Chapter One
When I wake up in the hovel we call a house, I am seized by an inexplicable fear. Then I remember. It's the Pre-Reaping today. Since District Eleven is so large, they do a "Pre-Reaping" where they reap the tributes for the Hunger Games on television. Then, the next day, the actual Reaping day, all the slips bear that person's name. That is when someone can volunteer, not that anyone does. The Pre-Reaping is the one day – or morning at least – we are guaranteed electricity.
"Rue! Rue! Nooooooo! Not you, not you! It can't be!" It's my nine-year-old sister, Breeze. She must be having one of her frequent nightmares. I walk across the room to her bed.
"It's okay, it's okay," I say soothingly, sitting down and rubbing her back. "It isn't me. I'm right here. I'm not leaving you."
She lifts her face up, disoriented. "It isn't? Has… has the Pre-Reaping happened yet?"
"No. And when it does, it won't be me. It will be someone else, someone we don't know. It will be sad, but it won't be us," I say firmly.
"Promise?" Breeze whispers.
"Promise," I reply, knowing I can promise nothing of the sort. If my name is pulled, my name is pulled, and there's nothing I can do about it. "Now, let's wake your sisters, and we can go to the kitchen." She nods and reaches her arms up. I hug her, then pull her to her feet.
We go around the tiny room, shaking the shoulders of my sisters. This takes a while, as they all need comfort. I repeat the words again and again: "It's okay, it's okay. My name is only in there nine times. There are thousands of names. And think, we have my tesserae."
Finally, we are all up. Breeze, eight-year-old Carol, five-year-old Bell, and I walk into the tiny kitchen/dining room/living room, where my brothers, six-year-old Avery and three-year-old Jordyn, and my parents are waiting.
Without a word, my mother crosses over to me and folds me in her arms, her face in my hair.
"Oh, Rue," she murmurs. "Oh, my sweet baby." I have been told many times that I look like my mother. While it's true that we have the same black frizzy hair, dark skin and eyes, and small stature, I don't believe it. I could never be as beautiful as her.
"Now, Hope. Remember, i's gonna be okay. Nothin's gonna happen to our Rue. Not on her firs' Reapin'. Don' worry," my father says. He is a big man, with a languid way of moving and speaking.
"But, Dannel, I can't help but worry. This is her first Reaping! Our children's first Reaping! This day starts sixteen years of worry, if I've done my math right! Sixteen years!" By the end of her speech, she's shrieking, clutching me so tight I feel a bit lightheaded.
"Let's all have some breakfast," I suggest, gently disentangling myself from my mother's arms.
At each place at the table, on a small, cracked plate, is a biscuit and a rare treat – five cherries. I sit down and immediately start breaking my biscuit into smaller pieces.
My mother notices. "No, Rue. Not today. Today you eat all of your food. And no foraging today. There are to many Peacekeepers out today. And tomorrow."
I nod reluctantly and start on my biscuit. Around me, my family does the same. We talk about nothing, mostly school and the fields. Finally, my mother says, "It's time."
We gather around our small television, me between my parents on the couch, my siblings on the floor in front of us. My mother takes my hand. My heart is pounding and I'm so tense I feel like I could explode.
"Good morning, District Eleven!" Mayor Larson says. "Today is a very exciting day. The Pre-Reaping." He doesn't sound excited—he sounds bored. "Now I hand you over to our lovely escort, Venus Maple."
No sight exists but that screen, there is no sound but their voices.
"Hello, hello!" Venus trills. "How exciting today is! Not as exciting as the actual Reaping, I suppose, or the Opening Ceremony, or the actual start of the Games, but-"
"Venus," the mayor says through gritted teeth. "Just pull the names." The mayor is not a very imposing man, but he has a way of talking that makes you listen.
Well, now the moment you've all been waiting for!" She giggles, then walks over to the giant glass bowl with the girls' slips. Slowly, she picks a slip form the middle and slowly opens it. "Our female tribute iiiis…Rue Bennett!"
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, the next one is longer, I promise. Anyway, please read and review! Hope you liked it!