Panem Propaganda
A thin layer of coal dust covered the town square as the two small boys chased each other, dribbling a battered soccer ball between them. The District 12 Justice building loomed behind them as they played on a worn grassy area in its shadow. The grass passed as a park in District 12 with rusty swings, a broken merry go round, and a tall metal slide. No one else was in the park that day, but it was usually bustling with town children at play. The beating August sun kept the boys' friends inside at the hottest part of the day. The only place hotter than the park was the town bakery, which the boys had been shooed out of by their over-wrought mother. Their older brother stayed behind to help their father with the days' baking while their mother tended to customers.
One of the boys was slightly older, though it was difficult to tell from a distance. Both boys had shining white-blond hair and were the same height. A fact that endlessly frustrated seven year old Rye. Little brothers were supposed to be smaller than big brothers. He was shorter than Wheaton, five year old Peeta should be shorter than him. This small height drama aside, Peeta and Rye were generally the best of friends. They played and fought together. Hid from their mother together. And they suffered Wheaton's bossiness together. Peeta was excited about starting Kindergarten in September. He couldn't wait to go to school every day. Just like his big brothers.
Little Rye and Peeta continued with their game oblivious to the business being conducted in the Justice Building behind them. Early that morning a group of photographers had arrived in District 12 from the Capitol. A new program had been created entitled Panem Propaganda. Photographers would travel from District to District seeking to photograph anything they could spin as the essence of each District. Once all Districts had been photographed, a brochure would be created for each District and distributed to the citizens of Panem. The goal was to highlight what each District brought to Panem. Another, not explicitly stated goal, was to show the best of each District and gloss-over the true suffering and dissension in the nation.
District 12's contribution to Panem was its coal. It was assumed that the coal mines and the few young, strong coal miners would be highlighted. But the head photographer, Julius, had other ideas. He considered himself to be an artist and his wandering yellow eyes landed not on the obvious, but on the 2 beautiful little boys playing ball right outside the window. They were perfect. Shining and golden in the sun. They laughed and played joyously. They were clearly brothers and possibly twins. He desperately wanted to photograph them. To see if he could capture that innocence. To touch it and immortalize it in pictures forever. Julius' assistants agreed. They all gushed at the window about the perfection of the boys. How adorable it would be to dress them as coal miners. The Capitolites oohed and aahed over both boys, but especially the boy with the curlier hair who seemed slightly younger.
The lone voice of dissension in the room was Mayor Undersee of District 12. He had assumed the photography crew would be interested only in the mines therefore he had not felt the need to inform anyone other than the mine foreman and the Peacekeepers that a Capitol crew would be in the District that day. He had hoped to avoid alarming his citizens. The yearly Hunger Games had just ended with a brutal victor from District 2. It would be unusual and worrisome for anyone from the Capitol to still be in District 12 and not back in the Capitol celebrating the end of the Games. The Mayor expressed concern about frightening the boys and felt that someone should go to the bakery to ask their parent's permission. Julius' wife Cornelia scoffed at this last concern.
"Nonsense!" she shouted, laughing a little. "We won't ask their parents' permission to reap them in a few years."
The Capitol citizens felt that instead of upset the parents would be honored that the Capitol was taking an interest in their sons. Just as they felt it was an honor to be a Tribute in the Hunger Games. So it was decided. The assistants were dispatched to an empty office to set up for a photo shoot, while Mayor Undersee, Julius, and Cornelia stepped outside to approach the boys.
The boys stopped their game and stepped closer to one another as soon as they noticed the adults coming toward them. Mayor Undersee was not a stranger to Rye and Peeta but the others were. The boys immediately identified the Mayor's blue-skinned companions as Capitol residents. They had seen people with multi-colored skin and wild tattoos on television. Peeta and Rye were of course aware of the Hunger Games even at their young ages. Although they did not watch the games themselves—viewing wasn't mandatory until a child reached age twelve. They had seen Reaping ceremonies, Tribute Parades and interviews. They had seen enough that little Peeta entertained his brothers and friends with a spot-on impersonation of Caesar Flickerman. Caesar was a flamboyant Capitolite who interviewed the Tributes every year before the games. The boys Hunger Games viewing was one of the many things that their parents argued over. Their father wanted to protect his little boys as much as possible for as long as he could. Their mother felt that they should have some exposure to the games. She loved her boys though she sometimes had a difficult time expressing it to them. Panem was too cruel a place for innocence to last. She knew that the Capitol and the true brutal nature of the Hunger Games were two realities that she could offer no protection against.
