to me out of the blue.
"What?" I ask him, confused.
" Leave the district. Run off. You and I, we could make it."
I don't know what to say.
"Maybe. If we didn't have so many kids." He adds.
"I never want kids." I say, trying to change the subject.
"I might, if I didn't leave here." He says.
"But you do." I say a bit irritated.
"Forget it." He snaps and leaves. The conversation feels wrong! How could I leave Prim? Or mother? And how could Gale leave Posy? And Vick? And Rory? And Hazelle? Besides, we wouldn't make it 5 miles. The peacekeepers would find us. We would be killed. And if Gale wants kids, he wouldn't have a hard time finding a wife. Almost every girl wants to be with him. The way they look at him, whisper about him. Of course, I doubt any of the merchant girls would want to give up their comfortable, stable merchant life for a life in the seam to be a coal miner's wife. Or maybe would, my mother did that with my father. Realizing there's not much left to do in the woods, I make my way back into the district, back to my house.
...
I open the door to my house to get ready for the reaping day. I find Prim dressed in a brown shirt and a white blouse, my first reaping outfit. It's a little big on her but mother probably secured it with pins, though her shirt always forms a ducktail. She looks beautiful.
"Wow! You look beautiful! Though you have to tuck that little tail little duck." I say to her.
"Quack." Prim says with a smile.
"Quack yourself!" I say, laughing.
"I laid something for you too, Katniss." Mother says. My smile fades.
"Ok." I say as I head into the bedroom Prim and I share.
I make my way to my room and I find one of mother's old dresses laid on my bed. It's a pale blue dress with matching shoes. I'm surprised she's letting me wear that. Her dresses from the past are very important to her. Maybe she wore it when she met my father? Maybe it was her reaping dress when she was my age? I'll never know, because I dare not to ask her. I rarely talk to her anyway. It's like some sort of punishment I give her, for abandoning us all those years my father died. Though she didn't really abandon us, she was still there physically, but mentally and emotionally, no. I wonder, if we died of starvation, if she would've even noticed? No she would notice, but probably not care. And that thought makes me boil with rage.
I ignore my last thought and head to our bathroom to bath. I never bothered to boil our water to have a warm bath, therefore making the water freezing and it motivates me to finish quickly, because sometimes when the water is warm I tend to take too much time. After I am done I grab a towel and dry myself off. I put on my undergarments and slip on the blue dress. I tie the sash into a bow on the front of me and I put on the matching shoes that came with the dress. Someone knocks on the door.
"Come in." I say.
My mother walks in. She walks over to me with elastic and a couple of pins.
"Would you like me to do your hair?" She asks me.
"Ok. Thank you." I say. She nods and makes her way over to me and starts to braid my hair, but not in the way I usually do. She's making it into a braided bun. When she finishes I thank and make my way to the kitchen to eat some soup she prepared.
"Wow Katniss you look beautiful! Gale's one lucky guy!" she says. I roll my eyes with a smile. Prim always teases about Gale being my boyfriend. She knows it's not true, but she likes teasing me. When it's Prim teasing me about "me and Gale, I don't really care. But if it's someone else, then I'm disturbed.
"I wish I was as beautiful as you little duck!" I say. It's true, even though we were both born in the Seam, Prim looks like a merchant kid, while I look like a seam kid. She and mother are like a pop of color when they are walking in the seam. But on reaping day, Effie Trinket is the pop of color with her odd Capitol fashion in the square.
"Come on, we should get to the reaping." I say to Prim. She looks down.
"What if I'm picked Katniss?" She asks me.
"You're not." I answer her briefly, making a point not to stop.
"It only takes on slip Katniss…" She says. Prim does have a point. It really does take one slip to be picked, but the odds are very slim.
"Prim, I promise you won't get picked. It's not going to be you. Ok? Just relax. I know it's your first reaping, but you need get that thought out of your head, because all it's going to do is stress you out. Just tell yourself that you have only one slip in that bowl, and that the odds are in your favour, ok?" I tell her. She seems a little bit more convinced.
"Ok." We make our way to the door to get to the square. Once we reach it, Prim is on the verge of tears.
"Prim, Prim, it's ok, everything will be ok! You're just going to go with the twelve year olds to check in ok? They're going to prick your finger and then you go in the square. Ok?" I tell my sister. I notice how much more terrified she's gotten.
"Does it hurt?"
