The mines collapsed today. My mom, Prim and I are standing outside of the mines as they pull men up; coughing and sneezing. Every time a man is pulled out I get a fleeting feeling in my stomach...I'm hoping one is my father. He has to be alive.
Just then, the Mellarks come up next to us. Mrs. Mellark, Patty, has a hard face on, like stone. I look at the three boys and the two older ones, Ky and Turner and staring at the wreck just like their mother, but Peeta, who's 10 like me, and my best friend, is staring at me with sad eyes.
"What's going on?" He asks me.
I don't really know. All I know is that I'm scared because my mom is scared and I haven't seen my dad come out of the mines yet.
An hour later we're all sitting around the table in my little house. My mother keeps crying, until she gets up to excuse herself to her room. Now it's just Mrs. Mellark, her three boys, Prim and I.
"Well boys it's time to go home," Mrs. Mellark says kind of abruptly.
"Wait mom. Can I stay with Katniss?" asks Peeta. We'd had sleepovers before. I mean we're only 10, but his mom starts to get annoyed, shakes her head, and points at the door. Peeta looks at me with sad eyes while he retreats behind his brothers.
"I'll be fine. Bye Peeta."
That night Prim and I sleep cuddled together in our bed.
Present Time
I wake up and look next to me to see Prim sleeping soundly next to me. It makes me smile, until my stomach growls. I don't know why it does that. I'm always hungry; my stomach will never have enough food, so why doesn't it just learn to deal with it? I have. Then I remember that day, about a week after my father died when I was digging through the town's peoples' garbages...
I'm approaching the backyard of the bakery. I can't take it anymore. My stomach threatens to collapse and I want to just lye down on the ground and forget about everything...but I've got to make it. Just a few more feet. The garbage stands in front of me. I know I shouldn't be doing this, but my father shouldn't have died and I shouldn't be starving, so I take off the lid and begin to dig through it when I hear talking coming from the bakery. "What's that noise?" I hear a woman say.
I freeze and look up to see a boy's head peek out of the window and looking right at me. "Just some girl digging through our trash."
"Oh poor girl, well it's just garbage to us anyways. She can have all she needs."
That's permission, right? So I take half of a moldy loaf of bread, and some other things from the trash that at least look a little bit like food.
Present Day
I remember when I came home that night, with my hands full and my mother looked at the food disgusted, but we all ate it because it was all we had. After about a week I took Peeta with me to the bakery garbage and we both took just a little bit. This continued for two years until I became 12 and remembered something my father taught me...
Prim and I were lying in the meadow, staring up at the sky, when I start to stare at the forest. "Hey, Prim, do you remember when dad use to take us into the forest?"
"You mean you? I was too young."
"Oh. Yah. Well he taught me how to hunt and gather. I think I can remember a lot of it. The major plants at least, and I remember where dad would keep his bow and arrows. They'd probably still be ok for me to use for a bit, but then I'll need to make my own..."
"Wait. Katniss, you're not thinking of...?"
"It's our only choice Prim. We can't keep living out of the Baker's garbage, even if we do get at least one decent meal a day at school now. It's not enough."
"But Katniss it's dangerous!" In a quiet voice she adds "and illegal."
"Prim it's our only choice!" With that I get up and start to look for the opening in the bottom of the fence my dad found so many years ago. It doesn't take that long, then I listen for the sound of electricity and when I don't hear it I slide under and run into the woods.
Present Day
Today isn't my usual hunting day, but I figured since tomorrow is the reaping I mine as well head out today. That and if I don't get enough for mine and Peeta's family today I'll have to go back tomorrow. A feast for two families requires a lot of work for one person, so I put on my one pair of clothes, lace up my boots, grab my game sack and sneak out the front door.
Since I've started hunting my family hasn't been as bad off, but I need to find food for both mine and Peeta's family, and still get some to sell for other things we need all by myself. Peeta's tried to help me, but he usually just gets in the way, so I leave him behind now when I go hunting.
A few hours later I've got a wild turkey and a bushel of berries and other herbs in my sack. I probably could come back with more if I knew how to set a decent trap, but every time I try it either snaps or the animal just walks away. I head back early because even though it's the day before the reaping I still have school today, so I go home to put away my game and clean up a bit, not that it'll make much of a difference.
