Chapter 1
I wake up with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. After a few seconds, I remember why I feel it. Today is reaping day. Every child, in every district of Panem from the ages of twelve to eighteen feels this on reaping day, the fear of being reaped and of being taken to the arena with twenty-three other tributes to fight to the death. Some fear it worse than others. My name may only be in five times, but that never stops the increasing tension and fear that builds in my chest.
No longer able to stay still, I sit up, and climb out of bed. I see my brothers' empty beds next to mine. They've probably already gone downstairs to help our father open the bakery. I should probably be down there too, but instead, I walk over to the window. Our bedroom window faces the main square, where you can see the town below. The clock tower in the Justice Building says that it's eight o'clock, six more hours until the reaping. I look down towards the shops and the houses. I can see Mayor Undersee's house next to the Justice Building. I see two figures walking out from the back of his house, a girl and boy from the Seam. I know who they are, especially the girl. Katniss Everdeen. She's in my year, and she trades the squirrels she kills to my father for bread. She's known for sneaking out of District 12, past the fence that supposed to be charged but never is, and hunting for food, to feed her family and to trade. She's known to go into the Hob, District 12's black market to trade what the town market won't take. She's kept her family alive since her father died five years ago. She's known for her strength, for her survival against everything thrown at her, for her spirit.
I've had a crush on her for years. I've tried to find the courage to talk to her, but every time I try, my brain refuses to put a sentence together and any words I can think of seem to stick to my throat. What are you supposed to say to a girl like that? The answer has yet to come to me. I watch her and the boy, Gale Hawthorne, walk across town and toward the Seam. I think of what reaping day must be like for her. How she's been feeding her family, taking tesserae for herself, her mother and her younger sister, Primrose. How many times is her name in? Certainly more than my five. And I'd heard how she refused to let her sister take any tesserae, making sure that her sister's name is in only once. She's protecting her sister, as everyone in this town knows she'd do, but making the odds worse for herself.
I let out a sigh. This is not the kind of thing that I should think about on a day like this. It only makes it worse. I get dressed and head downstairs to the bakery. I help my father and brothers at the ovens for the next few hours. We know that once the reaping is over, we'll get more customers than usual, since everyone celebrates when the reaping is over, that their children have been spared for another year; except for the two families of the children who are called, of course.
At around one, my mother makes us all clean up and get ready to be in the square. She's already laid out our outfits for us, since we're all supposed to dress up and treat this like a celebration, just another way the Capitol shows how much we're in their control. I put on the outfit, comb out my hair, and wash the flour that might have ended up on my face from the bakery. By two o'clock, my parents and my eldest brother, Wheaton are standing with the other spectators, while my brother Rye and I stand in line with the other boys in the roped off area. Rye is with the eighteen-year-old boys, up in the front. This is his last year in the drawing. If he can make it out, that will be two out of three of my parents' children safe. Then there will only be me.
When the clock strikes two, Mayor Undersee steps up to the podium. As usual, he tells about the history of Panem. How it rose from the ashes of a place once called North America, he lists all the things that ruined North America, from the natural disasters to the brutal war for what was left. That's what became Panem. With the shining Capitol and its thirteen districts, where all was peaceful. Then the Dark Days came, when the districts rebelled and twelve were defeated, the thirteenth destroyed. That's when the Treaty of Treason was written, which, to ensure peace and to remind us that the Dark Days must never be repeated, the Hunger Games were created. The rules are simple. One boy and one girl, called tributes, must go to the Capitol, and be locked in an outdoor arena to fight to the death on live TV. The last tribute standing wins. This is how the Capitol reminds its districts how much power they have, how little chance we have of defeating them in another rebellion. It's both humiliating and torturous for us.
"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," the mayor recites tonelessly. Then he reads the list of the two victors district twelve has had. Only one is still living. Haymitch Abernathy. In District 12, he's known as the town drunk, drinking himself into a stupor with white liquor.
Just then, Haymitch staggers onto the stage, hollering something unintelligible. You can tell he's very drunk. The crowd gives it's small, respectful applause and he confusedly tries to bear hug Effie Trinket which she just manages to fend off.
You can see the distress on Mayor Undersee's face. District 12, right now, is the laughingstock of the entire country, since all of this is being filmed live. He quickly tries to pull the attention back to Effie Trinket, who trots to the podium in her spring green suit and bright pink hair, gushing out her usual "Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor." You can see her wig is slightly askew from her encounter with Haymitch as she goes on about what an honor it is to be here, though we all know all she really wants is a promotion to a district with proper victors, not a drunk who tackles you while the whole country is watching. Finally, Effie says "Ladies first!" and she walks over to the glass ball that contains the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her hand in and pulls out a slip. Everyone draws in a collective breath and in the stillness, you can almost hear everyone's heart beating. She crosses back to the podium and announces the girl's name in a clear voice.
"Primrose Everdeen"