I woke up screaming in the middle of the night. I was having terrible dream about the Hunger Games. I know that I will not be able to sleep so I decided to go and lay in bed with my mom. As I'm lying there, I start to cry. This could be the last time I ever sleep next to my mom. After a few hours, exhaustion got to me and I drifted off into deep sleep.
When I wake up, my mom and Katniss are no longer in the room. I know that Katniss is probably hunting in the woods with Gale and my mom, making some last minute preparations around the house. I swing my legs out of bed, get dressed and go milk Lady, my goat. After that, I go take a bath in water my mom had boiled for me and change into my reaping outfit of a skirt and ruffled blouse, which also happens to be Katniss's first reaping outfit. My outfit may be really cute, but the blouse keeps coming un-tucked in the back.
Soon, Katniss comes home from the woods with lots of game and goes to take a bath. While she's taking her bath, mom and I started to cook up some of the food Katniss has brought for us.
After a few minutes, Katniss comes out of the bathroom wearing one of my mom's favorite dresses and her hair braided up in a very pretty manner.
"You look beautiful" I say in a hushed voice.
"And nothing like myself" Katniss replies hugging me. Even though Katniss is acting like nothing is wrong, I can tell that she is worried that I may be reaped. Oh yeah, I'm twelve now, I can be reaped. "Tuck your tail in, little duck" she says, smoothing my blouse back into place.
I laugh and respond "Quack."
"Quack yourself" Katniss says letting out a light laugh. It's a laugh that only I can get out of her. "Come on, lets eat", she says before quickly kissing me on the top of my head.
We go to the table and eat some rough bread made from tessera grain while washing it down with milk from Lacy. We decided to save all of our good food for tonight's celebration of not getting reaped.
At one o'clock, we head for the square. Everyone is required to show up, unless they are dying in bed. People slowly file in and sign in. Twelve through eighteen year olds are told to go stand in roped off areas split by gender and age. Everyone else is told to go stand around the perimeter. I am herded to the twelve-year-old section as soon as I sign in. I go stand with some friends while waiting for the whole process of the reaping to start. I really hope that Katniss will not get reaped. I do not know what we will do if she does. Ever since my father died, Katniss has kept our family alive and I pretty much owe my life to her.
I hear the chimes of the town clock strike two and the mayor steps up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same story every year so I doze off until I see drunken Haymitch, the only district twelve victor still alive, swaying, obviously drunk attempts to give Effie Trinket, district twelve's capitol escort, a hug. After a bit of her rambling about how she is so happy to be here, etc, she starts to choose the tributes.
"Ladies first!" she says reaching into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper with an unlucky girls name on it. The crowd is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.
Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium and when she reads the slip of paper I nearly faint because write on that piece of paper is none other than me, Primrose Everdeen.