"I can't recall I've ever tasted hunger. Nor can I recall I've ever known what it's like to be unable to feed your family. That's because even if my parents hadn't died when I was a new born and hadn't left me to Mags, our district's oldest victor who's, of course, wealthier than most of us due to being a victor, the ocean will never let you go home without food.
When I was 7, Mags took me to the sea and said,"I won't always be there for you. You'll have to earn your living without my help, one day. Most of the other districts envy us, my boy, because we have the ocean. The ocean might not give you a safe place to live or water, but it will give you literally everything else."
And that was how I started earning my living. I'd go fishing, and with the fish I got and the livestock the capitol gave to Mags, we'd both never sleep with an empty stomach. In the evening, we'd both always have a good meal while Mags tells me stories about all the children she mentored and how they all died. For some reason I knew too late, she'd always avoid some details while talking about her annual visits to the capitol. I'd ask her, but she'd be just as silent as the ocean.
And, just like it gave me a living, the ocean gave me Annie.
I knew her a few years before my hunger games. Back then, she was just this shy girl who doesn't talk a lot. She and her father were on a small boat that went way too far in the ocean they were lost, but the ocean has never been less than my best friend. Seeing the water, you'd think it's a homogeneous spectacle with no signs of directions, where you'd be lost easily if it weren't for a map or a compass. But oddly, I always knew my directions in the ocean using nothing but my eyes and my heart. So I found her and her father and I saved them.. and this is how we met.
It was her father who made me my first trident. I was 11 and he made it for me to thank me for saving them. And in three years of training, I became an expert with it.
Everything was perfect. Yes back then I didn't have Annie on my mind like now, but she and her father were part of my family just like Mags, and I'd make sure they too never taste hunger again.. we were as happy as we could be.
Until they decided to take me away from all that.
The reaping day, I'd brought some shellfish and shrimps, And Mags cooked them and brought salty bread our district is famous for from the market, and we invited Annie and her father to a meal before the reaping. Then we all went to the square where the reaping is held. I stand in one raw with all the boys of my age and I hear the boring tape which represents the only bad memory in my happy life. The silly escort of our district then says the usual silly "Ladies first.." as if it will make a difference. When it comes to taking you to an event where you'll die.. does it make a difference if you're chosen first or second, or should ladies be invited to die first our of etiquette? I watch Mags looking at this silly woman in hatred that only those who know her well would notice. Mags' face is as deep as the ocean.
She picks a name that I don't remember.. I only paid attention to the fact that it was not Annie's. Yes Annie didn't mean to me back then what she'd mean to me later, but I still cared about her, we were friends. Of course, later came the volunteers.. one big girl with a scary build was chosen.
"Then for the boys…" she puts her fat fingers in that bowl and finally picks one piece of paper. I bet she enjoys our fear and dismay as she prolongs the reaping period. I start to feel bored.. I just want to spend the rest of the day with my family in a boat. So I think when she calls the name of the male tribute of the year.
"Finnick Odair".
I hear nothing but silence. The sound of the ocean a few miles away from the square sounds in my ears as I see a few things: An expression of disbelief on Mags' face.. Annie raises her hands and covers her face with them.. and the boy who was supposed to volunteer this year.. A 17 year-old Mark Sheller who never hid his hatred to me for living the luxurious life of a victor without being one.. puts this smile on his face which clearly says "Maybe next year..".. and this is all I see in the world as my feet automatically advance to the stage."