Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins dies and all that stuff.

Serenity.

The cool wind rustling the leaves. The smell of dirt and oak. The lavish green that surrounds me. Everything about my forest is serene. I feel safe here. My father isn't dead, My mother isn't impassive. The Hunger Games don't exist.

I pull back the bow string and aim it at the deer I have been stalking. It lifts its head as if it heard me. I bet the deer thinks it is safe here too. Think again, Bambi. Just as I was about to let my arrow free a voice booms through the forest.

"What are you gonna do with that when you kill it?" The deer disappears in the trees.

"Damn it, Gale! It's not funny."

"And what are you going to do with a 100 lb deer. It's Reaping Day. This place is crawling with Peacekeepers." I put the unused arrow back in my father's quiver.

"I was going to sell it. To some Peacekeepers." That's the thing about District 12 even the Peacekeepers are screwed over. They buy game from me all the time.

"Well, do you want to see what I shot?" He holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it. I laugh at his attempt of a joke.

"I don't care how you got it, it smells delicious." It smells warm. I don't know if it is more of a smell or a feeling. Gale breaks it in half and tosses me some of it. We walk towards an open field. The grass is tall and dry. A few wildflowers here and there paint the clearing with soft hues of purples, oranges and pinks amongst the dying green. "How much did this cost you?" I ask.

"Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning. Even wished me luck."

"Yeah well, I'm sure we all feel just a little bit closer today." I don't even bother with an eye roll, my sarcasm is apparent. "Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!" I say the shrill Capitol accent. Gale nudges me with his shoulder which makes me topple over. I release my legs from their crossed position to 'nudge' Gale with my foot. He catches it and pulls me closer. I stare up at him while lying in the dirt on my back.

"Hey before I forget, Prim gave me some cheese from her goat." I take out a cloth from my dad's leather jacket pocket and hand it to Gale. He unwraps it. "Thank you Prim, we will have a real feast on this fine morning." He slips into a Capitol accent.

"Gale?" My tone is serious now. He hums in response. I sit up, "How many times is your name in today?"

He sighs knowing I probably won't like the answer. "42." This time I hum a response.

Gale stares off into the woods. "We could do it you know." He says quietly.

"Do what?" I join his stare.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You an I, we could make it." The idea was preposterous. "If we didn't have so many kids." Gale adds.

They weren't our kids, of course. Gale has two brother and a sister. I have Prim. Though, yo might as well throw our mothers in there too. How would they survive on their own? After our father's died in a mine explosion, we have been the sole providers for our families. Feeding the mouths always asking for more.

"We could, but our families wouldn't. And you and I both know, we would never leave them behind." I finish my half of the bread Gale brought. "I never want kids." I announce.

Prim, a skinny 12 year old angel, feels like my own. From the age of 11 I practically raised her myself. My mother became lost when my father died. She became emotionally stilted. She paid more attention to her patients than her own children.

"I would, if I didn't live here." He looks to me as if I would agree that the only factor keeping me from wanting kids was the fact that we live in this hell hole.

I stand up and dust off my pants. "Well, you do." I say rather harshly.

"Just forget it." He snaps back and takes my outstretched hand that pulls him up.

Gale wouldn't have trouble finding a wife to start a family. He's good looking. Dark brown hair, olive skin, gray eyes. He looks like everyone else from the Seam. Like me. The slum of the district. The miners.

"Come on, wouldn't want to miss Reaping day."

We crawl between the electric fence. Though it is never actually on. It's like they have it there for decoration. It is supposed to keep the woodland creatures out, but I think it is to keep us in. District 12, where you can starve to death in safety. We reach my house and and Gale stops me. It looks like he is about to say something important, but his lips turn up, "Wear something pretty."

"Well, if I end up going to the Capitol I have to look nice, don't I?" I turn and walk up to my door.

My mother is braiding Prim's hair in two pigtails. When she sees me walk through the door, Prim runs to hug me with half of her hair braided. "Hey there Little Duck. You look so pretty."

"I wish I was as pretty as you." She looks up at me with her arms still wrapped around my waist. I cup her porcelain face. "No, I wish I was as pretty as you." Our mom motions for her to come back so she can finish Prim's hair.

Prim looks like my mother. In the regard of her delicate features, blond hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She also has my mother's healing touch. Where I look like my father, and hunt like him too.

"I laid something out for you." My mother nods toward the bed.

I boil some water so I can take a bath. I don't know why bother, it gets cold right away. I scrub my body in attempt to wash the film of coal dust off me. I guess I will always look dirty.

The dress was my mother's long ago when she had to go to the Reaping. They all said she was beautiful when she was younger. I think in a way she still is, but broken and tragic.

I take Prim's hand as we walk to register for the Reaping. She starts to panic. I kneel down and hold her by her slim shoulders. "Listen Prim, you're not going to get pick. This is your first year. You're only in there once." I tuck in the tail of her shirt into her skirt. "Come on Little Duck."

I have to leave her with the other 12 year old girls while I have to stand in the 16 year old group.

The... bright escort, Effie Trinket is already on stage waiting for Mayor Undersee to finish his speech. She waddles up to the microphone. "Hello, Hello!" her voice is just as loud as her outfit. "Happy Hunger Games!And my the odds be ever in your favor!" Just like the rest of the Capitol, Effie sees this as just a fun little game, a celebration. But for everyone else, the Hunger Games is a fight to the death.

The introductory video from the Capitol plays. I see Effie mouthing every word on stage as if it is the gospel. I look to Gale whose face darkens when he turns away. His name is in the glass bowl 42 times. I fear for him more than my own 20 slips.

"Ladies first!" Effie crosses the stage and digs her hand deep into the glass bowl. She draws out a slip and walks back to the microphone. Effie unfolds the slip so tantalizingly slow, it allows me time to worry about myself. I was in there 20 times. More than the other girls. Effie smooths out the slip and read the name loud and clear. It's not me.

"Primrose Everdeen."