As I wait among fellow 12 year olds I see my sister, Kayla, look at me I smile back at her even though on the inside I'm terrified it might be me, although I'm only 12 me and my sister both get tesserae so my names in the bowl 27 times.
Our family is a small one, just me, Kayla and mum, with Derek our Donkey of course; our dad was shot at firing range after being caught trying to smuggle 5 raspberries home, we've never tasted them before, one for each of us and one for Derek.
We live at the edge of the orchards on the eastern shoreline of District 11 in Panem. We're the District that provides fruit and vegetables to the Capitol and get nothing in return, but we must not go against the law and try to eat any of it, even if we are starving, it only gets you shot.
So here we are, reaping day, as Sparkle Peaches, District 11's escort, reaches the podium and welcomes us all to another reaping day, in that silly Capitol accent, I start to pray that it won't be Kayla or my best friend Josie, Sparkle puts her hand into the girls pot and picks up a bit of paper, she unfolds it, we all wait with bated breath, then she calls out:
"Rue Crawford"