While Rye's green eyes ranged about for an escape route and Peeta poised himself to run, the Mayor's familiar, kind presence kept them in place. The Mayor explained to the boys what was wanted of them and assured them they would be allowed to go as soon as the pictures were finished. Peeta tried to flinch away when Julius reached out a finger to touch his blond curls, but Cornelia greedily grabbed both boys by the hands and half-dragged them into the Justice building. Once inside, the sound of the heavy door slamming shut echoed along the empty corridor and Peeta and Rye exchanged frightened looks. Cornelia continued to gush about the boys being even more beautiful up close, but Julius remained silent. Mayor Undersee quietly tried to murmur reassurances to the boys.
Things began to move quickly as soon as they were all inside the makeshift studio. Julius gave direction to his assistants regarding lighting and how he wanted the boys arranged. Cornelia found props to use and helped Rye and Peeta change into coal miner uniforms. The Mayor was allowed to stay to help keep the boys calm. Julius' assistants kept up a constant chatter with the boys asking if they were twins and telling them how adorable they looked. The boys simply answered questions and did as they were told. They had come an agreement with a couple of silent, shared looks that it would be best to just cooperate and have it over with quickly.
When Julius announced that he felt they had what they needed, the Mayor and the boys breathed a sigh of relief. The assistants began to pack up their equipment while Peeta and Rye went to change back into their play clothes. In the corner of the room Cornelia and Julius conducted a whispered but intense conversation. Cornelia walked away from Julius with a nod and a delighted smile on her face. She approached Mayor Undersee as Julius' assistants filed out of the room toting their gear.
Rye and Peeta were edging toward the door as Julius announced that he wanted to take a few shots of Peeta alone. Cornelia grabbed the Mayor's arm and stated that she had an urgent matter that she would like to discuss with him in his office. She seized a squirming Rye and the three of them exited the room. Rye tried to twist away and Mayor Undersee protested but Cornelia was determined. As the door slammed shut and locked Peeta in with Julius, Rye caught a glance of his little brother's frightened blue eyes. Peeta was looking desperately at the closed door as Julius stood over him, smiled, and dropped a claw-like blue hand on the boy's shoulder.
Once out in the hall Rye began to kick determinedly against the door, shouting Peeta's name. The only sounds coming from the other room were indistinct murmurs from Julius. After several minutes Rye began to cry in his frustration and slid down the door to sit on the floor in front of it. He banged occasionally so Peeta would know he was still there. Slowly, Rye began to tune into the conversation he could hear coming from Mayor Undersee's office. He could not understand most of what he heard but Cornelia sounded excited while the Mayor was trying to firmly deny her whatever it was she wanted. Rye edged closer and was able to make out more of what they were saying. Cornelia and Julius wanted to take Peeta back to the Capitol with them…forever. Rye gave one more solid kick against the door to the room Peeta was being held in and then raced back to the Mellark bakery as fast as his small legs could carry him.
When Rye burst into the bakery storefront, his mother turned on him prepared to reprimand him for looking so disheveled and dirty in front of customers. But she had barely opened her mouth when Rye grabbed her hands and tried to drag her out of the bakery shouting incoherently. Mr. Mellark and Wheaten came out of the kitchen at the commotion and, between the three of them, were finally able to calm Rye down enough that he finally burst out,
"Capitol people have Peeta at the Justice Building and they want to keep him!"
The baker and his wife exchanged horrified glances. Both aware that if these Capitol people wanted Peeta there was precious little they could do to stop them. The baker pulled off his apron and headed for the door resigned to try. Rye and Wheaten chased after their father. Mrs. Mellark choked back a sob and tried desperately to think of something they could do. Her anxious mind landed on one person. If anyone in District 12 could convince these people to let her son go, it would be Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch was Twelve's one and only drunken excuse for a Victor, but the Capitol loved their Hunger Games victors. Determined, Mrs. Mellark tossed off her apron, locked the bakery door, and raced off in the direction of the Victor's Village.
