One – Introduction
The heaviest weights she ever lifted were the buckets of fish she carried from the sea to her grandmother's small shack on the beach. The farthest she ever ran was from that small shack to the school house in the middle of District Four.
She was always late.
Annie Cresta was no trained fighter. Growing up in a somewhat wealthy district that often produced Career tributes did not mean that she fit into that category. Annie was the daughter of a fisherman and his lovely wife. Both were dead. She didn't even remember them.
Annie's first real memory was of her brother, Ben, being reaped. She was 5. All she really knew about the Hunger Games was that almost nobody came home from them. Ben was only 13. He was tall for his age and naturally strong – a trait he must have gotten from their father. He was the strongest, smartest boy Annie knew. She was so sure that he would come home a Victor, bringing pride to the entire district.
He didn't last one day.
Annie's second real memory was watching her brother's head roll down a small hill, while his body crumpled to the ground.
Ever since then, it's just been Annie and her grandmother. Sweet, loving Grandma Cresta, who tried to shield Annie's eyes while her brother was being attacked. Sweet and sensitive Grandma Cresta, who fainted as soon as the older boy swung the sharp blade that would end Ben's life. Her hands fell away from Annie's eyes, allowing her to see the whole thing.
In the years to follow, Annie did a good job of keeping that memory stowed away somewhere deep and dark in her mind. She always kept herself busy, kept her mind on other things. She would wake up early and fish in the ocean. The fish that she caught were the main food source for Annie and her grandmother. Grandma Cresta was an unskilled woman. Annie's mother had been as well. In fact, very few women in District Four were trained in fishing or making nets, as those were considered men's jobs. Women were expected to raise children and keep a tidy home, so that's exactly what Grandma Cresta had done. When her son and daughter-in-law died and their two young children came to live with her, she found the only job that she was qualified to do: cleaning. She cleaned the grand houses in the Victor's Village. They were so large, and she was not very young, so she often came home late at night, exhausted. Still, her paycheck wasn't enough to cover more than the very basic household expenses, so Annie taught herself how to fish.
After a couple of hours fishing, Annie would clean up quickly as rush off to school. There she would learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. The school also taught a lot about the history of Panem, the history of District Four, and how to be a successful District Four wife.
When school ended, the wealthy children would go to their Hunger Games training. Annie would go back to the ocean to swim or fish until it was time to make dinner. She liked to always have dinner ready by the time her grandmother came home from her long day at work.
Annie was good at keeping her mind off of terrible things during the day. It was much harder to keep them away when she was asleep. She would often wake up from a nightmare in a cold sweat, shaking and crying silently. Was it her imagination or did the nightmare get worse, more vivid and horrible as the years passed?
Why had no one volunteered for Ben? Why had no one saved his life?