This is my own interpretation of the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It is written in Peeta's point of view

I don't own most of the characters.

The text that is in between 2 *** means that it is an excerpt from the book itself. I shamefully admit that I wasn't happy with my own revision of that part.

Enjoy reading!

I was greeted by a bright ray of sunshine as soon as I opened my eyes. It's morning and a beautiful one for that matter. It's such a shame that it'll end with the whole district sad and defeated. If people from the past are able to read my thoughts right now they wouldn't be able to understand what I'm thinking about. They'd probably be like "You just said it's a beautiful day how the hell would it make anyone feel sad?" Well to clear all the confusion that may be happening inside their ancient minds I'll make it clear….It's Reaping day….

It is that day of the year wherein a boy and a girl from ages 12 to 18 are forced, or in some cases chosen, to compete in the nationwide competition called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games, to put is simply, is a cross between the ancient Olympics and gladiator fights, from our ancestors, on a modern intake. It is the 74th year of Hunger Games which also means it's been 74 years since the war in Panem and it's been 74 years since the Capitol decided the Hunger Games is the best way to show the people of Panem who's in charge.

So as I was saying, this day feels ironic. I just hope nothing happens to my family or worse to her. Rolce and I are still eligible for the Hunger Games but luckily for Rolce it's his last year for being eligible.

I changed into my everyday wear. I'll change into my normal reaping outfit later. Sniffing the air I scented some cinnamon buns being baked. Dad must be nervous. He only bakes sweet bread when he's nervous. On normal days my dad and my brothers bake savoury bread while they leave me with the sweet and easy bread and the occasional cakes but if you smell sweet bread being baked and you know it's not me then it's my dad being nervous or stressed. Although this rarely happens, I know it must be a really big problem after all why would someone as relaxed and laid back as my dad be stressed or nervous about something as stupid as a shallow and small problem? Normally I'd leave my dad alone so that he won't be pressured but my stomach got the best of me.

I peeked at my brothers' room and saw that they're both still asleep. Typical but I don't blame them for wanting to catch some extra Zzzs since, as a family of bakers, we all have to be awake at 4 am sharp. We rarely get to sleep in, even on weekends.

Base and Rolce look exactly alike. They both have chocolate brown eyes and their hair is the same light brown(almost blonde) shade. Basically they both look like younger male versions of mother. Rolce is the middle child and thinks everything should be about him. Base is the eldest and loves baking almost as much as dad but he would put his social life first before baking. I, on the other hand, look like my dad when he was my age. We both have light dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I love baking almost as much as my dad. It makes me feel like an artist. I'm getting off track again...

I went downstairs to the store, where my dad is currently pouring himself a glass of water.

"Morning Dad!" I greeted him

He just looked at me and nodded his head at my direction. He's not much of a talker. It's probably the only trait that I didn't get from my dad. My mom is the one who talks a lot. Despite our only difference this is how we usually spend our mornings. Silent and relaxed…

A few minutes later I heard the timer tick. The cinnamon buns must be done.

5..

My dad gets up from his chair and walks towards the oven

4..

He opens the oven and the scent of cinnamon and caramelised sugar takes over

3..

A few thumps and groans

2..

Thunderous stomping and…

1..

As if on cue my brothers enter the store like charging bulls towards the basket filled with cinnamon buns. I was barely able to get a bun before mother walked into the kitchen screaming…

"BASE!ROLCE!PEETA! IS THAT A WAY TO HANDLE FOOD? YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN THAT TRASH FROM SEAM! SIT DOWN AND EAT YOUR BREAKFAST LIKE CIVILIZED HUMAN BEINGS! Unless you want me to make you eat the bread that weren't sold yesterday."

Like wolverines smelling fear, my brothers and I sat down quietly, ate our buns quietly and waited for our mom to go back upstairs and continue her de-stressing routine that she normally does on reaping day. I'm not really sure what her de-stressing routine is. In fact no one does! Even my dad. Speaking of dad….how is he? I sneaked a look to see how he's doing and he looks totally fine. How odd. But then again looks can be deceiving…

I watched Rolce and Base as they tear apart the rolls and chew as if the food will disappear in 10 seconds…

I wonder how her morning is going so far. I bet she's worried it's her sister's first reaping day after all. I wonder what she's doing right now. I wonder who she's…no I won't think of that. It's not really a nice way to spend my morning. I looked out the window and saw a black wing with white spots on it. A mockingjay! How coincidental! Just when I was thinking about her too. Man I can't believe it's been 11 years since I first saw her. I'm whipped! I can't believe it's been that long. What the hell is that sound?

I blinked out of my thoughts and saw Rolce snapping his fingers in front of my face. I glared at him.

"What?"

"Dude I've been calling you for the past 3 minutes! I have a question!"

"Well?"

"Do you know that kid who goes stares at the shop window to look at your cakes?"

"Which one? There are a lot of people who stare at our shop window. That's the purpose of the window remember?"

