Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews! I love reading them 3 I'm glad the story's going well and I hope to get some more feedback! Thanks so much! :)

10

As the platform continues to rise, the soft chirping of morning birds becomes clearer and clearer. Where there are birds there are usually woods. Light- the platform comes to a stop and suddenly I see the Arena: the most breathtaking place imaginable. The Cornucopia gleamed golden in the middle of a sweet-smelling green meadow. The meadow appeared to stretch for miles, but far in the distance I saw the woods. Rotating my upper body, I saw the dense woods surrounded the entire field, and on one side beyond was a snowcapped mountain. The bright sky was azure blue, with fluffy billowing white clouds. I refocused my eyes on the Cornucopia. Riches of all kinds were scattered as if pouring from the mouth. Backpacks full of supplies, survival materials, and assortments of weapons. 48 tributes surrounded it all, standing equally apart on our platforms. I thought to try to search out Haymitch and Ezra, but there was no time. I had to focus.

Lucentio Char continued the countdown.

"5" I took a racing position on the stand…

"4" … a race for my life.

"3" God let me get out of this battle alive, oh please.

"2" …and Ezra and Haymitch. Just please.

"1" The cannon fired. No time to think anymore. Sprinting off the platform, I fixated on the closest thing I could see. Never before had I run like this; my legs moved instinctively. The second the Careers made it to the Cornucopia, slaughter and massacre would take place. Faster Maysilee, faster! Too fast- quickly I found myself flat on my face. Turning around to see what I tripped over, my eyes widened. Diving back, I picked up the dart blowgun, and threw the strap around my shoulder. Hoping to grab a backpack too, I soared upward and continued to race deeper into the depths of the Cornucopia area. My eyes took in all the blood that was already being shed. So many tributes were falling dead…I dared not look at their faces. I don't know what I would do if I saw Haymitch or Ezra lying in a pool of their own blood as they suffered to death.

Suddenly I felt a blow to my stomach. I collapsed. My attacker had engaged from the side and had brought his boot right into my stomach. "Well look who it is." Oh no. Not Orion, no. He pinned me to the ground. "I got a present for you." Orion showed me his new silver blade claimed from the Cornucopia. I kicked and squirmed but failed to get Orion off of me. "I'm gonna enjoy this." he whispered. This is it. This is it. Oh god I didn't want to die this way. I didn't stop kicking and wriggling, but I closed my tearing eyes tight. Then all of a sudden, Orion's weight was pushed off my body. Stumbling back up, I saw Orion had been tackled by Brie and another young tribute girl. By the way the two girls fought with Orion, I could tell Brie hadn't done it to save me; just as she had said at training, Orion had easily made a target of himself by dissing all females. There was no way I was going to journey any farther to the Cornucopia. The risk of getting killed was way too high and a knapsack just wasn't worth it. Heart throbbing, I sprinted away and kept my gaze on the distant woods. Please Brie. Please be okay. Please kill Orion. Although she probably didn't know it, Brie had saved my life.

Finally I reached the woods, but I didn't dare stop yet. I continued to run as I trekked. The woods were lush and a deep shade of green. As I got farther and farther, the sounds of the cannon firing marking a tribute's death boomed. I just kept running. I ran and ran, until I couldn't run anymore. I imagined I was probably a little over a mile deep into the woods. I came to a halt and listened. Quiet. Birds chirped happily in the trees above. Bright flowers bloomed from the earth, and even an oddly colorful butterfly fluttered by. The scenery jumbled my already screwed up mind. It was hard to believe what had just happened; what had just begun. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, and slouched against a tree. Feeling sick, I bent over and threw up.

"Damn it." I muttered while wiping vomit from my chin. Now that I had completely disgorged my dinner, I knew it wasn't going to be long until I'd be going hungry and thirsty. I lowered myself to the ground and pressured my back to the tree. As I examined my blowgun, I cursed more to myself. Out of all the possible weapons- knives, bows, axes, swords- I just had to get something as useless as a blowgun. It was loaded with ten darts. I decided to practice aiming and shooting. Luckily, the darts shot fast with each blow and I quickly mastered aiming by targeting specific points on trees from different distances. The dart shooter was no killing weapon; I wouldn't even be able to injure anyone with it. I figured the only good use for keeping it was to shoot down some birds or squirrels to fuel my hunger. But hunger wasn't of the essence at the moment. My throat was becoming dry and the sun was going to set fast. I needed to find a source of water. Gathering my darts, I reloaded them in the blowgun and strapped it around my back. Now how was I supposed to find water? Just trek the woods until I stumble across a stream? Who knows how long these woods could go on for? Suddenly I remembered something Ezra had said from her interview: The greatest survival skill of all is your senses.

Ezra. My heart ached just thinking about her. As much as I didn't want to believe it, I knew there was no way Ezra had got out of the Cornucopia battle alive. Before the reaping I had hardly known her, but within the few days we had she became one of my closest friends. I felt warm tears streaming down my face. Kneeling down, I clasped my hands together and prayed for her. I prayed her death had been quick and easy. I prayed Brie and that other tribute girl had killed Orion and were okay. I pulled myself back up, and suddenly reminded myself that everything was being filmed right now. I pictured my parents, Yule, Noraleen and Pazima watching; watching all the murder, all the blood being shed. I pictured every District being forced to watch their loved ones battling for their lives on live television. I had watched it every year- but never had it affected me so. Of course I had always felt sympathy, but I had never known anyone personally who had been reaped. Finally it had been my turn. I remembered Ezra's brother at the reaping being pulled away for standing up against the Capitol. Had they really killed her brother? Part of me felt like they hadn't right away; part of me felt the Peacekeepers had forced him to watch so he could see his sister die, just as payback. My mind was wandering into deep depression again. I had to focus. Come on Maysilee. Stay brave and fight till the end. Just like you promised Paz, I told myself.

