Julius Erasac

Concealed in the woods adjacent to my house, taking in a breath of somewhat polluted air, I slowly sit down on a log with my favorite mace clutched in my hands. My hands, disproportionally smaller than the rest of my body nevertheless skilled with almost any type of warfare item conceivable, lower the mace onto the same log as the one I am sitting on. As my hands are already lowered and close to the grass, I snatch a few stones off the floor, and then I throw them at targeted locations amongst the trees. I hit every single one of the targets perfectly. Well more or less as I never aimed at specific locations and arbitrarily threw the rocks.

I saunter home, peering over my shoulder every now and then to look at the girls I will have drooling over me after I win the Games. At the Reapings, it's expected that almost every guy is going to volunteer, but people have been expecting me to volunteer for a while now. I just never really had the chance. Five years ago, my oldest brother, Aleron, won the Hunger Games and brought fame to our family. There was never really a reason to volunteer, but for a while now, I have been ridiculed for being the "weakling" in my family. I have a younger sister, Enobaria, but she is a savage in her own right. She bites everything she can sink her teeth into, including human flesh if possible. My entire district is expecting her to volunteer in six years or so when she is eligible, so I better volunteer now or never. I'm eighteen. It's my last shot at the stardom I rightfully deserve.

I open the door carefully not to disturb my sister's television program that has these glitter-covered freaks. She loves Dusk. God, what is wrong with her other than her knack of biting people? I walk down the hall, enter my room, grab a random shirt from my closet, and put it on. I am usually selective about the clothing I wear, but I don't feel like dressing up for this. I have no idea what is contributing to my capricious behavior today. First, not aiming at any targets with the stones in the woods. Second, putting on a random shirt.

My family and I walk to the public square, awaiting Lemon Lime, our district's escort with the stupidest name on the planet, to walk onto the stage and do the usual thing that she loves saying, probably because my district wins often. A brief history of the origin of the Hunger Games, the history of our past victors, and everything else that brings the Capitol or my district pride. The crowd cheers with its usual zeal, and finally, Lemon reaches into the girl tributes' ball and announces the girl's name, "Amazon Zabril." A bunch of girls volunteer, and then the brawl occurs, and finally, a tall girl walks up to the stage and announces her name into the microphone. "Tigris Peuhestra". I know her I think. Yeah, she's that fourteen year old that always acts like a brat and boasts about her nonexistent skills, but she's nice.

During my period of thinking, Lemon announces the name, "Julius Erasac." Cool. I swagger my way up to the stage, dodging the free-for-all that has begun in such little time. After walking up the steps, I announce my name in the microphone, "Julius Erasac." At that exact moment, they had found a winner of the brawl to volunteer as tribute. He looks at me with piercing eyes, and I begin to laugh. Laughing in his face, savoring the taste of malice radiating from his eyes, I wave him good-bye, and I turn around to meet the eyes of Tigris. We both know that we have just created a temporary alliance. I sit in my seat, while Lemon Lime gives a speech that I don't even know how long it lasts, because I drift off a bit, envisioning different methods of killing the other tributes. After envisioning their fates, I begin to visualize what I would do with the earnings from the Games. I would buy myself a car to run over the whole district with. A car that would show them that I am not a weakling.