Chapter 1 (Katniss' POV)
Gale and I sit in our favorite spot in the woods, the sun streams through the leaves and I can hear the birds gently tweeting in the distance. I grab my bow and spring into action; I hear an animal in the distance. I raise my bow and with perfect precision, I lodge my arrow perfectly in the heart of a deer.
Gale stands up and claps, "Nice shot, Catnip." I wipe my brow and turn to him, "this will be great for trading in the hob!"
"Or it could be a celebratory meal after the reaping," Gale suggests.
"Don't hold your breath; this will get us a lot of stuff in the hob. Now let's go get some strawberries."
I start walking towards the berry patches and Gale runs to catch up to me. He grabs me by the shoulders and swings me around. I giggle as he pulls me close to him.
"Gale, what was that for?"
"Just for good luck at the reaping, I don't know what I would do if they called your name." Gale pauses to think. I watch his facial expressions and try to imagine what he is thinking about. He opens his mouth to speak and pauses slightly before he starts, "You know we wouldn't have to do this, we could run; you and me. We would make it, I know we would."
"Gale, that's a horrible idea. I'm sorry that was harsh but it's true. They would catch us."
"How do you know? I don't think they would if we went deep enough into the woods." Gale snaps back at me.
"Well you can dream, but I don't think it would work." I sigh. "We better get those berries and head home, the reaping will start soon."
We walk in silence through the greenery to the berry bushes. I come upon a bush and rip the berries carelessly off the branches. I open my sack and fill it with the plump, juicy berries. I look up and see Gale is doing to same. We both stop picking about the same time and start heading home.
We reach the district in about fifteen minutes and we head to the hob to do some trading. Gale comments, "I bet we'll get some good stuff in return for these berries and that deer."
"I'm sure we will." I reply sharply.
"What's with the hostility?" Gale questions.
"You just kind of threw me with that running away idea. Isn't it kind of selfish. Plus, I would never leave my family here to fend for themselves. They couldn't do it on their own."
"Well, I wouldn't want to leave them behind; I would take them with us."
"Isn't that kind of risky, Gale? That's just more people gone and more people for them to catch. Believe me, I would love to escape this place, but it's not possible."
Angry at Gale for suggesting what he did, I storm ahead of him with my hunting bag towards the hob. I can hear his loud footfalls trying to catch up with me. I quicken my pace. I can hear him behind me. I'm no longer that mad at him, so why not race. I steam ahead at full force, breaking into a sprint. Gale catches on that I'm playing and I hear him behind me now at a steady pace. I can almost hear his breathing, so I pick up the pace even more. Just as I do, I cross into the hob and almost take out someone with a chicken. I come to a halt to see Gale's angry, beet red face stop right behind me.
"Ha ha I won!" I mock
"This time, but not the next one Catnip," Gale threatens jokingly.
We do our business in the hob and I managed to get some cheese and a loaf of bread. That, plus the few leftover berries, will make a great dinner for prim, my mom, and I. I head towards home to prepare myself for the reaping. As I walk up I can see my sister, Prim, waiting in the doorway clutching that awful cat of hers. She looks so pretty in her skirt; I'll have to do her hair for her.
Prim sets down the cat and we walk inside to ready ourselves. My mom had laid out a blue dress for me to wear and I put Prim's hair into two pigtails. We leave the house and walk solemnly towards to town square. This day always worries me, what if I was called or someone close to me was. I ball my hands up and they feel sweaty, I'm not so much worried for me, I'm worried for Prim. It's the first year her name was entered. She was quite worried at home. She wouldn't even eat any of the food I had brought back from the hob. She'll have to eat when we get back from the reaping.
Approaching the square I can see lines of children waiting to check in. I can see clusters of parents waiting and worrying. Of course, there are carefree little kids milling around, playfully kicking rocks back and forth or playing hide and seek behind the sea of people. Someday they'll understand how much this impacts them.
A few suspenseful moments later and everyone is where they are supposed to be. I grit my teeth as Effie Trinket walks onto the stage. She angers me so, she is everything I despise about the capitol. Next Haymitch, district twelve's only victor, stumbles on stage. He looks as drunk as always. Effie looks disgusted as he trips and stumbles farther onto the stage. He reaches to give Effie a hug, but instead falls off the stage, flat on his face.
The ceremony starts and we watch a corny video about the hunger games, then Effie proceeds to draw a name from the big glass bowl. I name I do not recognize is pulled from the girls bowl, and a boy a vaguely remember is called. My sister, Gale, and I are all safe. I sigh with relief.
We walk home solemnly, as the rest of the district does. A cool breeze caresses my face and whips the edges of my dress around. As I walk I think about what Gale said earlier. Maybe his idea wasn't so crazy after all. After seeing the families of the two tributes tonight, I feel like maybe escaping all of it would be the best. Maybe they wouldn't find us, maybe we could make it out there. Prim wakens me out of my deep thoughts when she runs up to the door to scoop Buttercup up in her arms. Well, we survived it, but I don't think I want to "survive" it again. Instead of heading inside I turn sharply and head to Gale's place. I call out to my mom, "I'll be back soon!" My walk turns into a run as my foolish ideas run through my head. I'm going to leave this retched place, and so is Gale.