.

.

.

The day was setting hastily, and my quench for water wasn't getting any better. My mission for streams had been a complete failure. I started to wonder if there even was any source of water in the whole Arena. Despite my disappointment to not come across any water or edible plants, I was lucky enough to stay clear of any other tributes out on the prowl. Finally I came across a bush flourishing with juicy looking berries. Of course I just had to suck at classifying edible plants. The berries didn't look poisoned. I pulled off a branch and examined it. Suddenly I recognized them from the leaves. The same branch Ezra told me to steer clear of: Nightlock. I threw the branch and brushed my hands on my pants. I decided to continue on. If I couldn't find any edible plants, maybe if I could find a stream I could catch a fish with a dart. As the sun set beyond the trees, I felt the temperature quickly dropping. Would it be safe to make a fire for the night? No way. All of a sudden I heard it. Well, I heard two things: the distant sounds of voices and running water. Following my ears, I came across a gentle flowing river. By now the sun had completely set and the moon illuminated the wide river with a glossy glow of silver. I was so close to jumping right in, when I heard the voices very close. Across the river an alliance of five tributes were approaching the edge of the water. I ducked down behind a large boulder to avoid being spotted.

"Water!" yelled one of the tributes. I knew they weren't Careers, so I felt a little more relieved. Still, a tribute is a tribute and I didn't want to take my chances by letting them see me.

"Shhhhh! Shut up Lon!" hissed a female voice. With 48 tributes in the Game, I of course couldn't recognize who they were. With only a few days for training, there had been no time to memorize the faces or voices of all the tributes.

"Come to mama." groaned a third voice. Leaning over, the tribute knelt down and cupped her hands together to take a huge gulp.

"Guys…Just be quiet. I have a strange feeling we're being watched." whispered the first female voice.

"Liekin's right." added Lon. Liekin and Lon…now I remembered them from their interviews. They were brother and sister, from District 8.

"Uh…uh," sounding feeble, the girl who had been drinking from the stream began to choke. "Don't… drink the water…" she continued to hack pathetically. "P…p…poisoned."

"SURI!" Liekin, Lon, and the other two tributes part of their alliance dove down next to her. Seven seconds later the cannon fired. "Suri…"

"Damn the water is poisoned…" murmured Liekin angrily. "Just like the last river. This isn't good."

A rustle of leaves sounded close. "Did you guys here that?" whispered Lon. "Let's get out of here." Then the four withdrew a knife from Suri's pocket and left her behind while rushing into the woods. I raised myself from behind the rock and released a huge sigh. I had been so close to splashing right in the poisoned water. I looked across the river at Suri's lifeless body collapsed over the edge. That could have been me…

Even worse, now I was doomed for water. Liekin had said that it was the second poisoned river they had found. Did the Gamemakers really poison all water sources? Why would they want to kill us all off that way? Feeling a chill crawl up my spine, I decided I needed to find someplace to rest for the night. Little ways from the river, I found the most perfect tree imaginable, as if it was designed for me to sleep in. Climbing up the wide trunk was a breeze, and there was an inclusive knot for me to lean into while my legs stretch across a long branch. Because of the knot hole, chances of falling out of the tree were slim. Part of me knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway. I could hardly sleep the nights leading up to the Games, so how on earth was I ever going to get some shut-eye actually in the Arena?

All of a sudden, the national anthem of the Capitol began to thunder. I had forgotten- every night of the Games the faces of the tributes that had died illuminated the sky. The sky had become a huge projector screen. I had to move my head to see through the higher branches of the treetop, but I had a good view. Suddenly the death order began to show. My heart was racing a mile a minute in anticipation. Please be dead Orion…Please be alive Haymitch. Brie…Ezra. The deaths just kept going and going. With each face appearing, I held my breath. Suddenly I saw Brie's face, following the other girl who had saved me from being killed by Orion.

19 tributes in total dead. 29 left. Orion's face never showed. Haymitch's face never showed... and Ezra's face never showed. I hadn't really been worried too much about Haymitch- his hand to hand combat skills were too impressive; I knew for a fact he was going to get out of the Cornucopia. But Ezra….she was still alive? I couldn't imagine how scared she is. I wanted so bad to find her. The sky had returned to its starry self. I shut my eyes and simply listened. I heard the quiet flow of the poisoned river nearby, the soft rustle of a small animal trekking through fallen leaves, the silent whisper of the cool breeze. I thought about all the nightmares I had had about being here…about being in this tournament to the death. I wished I could just fall asleep right now, and never have to wake up. Or fall asleep, and when I open my eyes I'll be in that distant land I always fantasize about. A beautiful place where my mind can live at peace; a place where everything is safe. A place where I can have Haymitch all for myself and never have to worry about losing him.

My eye lids drooped shut, and I fell asleep.