A/N: Hi everyone and welcome to the first chapter of my new story! It's a Hunger Games one, so let me just say – I don't own the Hunger Games :D Right, with that over and done with, on with the story!
Life in the Seam is hard for most people, in all honesty. For a start, the housing is cramped – and it's impossible to avoid your neighbours (most of which are gossips). It's also impossible to hide anything too. Our walls are made of weak, paper thin wood, meaning no argument, disagreement or celebration goes unnoticed.
Naturally, this can be a good or bad thing, depending on the thing you're trying to hide.
I'm not sure that that's the way I like it. For example, when my parents split, the people around us heard the final argument long before we'd even made news of their separation public.
But one thing I hate the Seam for is not knowing where my mother has gone.
When she left without a trace with her new man, I expected that such a tight knit community would have realised where she had gone to live. That's what I wanted, so I could search her out and catch up on the years I'd lived without her.
But no such luck.
"Sorrel!" my father hollers, voice weak from years of abuse in the mines, but still managing to remain cheerful. "Time to get up!"
As I roll out of bed, I understand why my father is being unnaturally bright and cheerful.
Today is the Reaping. Just another way for me to die.