When I get home I see Peeta sitting at my kitchen table kind of awkwardly since everyone else is still asleep. It makes me smile, and when he sees me smile he smiles back. I don't care if Peeta is pretty useless when it comes to getting food for our families; he's the only person besides Prim that can make me smile and since we started dating after our first kiss in the meadow a few weeks ago I've been doing a lot more smiling.
"I love it when you smile," he walks up to me as he says this and gently kisses my nose, which just makes me smile more.
"I should probably go wake up Prim, then we can get going after I clean up. I also found some berries this morning that we can eat for breakfast."
"Clean up?"
"I know it's useless, but-"
"No, I mean I don't think you need to. You're already so pretty even with all that dirt on your pants."
"Oh come on now Peeta. No matter what you think I'm still a Seam girl, don't go pretending I'm something I'm not."
"I'm not the only one who says it."
"Who? Berni from science class last year who lives in town? Hardly. He was just trying to get in my pants."
"Katniss!"
"What? It's not like you haven't thought about it!" with this Peeta starts to bite his bottom lip and looks at his shoes nervously, "Peeta!"
"What? You said it, not me."
I roll my eyes and go in to Prim and mine's room to wake her up. When I know she's conscience I go back into the main room, grab some berries from the bag and pull Peeta out of my house.
"Why are we leaving so early?" he asks.
"I thought you might want to stop and smell the roses?" I smile at him.
"There's only one flower I want to smell," and he takes out my messy hair, ruffles it and smells me so that his lips are close to my neck, "Hey, you never did clean up."
"Oh how could I have forgotten? And now my hair's messed up even more!"
"I like your hair down. We can go ask Berni what he thinks." I shove him and we continue to walk to school hand in hand.
When we get to school Peeta and I walk in still holding hands. The halls are still pretty empty since it's still really early.
"Do you want to just hang out by my locker until school starts?" Peeta asks me.
"Sure. I just need to drop my stuff off at my locker and go to the bathroom. I'll meet you at your locker."
"Ok. See you soon," he kisses me on my cheek and leaves. Suddenly I catch someone standing and watching in the closest corner.
"What? Never seen a couple before?"
"Not a happy couple from the Seam," as he walks out towards me I recognize him as Gale Hawthorne, the Baker's boy who I saw in the window that night I dug in his garbage so many years ago. I start to get really embarrassed all of the sudden and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear as I look at the ground. Gale's the only person besides mine and Peeta's family who knows that I use to dig in the garbage to find food.
"There-there's plenty of happy Seam couples. Just because we don't live high and mighty doesn't mean we can't be happy. Besides who said Peeta and I were happy?"
"Who says town's people live so much better?"
"It's just a given."
"Oh really is it now?"
"Yes. Look I don't want to fight over who has the worse life, so why don't you just tell me why you decided to talk to me in the first place so I can go do what I have to do."
"Who says I had anything in particular to talk about," he stares at me with his deep dark eyes as he says this and I have to force myself to look away.
"Well if you have nothing to talk to me about, then I'll be on my way," I turn and walk away, perfectly aware that he's still staring at me.
After I drop of my books and go to the bathroom I find Peeta at his locker, doodling on a piece of paper. He always enjoys drawing.
"Hey artist."
He turns around and smiles when he notices me, "Katniss! Finally, I started to think you drowned in the toilet."
I chuckle and then my face becomes serious, "Gale Hawthorne talked to me."
"Gale? Why? Do you know him?" I can immediately see the wheels in Peeta's brain starting to work. Gale is one of the most popular and good looking guys in the school. Not that I really care, I have Peeta.
"Not really, I mean he's what one, two years older than us? And he lives in town. I have no reason to talk to him."
"But...did you use to? You now when...?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The bakery..." I'm starting to get annoyed and I know Peeta knows he's treading on tough ground.
"Peeta, I told you. No one at the bakery ever acknowledged me and I never said anything to them. The garbage just got us by until I was old enough to hunt. "
"Yes, but..."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," then I see Prim, so thankful for a distraction, I call her over, "Prim!"
She skips on over, smiling, "Katniss! Peeta! Thanks for the berries. They tasted really fresh!"
"Well I did go out this morning."
