Sorry for the late post, guys. I'll try to update as soon as possible and make this one long to make up for it.
mAdz1824
First things first, we were shown our rooms. Mine was wonderful. The walls were forest green, my second favorite color. Above the queen-sized bed in the center of the room was an abstract painting. The swirls of blue, gray, and green made the shape of a river in a clearing in a forest, but up close it was just a blend of colors. Looking down, I gasped as my eyes took in the view of the bed.
The bed had a brown and green comforter and a lime green headboard woven out of some kind of bendy wood. Growing up in District 12, I didn't know much about trees. Next to the bed was a wooden dresser, matching the nature theme and was the exact same color as the brown on the bed. Curious, I opened the drawers to see inside.
There were beautiful, fancy clothes, all my size. I never would have been able to afford any article of clothing in that drawer while I was in District 12. Not even a single mitten. I pulled out my favorite outfit.
The top was an aquamarine, loose shirt made of some thin, smooth fabric I'd never seen before. The sleeves went down a bit past my elbows, and along the neckline of the top were five rows of sequins of the same color. The pants were made of the exact same material, ending below the anklebone. It looked like someone had twisted the cuffs counterclockwise a few times and cast some magic spell to make it stay like that, because for some reason it did.
"Do you like your room?" came a voice from behind. I jumped. The voice was familiar, so I knew who had spoke.
"Effie, you startled me! Yes, my room is amazing. I can't thank you enough" I exclaimed, hugging her happily. She smiled, and this time I could tell that the smile was real, not fake.
"Come on, darling," she said to me. "It's time for dinner. Now get changed if you would like and meet us at the table." Effie left the room and closed the door behind her as I slipped into the aquamarine outfit. When I finished getting changed, I opened the door and quickly walked toward the dining room.
Everyone else was sitting at the table when I arrived. The chairs were made of the same material as the headboard of my bed, and painted the same color, except a dark green cushion was attached to the seat. Platters of food covered the middle of the mahogany table. Haymitch had already served himself and started eating a stew. It smelled delicious. "Hurry up Prim," Peeta jokingly whined. "I want to eat. It's so tempting!"
I sat down and put food on my plate. I took some of the fresh baked bread and a bowl full of the stew. I lifted a spoonful of the stew into my mouth. I was in heaven. The broth was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth, and tasted great with a bite of the tough beef.
The look on my face must have explained it all, since the others chuckled as I took my first bite. But they eventually served and indulged themselves as well, and I could tell that they understood why I liked it so much.
"So…" Peeta said to break the rather awkward silence. "You're supposed to be our mentor right? Got any advice?"
Through a mouthful of bread, Haymitch replied, "Stay alive." Both Peeta and I thought it was a joke at first, but we soon realized it wasn't.
Haymitch finished first given that he had started before I came, and he chugged a glass of wine and got up to get more.
I held him down. Peeta reached for Haymitch's glass and started to say something, but I spoke first. "You should stay sober for us during the Games. But seriously, do you have any advice? How can we stay alive?"
Haymitch glared at me. He shrugged. "If you don't interfere with my drinking, I'll stay sober for you during the games." I looked at Peeta; he looked at me. We didn't have much of a choice, so we went along. But still, Haymitch didn't answer my question. I wonder how he was able to survive in the Games if he has no idea how to help either of us win.
After dinner, exhausted, I entered my room. The bed suddenly looked extra comfortable. I quickly changed into pajamas and flipped on a television I hadn't noticed earlier. It turned onto a recap of last year's Hunger Games.
The screen was divided into four parts. In the top left corner, a sword burst through the boy from 12's stomach. He looked down, and fell to the ground, a blank look on his face. Below it, I saw a spear being launched at another tribute that dived out of the way, flinging a knife as she fell. The knife landed in her attacker's eye. In the top right corner, a boy fired an arrow at a muttation. The mutt was hit in the middle of the heart, and collapsed as soon as the arrow hit.
These three scenes were all muted. In the bottom right corner of the screen, President Snow and Seneca Crane sat smiling and pointing at the tributes on the screen from their positions. Snow decided to get to business. "That's enough of looking at last year's tributes. Seneca," asked the president, "what do you think of the tributes this year?"
"Well, we haven't had even a day of training yet, but it looks to me like we have a very interesting set of tributes. The Career Pack looks plenty tough this year. That boy from twelve, too, looks strong. If the Careers ask anyone to join them, it'll be him. But what are the odds of that happening?"
"I agree, Seneca. Do you have anything to tell the citizens of Panem about the arena?"
A grin appeared on Seneca Crane's face. "Now, I can't tell you. What if one of the tributes is watching? Well, the Hunger Games is a lot like the holidays. The presents are wrapped, and can only be opened on the day of the holiday. The whole fun of it is the waiting. And playing with the toys, in this case, the tributes."
President Snow seemed to like Seneca's analogy, for he grinned as well. "That's it for now! Seneca Cane, everybody!" Applause roared, and the corner they were in zoomed out to see the Gamemaker and President sitting in the interview chairs the tributes would sit in. Capitol citizens were on their feet, screaming their heads off.
Suddenly, that corner switched to a clip from the previous Games. I flipped the TV off, and fell asleep, still in the clothes I wore to dinner.
