Chapter 1

Katniss POV

I wake up to the sound of screaming. I don't have to wonder too long who it is. Prim, my little sister. Today is reaping day for the quarter quell. Now, her name is I n there only two times, because I won't let her take any tesserae. It's not worth it. we have enough with my own tesserae and what I bring from the woods. Of course, we don't eat a lot, but enough to get by. And my friend Gale helps us, even though I kind of wish he wouldn't, because his family is bigger than ours.

Anyway, I sit up. " Did you have a bad dream?" even though I know the answer.

" Yes, I did" She says, a little teary. I motion for her to come closer. " It was me, Katniss. I was in the arena, and a girl was trying to... "

I shush her." Hey, you're my little sister and anyone who wants to hurt you will have to get through me first" I say reassuringly. I hate that my sister gets like this on reaping day. But mostly I hate those responsible for her nightmares. The Capitol. With their horrible, twisted games. I don't know why people have let it go this long, and I doubt they will ever stop. But I have to focus on today.

" Will you protect me?" Asks Prim, with tears in her blue eyes.

I take a short breath. "Of course, I promise"

IShe smiles a little. " You're the best sister anyone could ask for, so brave and strong. You've kept us alive so long"

Speaking of that." Prim, I have to go out know. But I'll be back soon to get ready for the reaping "

She doesn't ask where I'm going, because she knows." OK. I left something for you and Gale to share later" She smiles.

I nod. "OK, little duck" I give her a kiss in the forehead. Then I go to the kitchen, where I find a piece of goat cheese covered by a bowl. I take it and head out the door, in the direction of the meadow.

I find my favorite place to crawl through the fence, which, as usual, is off. I go to the hollow trunk where I keep my bow and arrows hidden, retrieve them. As I walk, I notch an arrow to hunt as I go. A few miles in, I have already killed two squirrels. My usual shot right through the eye.

I wasn'talways that accurate when shooting. It took me years. At first, I used to hit them in the throat and other parts of the body, messing up the meat. But now I'm good. I don't consider myself the best, but I put food on the table, and that's good enough for me.

I reach mine and Gale's favorite place to relax. I sit down and wait for him. I don't have to wait long, after about 20 minutes, I barely hear him coming. He's a hunter, so he's learned to move silently so as not to alert his prey. But being a hunter myself, few can sneak up on me.

"HI Gale"

"OH come on" I smile. " I wanted to surprise you"

" Nice try. Better luck next time" I joke.

He sits next to me, and looks to somewhere far away. " So how's Prim?" Count on Gale to know something is wrong. He knows me well.

I sigh. " As well as she can be, given the day it is"

" Did you explain to her that, having only two slips gives her an advantage?"

" Well no. She had a dream-no, a nightmare of being a tribute in the games. She started to say something about a girl, but I stopped her and did my best to calm her down"

He stares hard at me. " You're worried too"

" Yes. I'm not going to lie, I mean worried sick because there are 24 slips of paper with my name on them and today there will be two chances of my name being chosen. Twice as many tributes"

" Catnip, I don't know why you're worried, there's still thousands of slips"

" Easy for you to say. You're no longer eligible"

He gets up, startling me. " I don't recognize you when you get like this! The Katniss Everdeen I met was brave, willing to come out here to hunt all alone, to provide for her family. She didn't let wild dogs and animals scare her away. And she started at TWELVE"

Im so shocked at his outburst that I'm silent for a while. Then I get mad. " You just don't get it! If I'm chosen, I'll die in there! And there will be no one to provide for my family"

For some reason, when he heard that,, he softens." Katniss, you know I would help your family. But in the event you were chosen, you have nothing to worry about" I start to protest. " I'm not finished. If you ever go in there, you would win because the other tributes have nothing on you. You're a survivor. Besides, would you go down without a fight?"

No. I guess I wouldn't, because it's not in my nature to not try at least. Hearing Gale helps me a little. " Let's forget about that for a while. Prim left us some cheese" I take it out my bag.

" OH. That'll go nicely with the bread I got"

My eyes lighten up. We don't get bread too often. Unless you count the one we make from tesserae grain. " You got bread?"

" Yeah. I went early to the bakery to trade. He gave it to me for just one squirrel" he takes out the bread. Which looks and smells so good.

We split the bread and have some cheese too. Then we just sit there, not talking.

Soon it's time to get ready for the reaping. " Time to get going" I stand up. " See you at the reaping?" he nods.

I turn to go and he says. " Wear something pretty" that stops me momentarily. But then I keep going.

An hour later, I'm home, having bathed and dressed in a blue dress which used to be my mother's. My hair is in my usual stile. Prim stares at me.

" You look beautiful"

" And nothing like myself "I mutter.

I observe her better." But you look more beautiful Prim" I smile softly at her. Then I notice the tail of her blouse is sticking out. " Tuck in your tail, little duck" she gives a small " Quack" and I laugh, smoothing her blouse. " Quack yourself"

" Are we ready to go?" asks my mother.

I nod. We head out the door and go, relatively slowly,, to the square. We get there, separate from mom and go get in line to be signed in.

" Now Prim, go get in line with the other kids your age and stay calm ok? You know where I'll be" I hug her.

" OK " she says, hugging me back.

" See you after the reaping" I go to my age group, where I find Madge Undersee already there.

" Hey Katniss" she says, with a little wave.

" Hey" we stand there waiting, and soon the mayor, who happens to be Madge's father and a regular customer of mine, buying strawberries, is reciting the history of the games and saying what a huge honor it is for us to be in them. But I know he doesn't really feel that way, he's a good man who is only doing his job. After that, he introduces our two victors, the only ones from home who have survived the arena. ( note: for the purpose of this story, the second Victor is still alive) One is an old, very bitter woman who keeps mostly to herself in her home in Victors village, coming to town only to get what she needs. I forget her name. She's rarely on TV despite the fact she, along with Haymitch Abernathy, the second Victor, mentor a pair of tributes every year. And every year they come back alone.

It's a fact that much of the problem are the kids themselves. Underfed, weak and lacking the skills tributes from other districts have. Especially the ones who train all their lives for the games. Our tributes rarely put up a fight against them, but occasionally we get some who would stand a chance. So I know those two, the mentors, don't try hard enough.

I'm shaken out of my thoughts when Effie Trinket, the woman who comes every year to read out the names of the tributes, speaks up.

" Now, the time has come to find out which two-no, four courageous young people, will get the honor of representing District Twelve in this year's 75th hunger games, and thirdquarter quell"

That's odd. She usually starts her speech differently. That's when I realize she had been here and babbling for a while, and I missed most of her speech ( lucky me...no,I mean it).

" As usual, ladies first" She moves to the girls glass bowl.

I start to chant: Not me, not me, please not me.

I guess my chant worked, because it's not me.

It's Primrose Everdeen.