1 – The Reaping Day

I woke up on Reaping day in my bed wishing I could sleep the entire day away. Instead at noon, everyone in District 4 will gather in front of the Justice Building and witness Hurley Finbar and I volunteer for the reaped. I look out of the window at the Victors' Village and see Mags, a forty-year-old mentor who won the 9th Hunger Games, going into town early. Outside of her, the only other victor from our district is my father – Murphy Leomaris. He still has nightmares about his days in the 10th arena and has grown bitter through the murder of my two brothers – Dylan and Edmar.

Dylan volunteered as a Career tribute in the 28th Hunger Games. He fought hard until only a few tributes remained. The Gamemakers obviously loved the chance to kill off a victor's son, so they drowned him in a flood. It's ironic considering that we live in the fishing district and grow up swimming in the sea almost daily.

Edmar played out his role in the 29th Games by allying with the other Careers during training activities. During the bloodbath, he experienced the trademark betrayal by collecting weapons for his allies and the others using one of the knives to stab him in the back.

I decided a few months ago that I would stand out in any way possible. During the parade, the training, the individual sessions, and the Games, I would remain Zale Leomaris. I wouldn't be a lapdog to the Capitol or a sidekick to the other Careers. I would just be me.

I realized it was almost eleven in the morning, so I began to get dressed. It was a black tuxedo with blue and green waves on the trimming. My father had worn it at his Reaping, and so did my brothers at theirs.

Meredith, my ten-year-old sister, walked in with her sea-blue eyes wet with tears. She plopped down on my bed and continued crying. I put my arm around her and begged her to tell me what was wrong. I think I already knew.

"It's just… I couldn't stand it if I lost you," she whimpered as she wiped away tears, "Do you really have to volunteer?"

"I hate this fate as much as you do," I comfort her, "If it was my way, I wouldn't have grown up as a Career. I would've just been a student and a fisher." I brush her black hair out of her face as I speak. "It is my fate, but I will do everything in my ability to win and come home to you."

She likes this idea and smiles slightly. "Oh, you are going to win. I can feel it. You are the strongest, tallest person I know. You can be like daddy and use a trident and defend and fight."

"I'm just glad that mother and father agreed not to train you to become a Career tribute," I begin, "I want you to grow up and live happily and marry and have children." I think of how in a week or two, twenty-three tributes will die in the arena and never experience these things I hope for Meredith.

"I want my husband to be like you, Zale," she smiles even bigger, "He would be nice and caring and strong…"

I stopped her because I can't stand flattery. I know I am humble and shy and when people speak like this to me, I choke up and am close to tears. I don't know how I will handle the interviews with the new host – a young man named Caesar Flickerman.

At this moment, Mother walks in with a twinkle in her eyes. She and my father fight often. She blames my brothers' deaths on him since he wanted them to be Careers and bring glory to our family. Instead they were humiliated and my mother lost two sons. Recently, she's been talking less and less and crying more and more. She smiles only around Meredith and I try to cheer her up, but I can't shake her.

"Oh, Zale, you look handsome as usual," she said matter-of-factly, "And my little baby, you are so-o-o beautiful."

Father tells me how during the post-Games interview he announced his love for my mother and they were married in the Capitol. That's where they conceived Dylan, he often told me. "Her eyes were vibrant and sparkling green and her hair was so dark that it made the night look like daytime. Every man in District 4 envied me. She was that beautiful." You can still see it, but her sadness has decayed her with worry lines and slumped shoulders.

We sat on my bed and chatted a little. My father walked in at eleven-thirty with his salt-and-pepper hair freshly cut. He smiled, but seemed worried. He obviously didn't want a fight with Mother to break out in front of Meredith. She hates these outbreaks and usually runs out of the room sobbing.

"Shall we go?" he said, and we headed out of our front door.

Sicilia Dexter, the District 4 escort, was welcoming in the citizens. We are a bigger district in size and population. Our fishing is done in the sea that we border. It was once known as the Gulf of Mexico before Panem rose out of the ashes of North America.

We are sectioned off by our age. The twelve-year-olds sit in the front and the eighteen-year-old sit in the back. Behind that, our families who are too young or too old stand and watch. I see Meredith holding my mother's hand behind me and my father sits on stage with Mags and Mayor Ahab. I am with the eighteen-year-olds who have their names entered in the poll seven times unless they apply for tesserae which gives them food, but also puts their names in extra times.

I spot Hurley in the female section of the eighteens shaking with fear. I give her a smile and she returns the favor. She is beautiful. Her blonde hair is braided like usual and her eyes are gold-brown. Maybe if the odds were in our favor, we wouldn't be competing against each other. I would love a chance to have a relationship with a woman like Hurley.

I stand next to my best friend – Ervin Ahab. His father is our mayor and his mother runs a seafood restaurant in the town. He looks too old to be eighteen. He has a thick mustache, a wispy goatee, and curly brown hair. We took an extra-curricular course in school together called Weights and Athletics. I had it because my father wanted me to use it as another chance to prepare for the Games. Ervin had it because he loved swimming and running and weight lifting. We were both ripped and muscular.

"The beast has entered his cage," he spoke in a deep voice, "How does it feel to have advantages over other tributes – such as being 6-foot-3 and under suspicion of using muscle enhancers?"

He holds out his hand to me, pretending it to be a microphone. "Uh – well, I don't know."

He shakes his head in fake shame, "How are you going to handle your interview? The sponsors need to know you are worth keeping around!"

Mayor Ahab rises to the podium and begins the lengthy Treaty of Treason. After the rebellion known as the Dark Days, the Capitol put us at its mercy with the Hunger Games. His speech was over quicker than it usually goes by.

Sicilia heads to the podium next. She is a Capitol citizen alright. If her baby-blue dreadlocks and wave tattoos in various places didn't give it away, then her accent did. She didn't speak however. She simply walked over to the glass bowl with thousands of papers in it. This was the female drawing that happened first every year. She picked one off of the top since it was pointless to shuffle through it when we had a volunteer ready to go.

A name was called. My heart was racing so fast, I didn't hear.

"Volunteers?" Sicilia said. It was obvious that she was bored with this concept. In another district, volunteers would be unique, but in District 4 we jump at our chance to fight in the arena.

"I volunteer!" shouts Hurley. She has already begun to walk to the stage between two Peacekeepers. Her look is still scared, but she is desperately trying to hide it.

"And your name, darling?"

"Hurley Finbar. 18 years old."

"And so, it is time for the male to be drawn."

Sicilia walks her way across the stage to an identical clear bowl and reaches in a tad. She has a piece of paper in her hands and unfolded in a few seconds. She is confused, dumbfounded, stumbling for words.

"Uh – er – the male tribute is Mayor Ahab's son – Ervin!"