My name is Winnow Barrens, I live in District 12 in Panem. Every year the Captiol, the city that all of the districts work for, hosts The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is basically a game where two young people, tributes, are chosen to represent their district. They are put into an arena and fight each other to the death, there is one victor. Your name is chosen at the reaping, kids get their name put in at the age of 12, and then again twice at thirteen, and so on until you are eighteen. The poor people in my district have the option of putting their names in more, for grain and food and stuff, but luckily my family is sort of well off so that is unnecessary for me and my brother Leo. So on this very day, my name has been put in 15 times, and Leo once. Today is the reaping for District 12, the beginning of The Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games.
I go downstairs for breakfast, as I sit down mom puts oatmeal and brown sugar in front of me. It may not sound like much, but in District 12, this is almost a delicacy. Leo is rambling on as always about his friend Twill and something else about school. My mother and I are seamstresses, that's how we hold up our end of the expenses and put food on the table. My dad is a well-respected miner as are most of the men here in district 12. As for mom and I, we don't get much business because most of our people here can't afford nice dresses. We do a lot of work for very little, but that's how we like it. We almost always have new orders around the time of the reaping though.
By the time I finish eating it is time for me to make my daily trip to the bakery. My best friend Peeta Mellark works there, his family owns the place. We have been friends ever since I can remember, and our families are pretty close. Sometimes I feel like we could be more than friends, but I think we are both too afraid to bring it up. As I walk through the front door, Mrs. Mellark is smiling; she was waiting for me to show up. "Winnow! It's so good to see you!" She smiles so genuinely sometimes it scares me. How can one woman be so happy all of the time? She screams for Peeta, informing him that I am here and looks at me again and smiles. After a couple of seconds of uncomfortable smiling, Peeta finally walks in and puts his arm around me. "There's my favorite girl" he says with a smile. "I hope you guys weren't talking about me in here." He raised his eyebrows at me.
"Actually I was waiting for you to give Winnow her reaping gift," Mrs. Mellark replies as she pulls out a parchment wrapped package and hands it to me. "It's not just for you of course, I expect you to share with Leo." And with that she exited. The Mellarks always give Leo and I honey raisin bread on reaping days and other holidays, it's our favorite.
"Well, you ready to go?" Peeta looks at me with a smile. We always spend the hours before the reaping together, there's a silent understanding that it could always be our last day together. We walk for what feels like hours, talking and laughing until we make it to our usual place, a big oak tree that's on the very outskirts of the district.
"I have a bad feeling about this year, Peeta"
"You had that feeling last year too, and the year before that. Everyone gets bad feelings today. It's going to be fine, I promise." Peeta tries to comfort me but he must know it doesn't work. I know I say I have a bad feeling every year but today it has been worse than ever. I don't know what I would do if my name got called. I cry when I see dead animals; I could never kill anyone. And Leo? Forget about it. He would be one of the first casualties. Most of the kids his age tower over him. If you put him in an arena with 18 year olds twice his size, it wouldn't be a competition.
Peeta and I talk for a while mindlessly; laughing at that time he tried to climb the big oak and almost broke his arm. We share some of the raisin bread from the bakery and then we have to separate to get ready for the reaping.
"I know I told you not to worry," Peeta stares down at me "but if anything happens to either of us, I want you to know how special you are to me." He puts my hand in his and gives me a small bracelet. It's a metallic rope, sliver looking but I know it's not really silver. On it hangs a red jeweled heart. I try so hard not to cry, "Thank you, it's great." He puts it on my wrist for me and I kiss his cheek. Whatever bad feelings I had about today disappear for a moment as we walk back to my house hand in hand.
As I walk into the house, Leo starts some chant about me and Peeta sitting in a tree and mom obsesses over the bracelet. I put on the cream cotton dress that I wore last year and pin my hair so the top half of it is back. Mom comes upstairs and hands me her nicest pair of shoes, cream flats. They are a little dirty but by far one of the most expensive things she owns. I look in the mirror and tell myself that it's okay. I know it's going to be me this year; I can feel it. I grab Leo because we are running late and we almost run to the square. Leo and I have to separate, the younger kids go in the front and the older in the back. I spot Peeta down about 20 people to the left of me. He smiles and I flash him my new bracelet. His smile gets even bigger.