After several minutes of pounding, Haymitch Abernathy yanked open his front door with a knife gripped in one hand and a bottle of white liquor in the other. He had passed out several hours ago and wasn't thrilled with being awakened by someone pounding on his door. Haymitch nearly laughed out loud in surprise at finding surly Sadie Mellark on his porch, but the look on her face stopped him. Her face was streaked with tears and reflected the horror and anger she was feeling. Mrs. Mellark unceremoniously explained what was happening and demanded Haymitch do something to stop it. He tried to conjure up an image of the baker's sons but all he could see were small, rambunctious boys racing around the bakery. No one nearly old enough to attract Capitol attention.
"How old is the boy?" he asked gruffly.
"Five. He's only five." Mrs. Mellark gasped out.
A disgusted look crossed Haymitch's face, but he said nothing. He nodded resolutely, pocketed his knife and his liquor, slammed the door shut, and stalked off in the direction of town with Mrs. Mellark trailing behind. Her fists were clenched in rage at her sides. She was furious that drunken Haymitch Abernathy was their only hope against the Capitol.
When they arrived at the Justice building, Peeta was no longer trapped in a room alone with Julius. Though the Capitol man still had a firm grip on the boy's shoulder. Mr. Mellark was sitting with his head in his hands while Mayor Undersee was trying in vain to dissuade Julius and Cornelia. When Mrs. Mellark saw the tears streaking her son's face and the fear in his blue eyes, she wanted desperately to snatch him up and run away. But she knew that would not work. There was nowhere safe that she could take him. They would be caught. She would be arrested by Peacekeepers and little Peeta would be lost forever. Fortunately, Haymitch cleared his throat and took command of the situation. The Capitol photographer and his wife were immediately taken by the sight of a Victor. Any Victor, no matter how drunken, was impressive to Capitolites. Haymitch led Julius and Cornelia away from the Mayor and the Mellarks and managed to talk them out of taking Peeta. Mr. Mellark rushed forward and swept Peeta off the floor and into his arms. The boy's parents tripped over each other to stroke Peeta's curls, kiss his pale cheeks and hug him over and over again to reassure themselves that the he was safe. Peeta said nothing, just rested his head on his father's shoulder and stared after Haymitch and the Capitolites until they were out of sight.
Later that night, after his bath, Peeta's mother made a rare appearance in Peeta and Rye's shared room to tuck them in. Peeta still had not said much all evening. His parents had not asked what happened while he was locked alone in the room with the Capitol photographer. They were afraid of what they would hear and at their own inability to do anything about it. The father concluded that he needed to love his sons fiercely for as long as he could. The mother determined that her boys needed to face the realities of life in Panem and learn to protect themselves. As his mother tucked him in, Peeta finally spoke.
"Mama, I think I need to watch the Games next year," he said in a fierce whisper.
Mrs. Mellark just nodded, blinking away tears of anger and sadness as she stepped away from the bed and turned out the lights.
Peeta closed his eyes and tried to sleep but opened them again quickly. All he saw when he closed his eyes were Julius' yellow eyes, blue skin, and claw-like fingers. Even at five he knew enough about how Panem worked to know that his mother seeking out Haymitch was the only thing that prevented him from being on a train to the Capitol that night. Trains were something to fear in District Twelve. No one except Haymitch hopped on a Capitol train and came back alive. Though he never spoke of it to anyone, the image of Julius would haunt Peeta for years to come. When the Panem Propaganda brochure arrived at the Mellark Bakery two months later, Mr. Mellark tossed it into the fire without even looking at it. Well-meaning bakery customers who tried to gush about how cute the boys looked in the ad were met with Mrs. Mellark's iciest glares. Wheaton got into a number of schoolyard fights that school year, just trying to protect his little brothers. Still, Peeta and Rye fought and won their first real fight at the ages of ten and twelve. Gale Hawthorne and 2 bigger boys made the mistake of teasing Peeta about the ads on the way home from school one afternoon. The Mellark's beat them so soundly that no schoolchild ever had the nerve to mention it in Peeta or Rye's presence again.
Even eleven years later as Peeta struggled to survive in a mud-bank in the Arena of the 74th Hunger Games, the memories stayed with him. With blood pouring out of his leg and tracker-jacker venom coursing through his veins, Peeta tried to fight nightmarish images of the blue man and fervently hoped Haymitch could pull off another miracle.