The second my eyelids roll open, my stomach starts to churn, for an unknown reason. I look to my left and see the crisp white shirt my mother put out for me and realize that it's Reaping Day. Yet another year has passed and I get to hear Effie Trinket's irritating Capitol accent again. As I sit up in my bed, I get a glimpse of my family's preparations for the Reaping. My eldest brother, Flux, is by the closet helping my other brother, Rye, pick out his outfit for his final reaping. Being twenty-five years old, Flux is too old to participate in the Reaping, nor the games, so he is always helping my brother and me prepare for the reaping.
I finally have the energy to get out of bed, so I bathe. A soon as I am clean I put on my shirt and a pair of itchy gray pants, which I assume are made of a synthetic material from eight. The smell of fresh bread fills the air and I know that my mother is working away in the bakery. " Boys!" she shouts, "Breakfast is ready." She seems more gentle than usual. I get to the kitchen and suddenly; my stomach is churning increasingly faster. I don't really have much of an appetite, but I figure that this could be my last meal at home. Ever. My mother has made fresh bread, as usual, along with rolled oats and an unknown kind of stew. I'm shocked. This is the biggest meal I've had all year! I scarf down my breakfast, savoring every last bite. Finally, it's time to go.
The walk to the justice hall seems to last forever. Thoughts of past tributes ramble through my mind, reminding me that I could be dead within days.
It's time. I walk up to the peacekeeper that pricks my finger. I look around to find some familiar faces. The Hawthornes, Gale and his fourteen-year-old brother younger siblings are too young for the reaping. Madge Undersee. Finally, I see the Everdeens. The family I saved.
Effie taps the microphone and a unbearable noise covers the district, followed by dead silence. "Hello and happy Hunger Games!" she exclaims in that stupid Capitol accent of hers. She shows the same video she shows every year. The video says that it's such an honor to participate in the games, but really it's humilliating to be killed while the citizens of Panem look on. "I just love that!" she exclaims, while a corny smile spreads across her carefully painted face. "Ladie's first!" For some reason I'm nervous. Scared to loose the girl I love. Katniss. I've always loved her, but never told her. I guess giving her that loaf of burnt bread could have been a subtle hint. "Primrose Everdeen!" Silence falls over the crowd like the winter snow falls over the district. Katniss's innocent twelve-year-old sister slowly walks up to the stage, when I suddenly hear a shriek. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" It's happening. Katniss is leaving to go to the Capitol and probably never coming back. "Now for the boys." says Effie, who seems to still be rattled by Katniss's outburst. That nervous feeling comes back, but this time I'm more nervous than ever. My palms are sweating and I am shaking like a rat. "Peeta Mellark." This can't be real. It can't be. I shamefully close my eyes and open them to find that it is. With my head down I walk up to the stage. Effie pulls me towards the microphone and says, "What is your name?" As if she doesn't know! she just pulled it out of a glass bowl and read it aloud to all of District Twelve! But, thats what the Capitol wants. They want us tributes to be humiliated. "Peeta Mellark", I say sheepishly. Before I have time to walk away, Effie grasps my hand. "I would like to present to you, Distrcts Twelves tributes for the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen!" The crowd salutes us, holding three fingers in the air as a final farewell to us. All of their faces are dreary with despair. Everyone leaves the Justice Building, while Effie escorts us to the room where we can say our final goodbyes.
Suddenly, it hits me. I am going to die.