Base tries to keep his face void of emotion but fails miserably. I tried too but the look on Rolce's face when he tried to think of comeback is just too much! We both start laughing and Rolce gets up and stomps out of the shop. Probably to meet his friends and his girlfriend. Finally our laughing stops and Base says he's going to meet ,his girlfriend, Katie at the apothecary shop. That's the only time I noticed my dad is baking again. He must be really nervous. Mother will have his head if she sees him baking again. She thinks it's a waste to bake something no one will buy. To her baking is only for making money. It is not for leisure. It is to earn a living. On normal days she'd probably be screaming "THAT'S A WASTE! A WASTE! WHY ARE YOU WASTING THE MATERIALS WE USE IN THE STORE TO MAKE SOMETHING FOR US! WE ALREADY HAVE BREAD! WE DON'T NEED MORE! IF YOU WASTE THE INGREDIENTS YOU WASTE OUR MONEY! STOP BAKING! BAKE THAT TOMORROW WHEN WE'LL GET PROFIT FROM IT!" today, of course, is a special occasion. My mom is locked up in their room doing god knows what and my dad is here baking for the second time. From the looks of it it's another sweet bread. It's more of a subtle sweetness not like the sweetness of the cinnamon buns. It's a filling loaf of bread crammed with raisins, walnuts, pecans and pistachios. Bread filled with raisins, walnuts, pecans and pistachios! This day couldn't get weirder. I told my dad I'll be walking and that I won't be back until an hour before the reaping. He nods at me and continues to knead the dough. I walked out of the store and checked my watch. It's 10 am. I should be back at around 11:15 am.

I walked around aimlessly until I saw a group of my friends talking near the farmer's market. I walked over to them.

"Hey Peeta! Where have you been man? We've been chillin' here for 1 hour! We were waiting for you!"

"Sorry guys. I slept in. it's been awhile since I was able to. I needed the extra sleep"

"We hear you! We hear you! Don't get so crabby! But then who would blame you it's reaping day"

I sighed and looked around. Most of the guys are here. A handful of girls as well.

"Hey Peeta!"

I looked behind me and I saw Blair. Things have been pretty awkward between us. Not because we had a thing and broke up but because she heard her dad asking mother to hook us up. And what's worse is she's not exactly begging her dad to stop it. I've known for awhile that she kinda likes me but I've never really liked her. I tolerated her but I've never thought of her any other way than someone who's friends with my friends. She's just not the type of person I'd hang out with much less if she'd be my girlfriend. When some of the guys heard it they told me to go for it. She's cute, smart and can actually talked in normal sentences unlike some girls who talk as if they're from the past ("Uhm can you like um I don't know um like talk about like um something else?"). I told them they could have her coz I'm not interested in her. You're probably thinking he's such a jerk! She's perfectly fine why wouldn't he be interested? You see it's coz like any normal human being in the planet she has a bad side. Everyone has but hers is not something I can handle. She treats other people as if don't have emotions. In some weird way she reminded me of mother. They both share a passion of badmouthing the people from Seam.

"Hi Blair"

"Guess what! On the way here I saw this kid bouncing around in front of your shop window and she was really cute! But then I saw what she was wearing. It turns out she's from SEAM! Her clothes have 20 million patches on it and the soles of her shoes were falling off! You wouldn't believe my embarrassment when I actually thought she was cute! EW! As if any kid from Seam would ever be cute!"

Blair rambles on to our friends about the seam kid she saw. I tuned her out and thought about something else. It's weird how a lot of people seem to be looking at the cakes I made today but then again that's why we have customers. A few minutes have passed and I tried to join the conversation of my friends but it seems they're still talking about Blair's "embarrassment". I looked at my watch and saw that's already 11:00. I should probably go home. I still have to help dad with the store. I waved to my friends telling them I'd see them after the reaping then I started my walk towards home.

On my way home my eye caught something black. I looked around me to see what it was. It's her! She's carrying a huge sack but it seems empty. I have a feeling it used to be bulging a few minutes ago. She must have been in the Hob. Who's that beside her? After a few moments of jealousy I noticed I started walking to her. I stop myself before someone sees my stalker-like qualities, turned around and walked home. I went to my room and changed to my reaping outfit. Now you're thinking "if the Hunger Games is that bad why is he changing into special clothes for it?" it's because you're required to wear something special. It's not special because we're celebrating another season of killing innocent children but because if we're chosen (or forced) to become a tribute in the Hunger Games you're representing your District. You don't want to look ugly or scruffy when you're supposed to be representing your district now do you? The people in the Capitol are weird (and shallow) that way.

I went downstairs and I saw my dad skinning a squirrel. She must have been here. While I was out! It's such a stupid move to go out! I missed an opportunity, AGAIN, to talk to her. Now you're probably thinking "Again? What do you mean AGAIN? You've known her for 11 years there must have been a time wherein you actually talked to her!" that's where you're wrong. I was never able to talk to her. Everytime I try to approach her I either got too nervous or lost courage along the way. I sighed and approached my dad.