"Not really. It's no different then splinters except it doesn't stay. After the reaping meet me right here, ok?" Prim nods and makes her way to the twelve year olds section. I get in line with the sixteen-year olds and wait. When it's my turn, a lady takes my finger, pricks it then tells me leave. I'm one of the last to get in my section, due to my interaction with Prim. As more people come it gets more and more claustrophobic. The square is quite large but on reaping day it seems like the smallest place in District 12. When everyone is done, Effie Trinket comes on the stage with her freaky white make-up. She tries to lighten the crowd, with no luck. Then mayor Undersee reads the list of past victors of District 12. In 74 years of Hunger, we have had two victors. One of them is still alive, and that's Haymitch Abernathy. I see him sometimes in the hob buying liquor. The fact that we only have 2 victors makes us the laughingstock of Panem. Other districts (aside the careers) have maybe five or seven, which isn't amazing, but still better than ours. We are forced to watch a video about the history of the games. Basically, the hunger games are a punishment for a rebellion that happened 74 years ago, and apparently the Capitol "loved and cherished the 13 districts". Well, if there's any district they love and cherish, that's district 1 and 2. They are like the Capitol lap dogs. The Capitol doesn't really pay attention to the other ones. After the video, Effie Trinket proceeds to pick the tributes. My heart starts beating very quickly, afraid my name will be cast.
"As usual, ladies first!" She says. She walks to the reaping ball, which one of them says Primrose Everdeen.
Please don't let it be me, or Prim, but if I have to choose one, let it be me then, but please make it not be me or Prim, or even Madge!
Effie has a slip of paper. She reads it. I feel as though my heart stops beating momentarily.
"Prim-"
I start to panic as she utters those words, realizing I was wrong the entire time, and that she will resent me
Effie continues. "Primma Raven!"
I sigh in relief. It wasn't Primrose Everdeen. Thank god.
A short, blonde haired blue-eyes girl maker her way to the stage. I recognize her from my math class. She's a merchant girl. Her parents own a sweet shop. She looks shocked and starts to cry. Maybe she doesn't take Tesserae. There's a cry from where the parents are. I turn and see Mrs. Raven crying and yelling her name. Mr. Raven is trying to comfort her, but it doesn't seem to work. Primma's cries seem to get louder and louder. Mayor Undersee seems stressed about all of this. We have Mrs. Raven causing a racket while cursing at the peacekeeper, Primma's tears turn into screams, parents yelling even more at peacekeepers, and little kids yelling. Right now, once again we are the laughingstock of Panem. Effie is desperately trying to get everything under control. Eventually, the racket dies out and Effie picks our boy tribute. I get nervous, and hope that Gale's name isn't picked.
"Hansen Harleigh!" Effie says with a big smile. An under-fed twelve-year old walks to the stage. Unlike Primma, he doesn't cry. He's from the seam.
Suddenly, an older boy makes his way to the stage. Peacekeepers attempt to block him, but are unsuccessful. He manages to get past them and announces his intention to the crow.
"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" He says. The boy cries for him not to but the older one tells him to go back. He makes his way to the stage. He has an angry, cold look on his face.
"Oh how exiting! District twelve's first ever volunteer! What is your name?" Effie asks. The
"Tommy Harleigh." He says coldly. The crowd starts to whisper. Nobody volunteers in twelve, that's typically reserved for the career districts.
"I bet my hat that was your brother! Don't want him to steal all the glory huh?" Tommy doesn't answer. Effie continues.
"Give a round of applause for district twelve tributes, Primma Raven and Tommy Harleigh!" But no one applauds. Instead, we put three fingers, kiss them and put them up. It's our respect sign. Effie guides them to the justice building. The reaping is over. We all make our way out of the square. I find Prim at the spot I told her to meet me.
"See Prim, it wasn't you!" I tell her.
"Yeah, but, I feel really bad." She responds.
"It's not your fault, Prim. It's just..." I don't know how to finish that sentence without "disrespecting" The Capitol. "Come on we better get going." Prim nods and walk to our house. On our way there I meet Gale.
"Hey catnip!" He says cheerfully. I'm glad he's still not mad over our discussion from this morning.
"Hi Gale. Do you, um, want to go in the woods?" I ask him. I'm not sure why I was babbling.
"Sure, say in 10 minutes? Got to get all these fancy clothes off." Gale says to me. I nod, and we make our way to our houses to get ready.
...
"They're despicable. Just despicable. Gale says. He's ranting about how bad the Capitol is. Which we can only do in the woods, the only place we are free. Even then, we aren't that free if we could get shot, or even worse, turned into Capitol avoxes.
"I know Gale, I know…" It's all I can say.