PROLOGUE
Finnick Odair, aged 8. District 4
The inky waves swelled around his ankles under the watchful eye of the dying sun, as he sighed in frustration. He'd been waiting for what seemed like hours to an eight-year old boy, and still he'd not spotted a single fish.
His father, noticing the boy's increasing restlessness, offered his son some guidance, saying, "You'll never catch a fish if you keep moving your feet like that. Fish can feel your movements in the water."
It was a warm evening, and the stretch of beach where they were standing held several other families, also trying to catch a few more fish to complete their Capitol quota before the fish were taken in the morning. This was the first time Tomas Odair had brought his youngest son, Finnick with him and so he wasn't really expecting anything from the boy. In time he'd learn spear fishing, just like his older brother Hayden, who at age eleven was becoming a real asset to the family.
Finnick wriggled his toes in the loose, wet sand, scrunching up his face as he spoke, "But I can't be completely still. That's impossible. I still have to breath. Won't the fish feel that?"
Tomas Odair chuckled quietly to himself. His two boys were so different to each other, even now. Where his older son Hayden was quiet and serious, happy to accept things as they were, Finnick was chatty and playful. And so curious. Finnick questioned everything. Why they had to fish. Why they couldn't just go and live in the Capitol. Why there were districts. Tomas didn't want to break his younger son's childish innocence just yet. He didn't want to break to him the harsh unjustness of their lives, so he tried to shield the boy as much as he could. He knew one day his boy would have the same hard look in his eyes as the rest of the district, the same hard look that was starting to form in Hayden's face. But for now, Tomas would let him be a child.
"It's not about making the fish think you're not there, Finnick. It's about convincing them you're not a threat."
Finnick seemed to consider this. "And then you get them when they think they're safe?" he asked.
"Yes. You get them when they think they're safe." Tomas agreed, not realising then how true his words would turn out to be.