"Hey Dad! Where'd you get the squirrel? And without mother noticing too! Not that you haven't done this before"

"I got it from that kid Gale. I gave him a loaf of bread to share with that girl he's always with"

A few sharp japs of jealousy struck me again. Dad must have noticed. He's unconsciously giving me those sympathetic looks again. Dad is probably the only one in the whole world who knows that I like her. Mother would never approve. And afterall he's the one who pointed her to me.

It's the first day of school! I'm finally going to school! I got up my bed and ran downstairs. Dad! Dad it's time for school we need to go! My dad chuckled, along with a few of our customers, and said "Peeta before we go you need to take a bath and change into your newly made school clothes. Change quickly before mother sees you" I raced back upstairs took a really really really quick bath and changed into my school clothes. I'd rather wear my play clothes but mother "talked"(cough*screamed*cough) me out of it. I'm not exactly eager to experience that again so like a good boy I followed mother's rules. I grabbed my bag and pulled my dad away from the counter. DAD LET'S GO! I'M CLEAN AND WEARING MY NEW CLOTHES! LET'S GO! My dad excused himself from our customers and told mother to cover for him while he brings me to school. I was so excited I didn't see that mother was there. I skipped on the way to school while my dad held by hand. He's probably holding it to restrain me from running all the way to school. We finally reached school and I noticed my dad looking around. I looked around too maybe I'll see my friends and hopefully my new friends. Suddenly my dad squeezed my hand. I looked up to him and saw him staring at someone at our right. He bent down and pointed a finger at girl with plaited pigtails wearing a red dress. "See that girl" he told me "I wanted to marry her mom but she married a coalminer instead" I got confused. Why would someone pick a coalminer over my dad? So I asked him "why did she picked him over you?" and he answered "because when he sings all the birds around him stops singing"

I walked downstairs and saw my whole family sitting down at the dining table. We ate the quiche, that wasn't sold yesterday, in silence. It's time. We went outside, dad locked the shop and we walked towards the square. On any normal regular day I would have been pleased. The square is one of the few places that's pleasant in District 12. As soon as we reached the square, Rolce and I went to our respective age group for boys. The girls have a similar arrangement at their side too. I checked the girls' side and didn't see her. I looked around the square for her. My friends are trying to get me to join their conversation but they stopped when they thought I was nervous and left me alone. There she is! She looks cute. Not so much as cute but more of beautiful! No not so much as beautiful but more of inhumanely gorgeous! I snapped myself back into reality. She looks nervous. I wonder why. Wait I know why. Her sister! Now she looks like she's in a telepathic conversation with someone. I looked at the direction where she's looking at. Of course. HIM. I looked back at her at the same time feeling those throbs of jealousy I've been trying to block the whole day. She has a grimace on. She must have been thinking about dark thoughts. I wonder….

"Dude! What the hell are you looking at?"

"What?" I still somewhat in a daze…

"Dude why are you staring at Blair?"

"What?" what is he talking about? I looked at her area again and sure enough I saw Blair coincidentally beside her. It seems Blair has been staring at my direction as well..

"I didn't know you and Blair have a thing"

"We don't"…not to be a jerk or anything but it's true…

"Then why are the 2 of you staring at each other?"

Just when I was about to answer the mayor stood up, walked towards the podium and then he began to read the story we hear at least once a year.

***He tells us about the History of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America. He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the upraising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated and the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave to us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days may never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the upraising, each of the twelve districts must be provide one boy and one girl, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold from anything form a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.***

Making kids kill each other is the Capitol's way of saying "Hey guys we're in power! Stand in our way and you'll end up like District 13!" And to make matter worse they treat the Hunger Games as if it was the The Olympics for Ancient times. The winner of the Hunger Games gets a large amount of prizes. This includes showering the winner's district with packages, mainly food, for a whole year.

*** "It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks" intones the mayor.

Then he reads the list of past District 12 winners. In seventy-four years, we have exactly two. Only one is still alive.*** Haymitch Abernathy staggers onto the stage yelling profanities and nonsense and plunks down on the third chair. He's a middle aged man who's drunk all the time. He's given a round of applause by the crowd. I don't really know what he's thinking about the applause because a few seconds later he tries to bear hug Effie Trinket, something she looks like she could live without.

Since the whole reaping is being televised, the mayor looks somewhat nervous. I can probably guess it's because District 12 is being laughed at by now. He tries to distract everyone by introducing Effie Trinket. She skipped towards the stages and says her signature "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!" She blabs about how honoured she is to be here and so on and so forth even though everyone knows she really wants to get a better district. Two glass balls appears on stage and Effie stands in between. It's time for the drawing. Effie screams "Ladies' first!" and starts pawing through the opening of the ball. The crowd suddenly becomes quiet almost as if someone pressed the mute button of the remote. Finally she picks a piece of paper and then I, unconsciously, started chanting and practically praying Not her! Not her! Not her! Anyone but her! Please not her! Please! Please! Effie reaches the podium and reads out the name. It's not her but's good as.

" Primrose Everdeen"