Jayson Dable- D11

Naturally, I was at the weight-lifting station. I already knew a handful of plants from my work, and the weight-lifting station was the most fun. I knew the filming didn't start in the Arena. The Capitolites were watching us already, and if they saw how strong I was, I'd get sponsors more valuable than any weapons skills I could get in a week. And the other Tributes would know not to mess with me.

My ears started to burn, and I knew someone was watching me. I peeked to either side, trying to see who it was without giving it away. I spotted the two little allies watching from across the room. Their eyes got wide with every weight I lifted, and they lifted arrows above their heads while miming strain as they pretended to lift along with me.

Every boy knew there was only one thing to do when girls were watching, even little girls like those two. I went straight to the biggest weight and hefted it swiftly, ignoring the strain and then pain as I stretched my muscles farther than I wisely should have. One of the girls laughed and the other raised her hands over her head triumphantly. I held the weight above my head until my arms trembled so much I was afraid they might notice. I dropped it with a thump and pointed finger guns at them.

"Piece of cake," I said as I walked closer. They whispered to each other until I got close enough to converse. "What are you two ladies up to?"

"We're looking for allies," one of the girls said.

"Big strong allies. But you're really big and strong, so you probably wouldn't want to ally with us," the other said.

"It just so happens I'm looking for big strong allies, too," I said. I pretended to look around the room. "Well, here's some right in front of me!"

"Us?" one of the girls said, and she giggled with her hands in front of her mouth.

"You lifted that arrow all the way over your head," I said. "You must be bodybuilders." I picked up the arrow and bent over under its pretended weight, eventually dropping to the ground and panting.

"See? You're the strongest allies ever. Id be stupid not to ally with you."

Ethel Bulhera- D10

The Games would be a really cool story if they weren't real. A few years ago one of the Tributes wanted to write a story about the Games. I wasn't planning to do that, since we already knew what the Games were like, but I could definitely get some ideas. Whatever Arena I went to might be new and could make a cool story world, and there might be mutts in there like monsters from fairy tales.

I could hardly decide what sort of story the Games were. There was tragedy for the people who died, horror for the people who killed them, adventure for the surviving in the wilderness, and science fiction with the mutts. I'd always wondered how they did that. If they could make animals out of thin air, why couldn't they make lots of food for everyone?

That was what gave me the idea. The Capitol could make animals out of thin air, and it could bring people back to life. They could bring my family back to life if I won. They probably had samples of the Tribute's DNA, but they could bits from me, because I had the same DNA as my family.

They could really come back. Sometimes in my dreams I saw my family, but I never thought it could be real. Stories didn't come true. But I started living in a story the moment I got sent to the Hunger Games. Anything could happen here if the Gamemakers wanted it. I could see my family again. It was better than any story I'd ever read.

I already wanted to win, since I didn't want to die, but now I had a mission. For a Victor, it would be possible to bring back a family. The entire country could see a cute little girl reunited with her family because of the mercy of the Capitol. I had to get back. I had to do everything right- I was only a small girl, and I didn't have many skills. If everything didn't go perfectly, I would die. I needed to say the exact right things and get sponsors and use what they gave me perfectly. I had one shot at this.

The first thing to do was get a good private session score. I'd been working with camouflage, and it was going well. I had to practice non-stop until the minute I walked into the session room. If I was perfect at one thing, they would think I was better at other things. I'd already worked a little with survival things, so I could afford to specialize. I had to make a masterpiece for those judges. My entire family depended on it.

Aran Cooper

No one really died in the Games, but I had to be ready just in case. It was a show, and they liked people who played their parts. I picked the running track, since there weren't any other people on it. Some of the others, especially the Careers, made me nervous. They were very enthusiastic about their roles, and I was worried they might forget it wasn't real. I practiced running long distances, so I could run far away during the Bloodbath and not hear all that noise. I ran until my lungs burned, but I was still on the same track. I never got any farther.

The Gamemakers liked it when we used weapons, so I practiced with a sword. It was heavy and hard to swing, so I didn't think I'd use it much in the Arena. When I was done running, I left the training room to see what else was in the Capitol. There was a giant glass elevator that went up the side of the building. I got in and stood at the edge, trying to see how it worked. It seemed to be moved by magnets. I'd always wondered if we could use magnets with the same charge to raise things into the air, since I'd seen magnets float because they repelled each other. The elevator raised up beside the building like a bird, and I got out at the top floor.

I'd wanted to see how things moved around in the Capitol, but there wasn't much inside the building. There was a staircase that cycled around on a track so people didn't have to walk, which just seemed lazy to me. It was unnerving, too, since I couldn't help but imagine getting my foot stuck in the crack at the bottom and getting sucked into the machinery. I rode down one, then ran up the wrong way when no one else was on it. It was like running on the track, but harder since it wa uphill. It must have been very good exercise.

Before getting Reaped, I always thought of the Capitol as some far away fairyland. It never seemed real, and it was like an abstract. Now that I was here, I was starting to resent them more. They had everything here, from food I'd never imagined to glass elevators. They were so lazy they didn't even walk down stairs. They should be sharing it with the rest of Panem. My parents always told me a leader led by example. The Capitol expected us to live on nothing and work like dogs when they sat around eating chocolate all day. They should stop wasting money on the Hunger Games and use it so the people wouldn't be hungry in the first place.