When the clock informs us that it is two, the mayor steps up and starts his usual speech; he talks about the history of Panem, something about disasters, how great the Captiol is, how bad it was when the districts tried to rise up. He says the list of the only two victors from District 12 in the history of the Games. Only one is still alive, and by alive I mean constantly drunk. The lady with the pink hair, Effie Trinket, is the one picking the names out of the big glass bowl. She is from the capitol; each district has sort of a capitol representative and Effie is ours. She gives us a big smile like she doesn't understand why we aren't as excited as she is. She takes an obnoxiously long time to get things started. I know it's going to be me this year. I can feel it; something horrible is going to happen. She finally pulls a name out of the girls bowl, Primrose Everdeen. Everyone is silent for a moment and I feel ridiculously relieved. I feel horrible for Primrose. She looks like she can't be a day over twelve, but I swore it was going to be me. Then there is screaming to the right of me, and her big sister runs up and volunteers to take her sister's place. Primrose starts screaming and won't let go of her sister. I start to tear up as does the girl beside me; I think her name is Wren. Effie starts goggling at the girl, Katniss she says her name is, and announces for all of us to give her a hand. No one claps, not one of us. We never do and I don't think we ever will. Instead we all give her the gesture of our district; we touch our three middle fingers of our left hands to our lips and then face it out to her. It is a sign of upmost admiration, and also goodbye to someone we love. She looks terrified and like she is going to cry. Effie picks this moment to pick out the boy tribute. I look straight at Peeta, and he is looking straight ahead with his fists balled at his sides. And then my stomach drops as Effie calls out Peeta Mellark.
Peeta makes his way to the stage and he looks absolutely shocked. He's trying to hide it but not successfully. Where are his brothers?! He has two of them, both are older. Are they not going to follow in Katniss's footsteps? I look all around me and see the younger of the brothers staring back at me. I give him a desperate look and he just looks at the ground as tears roll down his cheek.
I know that the tributes are given an hour to visit with loved ones before they are shipped off to the capitol so I run to Mrs. Mellark's side. There is no way I'm missing out on talking to him. I wait for what feels like forever for him to finish talking to his family and then I run in. I run straight into his arms and he holds me so tight I get a little dizzy. I try to hold back my tears but a few escape and he rubs them off with his thumb. He puts his hands on the sides of my face and kisses me. I just shake my head from side to side and cry. "I don't know what's going to happen," he says struggling to stay strong, "but I promise I will try as hard as I can, and I'll come back to you Winn. I love you." I barely muffle out that I love him too when the PeaceKeepers come and say our time is up. He kisses me one more time and just like that he is gone. After all these years of me being too afraid to do anything, we finally tell each other how we feel. But it's too late now. Peeta is as good as dead.
I somehow find my way back home and lay in my bed crying. I don't know how long I was crying, but when I finally decide to come out it is time for the opening ceremonies. All of the tributes ride out in pairs by their district in themed costumes. District 12's costume is always something like coal miners or coal or something lame like that but this year, wow. Peeta and Katniss are on fire, it is amazing and it just makes me cry even more. It's like they are parading to their deaths and everyone is just cheering their names. It makes me sick.
I don't leave my room again for the next couple of days. Mom walks into my room and sits on my bed. "He's going to be okay, Winnow. Everything will work out, and if it doesn't, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Don't go around mourning him before he is even dead." And with that she kisses my head and leaves. I know what she is saying but unless the arena is a bakery this year and there is a contest on who can make the most rolls, I don't think he has much of a chance. The kids in District Two train their whole lives to be a tribute. They all fight to volunteer; they are bred to be killers. One year they put all of the tributes in a desert with nothing but rocks and shrubs and they all had to beat each other to death. I can't stand the thought of something like that happening to Peeta. I look at my bracelet and feel the small ruby heart. I know I have to stay strong for him.
Tonight is the night of the interviews. Tomorrow, the tributes will be put in the arena and the Hunger Games will begin. The tributes are interviewed in order of district, most just talk about how they will win and what their strengths are. Katniss is up and she looks great. She is dazzling and I wonder why I was never friends with her while she was here. She laughs and has the audience in the palm of her hand; I also feel her charming effect and am almost sad when her time is up. But then Peeta steps forward. He looks so handsome, he is in such a nice suit and his hair is perfect. He looks amazing. My heart fills and I am proud that he is mine. He talks to the interviewer about the soap he used and they both smell each other and they have the crowd rolling with laughter. That's my Peeta; this is how I want to remember him if he dies. Finally the interviewer asks him if he has a girl back home. My heart starts pounding and my mom and brother both look at me with huge smiles. I start to blush and Peeta hesitates, then gives a weak shake of his head. The interviewer isn't buying it so he pushes a little more. "Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping." Peeta finally fesses up. What does he mean I didn't know he was alive? I should have told him how I felt sooner, I know. But we spent every day together; he has to know that I care about him. "So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" the interviewer asks with a nudge of the elbow.
"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning… won't help in my case," says Peeta.
"Why ever not?" says the interviewer, bewildered.
Peeta blushes and starts to stutter. "Because… she came here with me."