„NO! NO! PLEASE DON'T! PLEASE!" Prim's crying echoed through the room and made me shiver. I was on her side immediately and tried desperately to calm her. It's been the third time this week that she has been dreaming of the Hunger Games.

„Calm down, Prim. Everything is alright!" I took her in a tight embrace and kissed her forehead.

„Katniss, I'm so scared", Prim cried on my shoulder and moved even closer to me. Today was Reaping Day and she was terrified of being reaped as a tribute.

"Prim, it's gonna be alright. Your name's only in there once, they won't pick you." I wiped away the tears on her cheek. "Try to go to sleep again, okay, little duck?" She gave me a short nod and a little smile appeared on her face as I mentioned my nickname for her. "Thank you, Katniss. I love you."

"Love you, too, little duck." I smiled at her and waited till she had fallen asleep again.

When I heard her steady and deep breaths I went to bed again. I wanted to go hunting really early, so getting a bit of sleep couldn't be the worst thing. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop thinking about the Reaping. My own name was in the bowl more than twenty times because I signed up for tessera, but I was more worried about Prim. Since my father was dead and mum fell in some kind of deep depression she was the most important person in my life, one of the few people I really cared for. I had no idea how I'd cope if she had to go into the arena. I rolled from one side of the bed to the other calmlessly without finding sleep again.

I got up in time with the sunrise and made my way through the woods. It was perfectly quiet outside and not a single person was on the street. I absolutely loved moments like these. I took a deep breath and watched the sky. The sun slowly made its way through the clouds and it was supposed to be a good day. Before I crossed the fence I scanned the surrounding for other people, but I was alone. In district twelve hunting was illegal and I wasn't allowed to cross the fence, but in fact that has never kept me from doing it.

Only little time had passed when I heard a noise in the bushes. I aimed my father's handmade bow at this place and a couple of seconds later I noticed a deer. My arrow was ready to be shot and…

"Already been lucky today?" With these words the deer was gone. Great!

I dropped my bow with a single angry move and turned round.

"Damn you, Gale!", I hissed at my best friend and hunting partner and starred at him with anger in my eyes. I got even more in rage when I saw the big grin on his face. How could this idiot even grin right now?

"Hi Catnip!"

I laid my finger on my lip to make him shut up and tiptoed further into the woods. If Gale didn't kill the whole thing again I could still catch the deer. I noticed that Gale bent down and threw something through the air. All of a sudden the deer appeared in front of my eyes again and this time the odds were in my favour.

"Not bad, that's a really nice piece of meat", Gale said when he had examined the deer.

"It's your luck I still got to shoot it. If you frighten my prey once more I am gonna kick your ass."

Of course Gale started laughing at my threat. "Oh yeah, I would really like to see that."

I boxed him in the rips and sat down in the grass. He took the place next to me and opened his backpack. "I guess you haven't had breakfast yet, right." Gale handed me a piece of bread.

"Oh my god, is this real baker's bread?" I asked him excitedly.

"I really hope so. Otherwise old Mellark will get to know me."

I took a bite of the fresh bread with relish. God, that was really good. Gale and I sat next to each other quietly for a while, then he wiped the crumbs off his trousers and looked me in the eyes. "Already exited for tonight?"

"I am worried about Prim." If someone understood my worries it'd be Gale. His father died in the same mine explosion as mine did and since then he has had the responsibility for his mother and his three siblings.

"I know. Rory's name is in there, too." He faced his shoes and I immediately knew that he was more than uncomfortable with this situation. Rory, Gales younger brother was just 12 years old, exactly as old as Prim.

"How often is your name in the bowl?" To be honest I didn't want to know that. In my opinion he could be picked far too often.

"Forty-two times. But yeah, it'll be alright. As always."

I had no idea what to say. Gale just looked at the sky. "Damn, that's complete bullshit." He took a bit of grass and threw it away.

"What are you talking about?"

"Geez, Katniss. The whole Hunger Games are just a tool to demonstrate the Capitols big authority. More than twenty people die in this fucked up arena every year and I don't know how many people watch and laugh. That's insane."

I stare at him, surprised by his outburst. That's definitely a side of Gale that I have never seen before.

He noticed my glance. "What? It's true. These damn Games wouldn't last a single year if no one watched it."

"I know. But how do you want to change that?", I asked him sceptically.

Gale thought about my question for a moment. "Come with me."

That response really took me by surprise. "What?"

"Let's leave. We could reach the border before the Reaping starts."

"Are you crazy? We wouldn't make it five miles."

Hi grinned. "Do you really think so?" He pointed at the dead deer. "We both know how to hunt and how to survive in the woods."

His arguments were pretty good, that's for sure, but WHAT THE HELL HAS GOT INTO HIM?

After a moment of silence he continued talking. "Seriously Catnip, what's the worst thing that could happen to us? We could die, okay, but that could happen to you here as well. And now imagine that we really make it. We could flee and start a new life. A life without the Capitol and the Hunger Games. A life without pressure…"

"What about our families? Gale, we both have siblings and single mums. I just can't leave Prim and mum."

His answer came right away. "We'll take them with us!"

I gave him a short laugh. "Prim in the woods? Forget it." Even the thought of my sister running through the woods in her pretty dress and that silly cat Buttercup in her arms made me grin. The chances that Prim would agree to run away through the woods were kind of not existing.

"I'm sorry, Gale. I'd really run away with you if I could, but I definitely can't."

Gale sighed. "It's okay. Was a bad idea."

Once again an embarrassing silence dominated the situation.

After a while Gale asked weather I would like to go on hunting and together we shot a couple of birds before he walked me home.

"See you later then", he said before we reached my house. "Wear something pretty."

I nodded and when I turned round the next time, he was gone…