Nat Lewis' POV:
I woke up to the sound of a mockingjay, perched on my window. And then I noticed the smell of fresh baked bread. I jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen. "Hello grandmother!" I said, smiling at her. My grandmother didn't smile back. "You know what day it is, Nat?" She asked, her voice withered. She once was young and fit- even survived the 13th hunger games. But now she was unrecognizable. The beauty that haunted her figure was gone, and all that remained of those days was the house they had been given.
It was in the middle of the forest, the forest that surrounded the village near the lands with the crops. "Of course, grandmother." I said, growing more solemn. My family had a serious history with the Games. Of course, my grandmother won them, but then her son, my father, was Reaped. He didn't make it after there was only 7 people left. It left my mother, who was dating him, go hysterical. She hadn't been the same since, and it only got worse when she had me, 5 months after the Games. When the victor came to our village later in the year, my mother had almost killed him. So we left the victor's village and went to my Great-Aunt's house in the forest with my grandmother. We were some sort of dysfunctional family. But at least we all loved each other. I grabbed some of the bread; we almost never starved, and sat outside, polishing my bow. My grandmother did not know about it. No one knew about the hunting. Or how I gave all my kills to the village children. Later, I put on my reaping clothes and set off to the square.
I wore the dress my grandmother wore on her village tour. It was green and sparkly. Every inch of the dress screamed "I am a winner."I loved that dress. Hopefully, I would not have to use it. But for some reason, certain families go in the games more than others. Not that I told anyone that. I wore my long brown hair in a braid; it went down to my waist.
The Reaping began quietly, except for the weeping of smaller children. I tried to comfort some of them, but I was interrupted by the annoying woman from the Capitol. "Shall we begin?" she asked, rhetorically. Pulling out a manicured finger from the girl's name bin, I felt nauseous. I could see my grandmother, great-aunt, and my mother sitting nearby. They would see me, no matter what. It could not be my name; I would not live on with the family curse. Not this year. Not ever. I closed off my senses.
And suddenly, everyone was looking at me. She was calling my name. I numbly walked up to the stage, composing my face into a hardened mask. Look proud, I thought, recalling my grandmother's tips. I still could not help feeling a little shocked. Should have seen it coming….
Ray Desmonts' POV:
The sunlight radiated into my eyelid, I flinched, sitting up. I hated that window in my room, always catching the light. I usually didn't sleep in late enough for it to matter, but who cares if you sleep in today? It could be the last week of your life if you were Reaped. My hand searched over the table, my vision blurry, until it found a small wired object. My glasses. My family could not afford to get eye surgery; no one could in my district. But they had found some hand-me-down glasses.
I stretched, and put on some clothes, just a simple woven tunic and brown pants. Like I said earlier, we could not afford much. Sometimes I resented the Capitol and the foul peacekeepers they sent to keep us in line. They had everything, and we had nothing. I lived with my father and my younger sister Rye. My mother died giving birth to Rye, and my father worked every day. We barely had enough food to eat before I got the tesserae. I was 17 this year, and my name was in the ball too many times for me to think about.
I glanced in the mirror, my dark skin and hair contrastingly different from my sunny choice in clothes and my bright name. I walked down into the living room, brushing over Rye's hair as I passed. "Hey!" She yelled, scrunching up her face in anger. I grinned, I knew her anger wouldn't last.
"You hungry?" I asked her, setting out some less-than-fresh bread. In response, she jumped up and grabbed my slice before it reached my mouth. "No fair." I said, cutting myself a new piece. The bread was hard and stale, but it would have to last us. We couldn't even use the grains we had grown ourselves. It was cruel.
Breakfast was quiet, and we listened to a lone mockingjay call out yesterday's tunes and songs. Soon Rye and I were headed off to what we called "the town" but really was more like a village. Our announcer seemed disgusted at us, and I held nothing but contempt for her. She lived in luxury, she didn't understand the real world. "Let's get on with it?" She said, after the mayor made a speech filled with lies and false happiness. I knew his son was in the Reaping cage, and he didn't like the thought of sending off his son. He had nothing to worry about. A young city boy with no tesserae had no chance of leaving.
"For the girls Nathan Lewis!" A girl stepped forward, I looked for her parents. She had her whole family there, it looked like. They were as grim as a funeral audience. Oh yes, their family was not new to the games. I could remember the Lewis family in the games.
"For the boys," I heard my heart pounding. "Ray Desmonts!" I looked for my sister, and clutched her arm before I was led towards the stage, not protesting, just numb. At least she was safe, they had my tesserae to last them the winter. One less mouth to feed. Because I was certain in one thing… I wasn't coming back.