"Katniss! But there's school! You'll be too tired!"
"Today's the day before the reaping, nobody cares, and today doesn't even really matter. Especially if I get chosen, then no more homework for me!" I say with mock excitement.
Both Prim and Peeta stare at me with both shock and anger on their faces.
"Katniss," Peeta starts, "That's nothing to joke about, what if-"
"No what ifs, I mean what are the chances of either of us getting chosen anyways? Come on, let's go to class." Peeta and I walk together to English class; even though I have no idea why we need to learn how to write when most of us will just be working in the mines when we're older. I always dread that day to come, since Peeta hasn't been hardened yet by the death of his father or his life in the Seam, so I'm afraid that working in the mines will finally break him and he'll no longer be my Peeta.
After school Peeta, Prim, and I meet up and start to walk back to the Seam together. Peeta's brothers don't walk with us anymore since they think being seen with their little brother and his friends would be a hit to their reputations. Peeta always says "What reputations?" When they say this, but Ky and Turner are some of the most liked Seam guys, at least that I know of, but I'm not really into gossip much especially when it comes from girls. I don't really mind anyways, it's quieter with just the three of us.
Peeta and Prim are talking about something, but I'm not really paying attention, especially as we approach the meadow and I start to drift towards it in a trance. The only thing holding me back is Peeta's hand. I turn to face him when he stops.
"Want to go to the meadow?" he asks me with a questioning face, and I want to say yes, but my eyes glance to Prim and just as I'm about to say that we should drop her off she says.
"See you guys at home, bye!" and she's gone.
Now that Prim's gone I pull Peeta along into the Meadow and then pull him down to the ground so that we're both lying in the tall grasses. When Peeta is settled, he pulls me over so that my head is lying on his chest and his arm is wrapped around me, supporting my head.
I look up at him and then say, "Do you ever wonder what would happen if you were chosen for the Games?"
"Every year, around this time. Why are you thinking so much about the Games this year?"
"I don't know...I just can't get it out of my mind...almost like a sign..."
"Hey no talking like that."
"Please Peeta. I don't know what it is, but I need to talk about this. That's why I wanted to come here, and it calms me."
"Ok, so what exactly do you want to know?"
"What do you think would happen here at home if you were chosen?"
Peeta's quiet for a while as he thinks about the question, "I've actually thought about that a lot...every time I think about the games...and every time I come up with the same answer…nothing. My mom would just think it's one less mouth to feed and my brothers don't even like to be seen with me anyways. The only thing I'd regret leaving would be..."
"Me."
"Yah...can you promise me something?"
"Of course."
"If I get chosen will you keep living your life? Don't mourn me, keep hunting, stay close to Prim, and just...don't change your life because I'm gone."
"But you won't be! If you get chosen I know you'll win and you'll come back and then you'll be rich and living in a nice house and then after a few years we'll get married and be happy because we can!"
Peeta just stares blankly at me for a while; we've never talked about marriage before. I never thought it was appropriate, but now that we're talking about me losing him I can't think of anything but spending the rest of my life with him.
"Katniss...promise me. Please?"
He's basically asking that I don't try and remember him and hold on to him when he's gone, I can't do that, but I know it's what he wants so I say, "I promise I'll try."
He looks into my eyes and smiles a little bit, "Thank you. Now what do you think things would be like here if you were chosen?"
I pause for a long time because I know the answer's not a good one, especially since it's almost all I've been able to think about all day, "Bad. My family would have no food, your family would have no food..."
"Some one else could learn to hunt-"
"Who? Prim? You? Your brothers? You're all soft..." I see Peeta's eyes start to sadden, so I turn on my side and lift up his chin with my finger, "no, it's not a bad thing, I love that you're able to be so naive, so happy in a world like this. It's one of the things I like so much about you." I don't usually tell Peeta how much I care about him, or what exactly it is that makes me like him...no, love him, I've never told him that either...but I figured in this moment it wouldn't be bad to say at least one of those things.
I lay my head back on his chest, and he sighs, "Hmmm...I wish this moment never had to end, that we could just stay here like this forever."
"Maybe we can...someday," and then we just lay there like that in silence for a while thinking about the past, the present, the near future and the far future...if there is one for us.
So that's the first chapter, please tell me what you think!