My first memories are of my mother reading stories of faraway lands to me before bed. Who knows where she got them from or how she got away with having them. I realize now, because surely if the Capitol found out that we had information of places other than Panem, there would have been consequences. Even if was all fiction. Now I'm not so sure. Perhaps they found out eventually. And that is the reason that we are all here now.
The stories come back to me now, vividly, I remember every word my mother read before my other sisters were born. The stories were of people similar to my mother and I, people with dual coloured eyes. They told of seven kingdoms each ruled by kings and queens, where their servants were gifted with archery, healing, singing, cooking, normal skills. Then there was the rest of their servants who their gifts were to never miss a shot, be able to tell what you would like to eat by smelling you, who could climb trees like a squirrel, the list goes on. Those with the special talents were forced to work for their king, they were feared and scorned for having ugly different eyes, they were the Gracelings.
When I was younger my father never understood why my mother told me those stories. He thought she told them to scare me, or that's what I heard from their arguments. They rarely argued, except when they were talking about the stories or my mother's heritage. She doesn't have dark hair and grey eyes like the rest of our district, her eyes are two slightly different shades of blue so no one ever notices but me. Her hair is a light blonde colour that stands out every time we go into town, she is also a lot more jumpy than the rest of us, unless we say something that reflects badly on the Capitol.
This was all before my other two sisters were born, Katniss and Prim. Now my mother has somewhat pulled herself together, but for a long time she was lost to us when our father was caught in a mining explosion five years ago. Katniss still wakes up screaming at the top of her lungs for him to run. Mom had left us for months to fend for ourselves, getting our own food, leaving on time for school and not looking like we needed help from the Social Services. Both Prim and I were happy when our mother snapped out of depression and decided to be a part of our lives again. Katniss, on the other hand, never treated Mom the same.
Right before he died our father started teaching Katniss and I how to hunt. Katniss was starting to get really good with a miniature bow and arrows he had made for her. I didn't envy her, I was a pretty good shot myself, but I was always better than her at the survival part of hunting. Where she had to shoot the animal, I could wrestle or chase it down and kill it, the edible plants were fairly easy for her to memorize but I felt as though I was relearning almost everything he taught. He only taught us to kill animals, but at the same time in the town I was also learning the softest easiest spots to hit and kill a man.
After his death, Mom zoned out there was no reaching her. It was up to Katniss and I to provide. Katniss came across Gale in the forest one day and they have been hunting partners ever since. Gale is two years older than Katniss, making him my age. They were so close that most people thought that he was our brother. Prim was always teasing Katniss and I, but Katniss is terrified of having a relationship, and I just don't care, so long as he doesn't scare game away.
We tried to teach Prim to hunt too. That didn't end well. Prim would always want to save the animals. She had a knack for healing, just like our mother, so she and Mom supported the family by running a small apothecary shop while Katniss and I hunted. Despite our efforts, Katniss and I still have to use tesserae to feed the family. Tesserae is a years' supply of grain and oil for one person, you can do this for each member of your family as well, but for each tesserae you take, your name is entered once more into the reaping, and the entries are cumulative so at eighteen I will have over 20 slips of paper with Katsa Everdeen written on them.
The reaping, the day fate decides if you are going to fight to the death in an arena or watch a girl and boy you know from your district do it for you. And most likely lose. District 12 hasn't won in years. All of the Districts are forced to participate by sacrificing 2 of their children ages 12-18 to compete in the annual Hunger Games. They are thrown into an outdoor arena that can be anything from a blazing desert to a frozen wasteland. The arena varies by year and is controlled by Gamemakers whose job is to create a show of it for the Capitol, they can put mutts or natural disasters, or unnatural disasters to make the Games more fun for the audience to watch. There, the kids will either die from natural causes or by other "tributes". The last one alive wins. The winner the Games gets a life of ease back home, fame and fortune. And memories to last the rest of their lives.
In the beginning there was war. Slaughter, death everywhere. Friend turning on friend, buildings exploding out of nowhere, then out of the ashes rose Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen Districts each in charge of their own product. Four-fishing, Seven-lumber, Twelve-Coal. Then came the Dark Days, the Districts had rebelled against the Capitol. More war. Twelve of the Districts were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. From the Treaty of Treason "In penance for their uprising, each district shall offer up a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public "Reaping." These Tributes shall be delivered to the custody of the Capitol. And then transferred to a public arena where they will Fight to the Death until a lone victor remains. Henceforth and forevermore this pageant shall be known as The Hunger Games." Perhaps it will end in war.
When I was eight years old, a distant cousin came to visit us from the other side of District 12. I hadn't liked him – his heavy perfume, the way he showed his wealth and superiority in everything. When he had started to pay me more attention I had grown wary. "Such pretty eyes you have" he had said to her "If you were to volunteer for the Hunger Games you would attract many sponsors, but you might be reaped anyway what with you mother and father so poor and living in the Seam." I had scowled at him and started to turn away before I heard the end of his sentence. Then, fast as lightning my hand had flown out and smashed him in the face. So hard and so fast that I'd pushed the bones of his nose into his brain.
Prim and my mother had screamed, Katniss and my father just stared at me in horror from across the room. When my mother the healer had lifted him from the pool of blood on the floor and he'd turned out to be dead the house had gone silent, backed away. Katniss' hand was at her shoulder, hungry for an arrow that wasn't there. Peacekeepers were there within minutes to escort me to my certain death. My family just standing there in shock as they took me away.