KATNISS
She was so beautiful, that was all any of us could ever think. When she stood at the 74th Reaping in District 12, on stage with Effie Trinket, she was't one of those strange capitol people. She was one of us, transported into the realm of pastel hair and dyed blue skin. Her healthy pale body always stood out next to our grimy skeletal forms, but up there on the wooden stage she glowed in a a radiance we were not used to. It's easy to see why she was wanted. Snow had her taken from her family, I remember the day clearly. She was 19 and thought she had survived the grasp of the Capitol's games, I was only twelve. It was just after the hunger had started to subside in Prim's and my stomach and my first reaping was upon us. Sometimes there'd been stories of young girls - pretty girls - being extracted from their Districts the day before the reaping and ending up living glamorously in the Capitol, forgetting where they came from. But behind it all was a truth more disgusting, they were becoming Snow's whores. Everyone knows it but no one says a thing.
Anyways, I remember when they took her clearly. She was so stunning even with the film of coal dust that smothered everyone in District 12. Pale, with those grey eyes that made her so thoughtful and so mysterious, all framed with what I imagine dark brown caramel to look like. Her hair was so soft, and sometimes during the first days of summer at school, the sun shone through the clouds casting golden hues in it.
There was a public announcement that all the inhabitants of the district were to gather the main square the say before the reaping, and that Abaline Undercroft must attend. Her name bellowed through my mind. Even then in my innocence I knew something was wrong with her fate,
The time came and Prim and I bundled into the square, pushing forward to get a good look, I don't know why I wanted Prim to be there so badly. I liked to look at Abaline, and wanted Prim to see how beautiful she was. We don't get much beauty in the District of coal miners, so I wanted her to treasure it. The square had a podium, on it was a microphone and some officials - the head peacekeeper, the mayor, Haymitch Abernathy made his obligatory appearance, but seemed more collected than usual -or just less drunk- and Effie Trinket. It was the day before the reaping and she was already dressed to the heavens with a bright orange nest of curls perched on her pale head and a luminous dress of the same shade of orange. The gaudy sight hurt my eyes, and as she teetered over in blue heels, it seemed to disgust Haymitch - he has no time for the capitol, choosing to live out his days as a victor in a solitary drunken stupor in the edge of Panem.
Effie tapped the microphone, and cleared her throat. I was beginning to fret. I'd never spoken to this girl, but she traded with my father, used to buy my mothers herbs, and was just so beautiful. "Abaline Undercroft, please stand up and let us all see you!" The affected accent was just annoying, and the thought of Abaline being put up there with all those Capitols made my skin crawl. She walked up, her hair loose and cascading like a waterfall of luxury, her dress looked soft to the touch. But her face was something else, the luscious mouth was straight and her eyes were blank. Looking back now, I see what she was doing. She wouldn't let anyone see she was scared.
