Hudson Cooper, District 3 resident
Hudson Cooper walked home after school. He walked alone since his girlfriend was home sick with the flu. He didn't really care that much though in this given moment since this gave him time to think about something important. He needed to come up with an idea for his Panem History Project. Ah, there were so many instances that he could choose from.. Panem is a country with a rich history and it wouldn't be hard to find something interesting. Oh, the Dark Days! No, that's taken he thought to himself. He wanted to be original. Nobody wants to hear the same story over and over again. That gets boring and tiring after a while. Hudson is no boring person, he will not out allow anything less than exciting. The main reason he cared so much was because this project is 20% of his grade. Hudson is a straight A student and wasn't going to let one project possibly ruin that. If he failed, it could bring his grade down to a B or a C! Hell to the no..
As he walked into his apartment, he got a bright idea. To summarize every Hunger Games. From the 1st to the last. The Hunger Games ended before a long time before he was born as a new government took over. The government banned the Hunger Games, forever, declaring them a crime against humanity. Every year since grade school, they learn about the Hunger Games and the cruelty behind them. How it was brother against sister, sometimes literally as siblings went into the games together from time to time. That fact particularly chills down Hudson's spine, as he has a thirteen year old sister that he would die for. Hudson was glad that he and his sister weren't born during the era of the Hunger Games. He would have been old enough to be reaped, being sixteen years old. He knew that he wouldn't be able to survive and would end up being a bloodbath. His little sister wouldn't do much better either, she can't even harm a spider.
"How was school?" Hudson's mother said as she took bread rolls she finished baking out of the oven. The rolls were hot and golden brown. His mother put butter on the rolls Hudson's mouth instantly watered once he got a whiff of the bread rolls. His mother cooks like this all the time since they have enough money to. Sometimes they buy pizza but Hudson preferred his mom's home cooking since she was really talented. He felt bad for his friends, one of his friends said his moms food tastes like cardboard. Luckily for him, Hudson's mother is good enough to get a job as a cook in a popular five star restaurant on the rich side of District Three.
"What's for dinner?" Hudson said as he hungrily grabbed a roll. He didn't care about it being hot until it started to burn his hand. "Ouch!" The roll bounced in his hands like a hot potato.
"Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans..." She paused as she saw Hudson snatch a fresh roll. "Jesus, Hudson! Wait for it to cool down!" The mother shouted at her son as she rolled her eyes. She thought her son was a real dumbass sometimes but she loved him anyways. "Now get out of the kitchen. Don't you have homework?" She said as she dropped the raw chicken legs in egg wash.
"Yeah! I have a history project." Hudson said as he quickly ran up to his room. He plopped down in his gaming chair in front of his computer. His computer cost over 1,000 dollars once you added up all of the supplies. He built it himself, it's like his baby. "Alright, now I just need to look up stuff.." He needed to know the history behind the Games first. He knew that every boy and girl through age 12 and 18 in the Districts were eligible but he wanted to get this right. It had to be perfect. He didn't want to mess up any names, let anyone have no moment to shine. Everyone that died in the Hunger Games deserves recognition, from the girls on fire, the boys with the bread, the Careers, to the children too shy to speak loud enough for the audience to hear during interviews.
The first thing he saw was the list of Victors. Hundreds of people who all survived the trauma of the Hunger Games. Hudson rubbed his hands together before looking up the 1st Hunger Games. There were tapes of it on the internet and an entire webpage dedicated to just the 1st Games. With information about the tributes families, their height, age, and weight. Even their blood type was mentioned. It's like the Capitol knew everything.
Hudson clicked onto the main video and waited for it to start. He grabbed a notebook and took out his red pen. Let the Games begin. Hudson thought to himself as the video began to play. The video started with introducing every Tribute, showing their headshots with their age, gender, and district under their name. What he noticed is that there were no odds, chariot rides, interviews or anything of the sort. Must have not been invented yet, interesting. Hudson thought to himself again as he crudely wrote that down on the notebook with his red pen. He also made note of each tribute. How they looked, their name, age, and district. All would come into play for his project. The Reapings began and Hudson silently watched. He was amazed, he never actually watched a Reaping before. It's crazy to think if the Capitol still had it's way he would have been to many by now. No tributes volunteered, all were reaped and had rebel relations. Noted.
Hudson paused the video and went downstairs to get a bag of popcorn. He patiently waited for the popcorn to pop.. Beep! The microwave going off signaled that the popcorn was cooked. Hudson's father walked into the door and before the old worn down man could say a word to Hudson about eating right before dinner, he skedaddled away from the kitchen and back to his gaming chair. He restarted the video and watched the countdown as he ate his hot buttery popcorn, 60..59..58..57..56..55..54..53..52 all the way down to one as petrified and confused tributes began to make their way to the Cornucopia. Now the Games can truly begin. The gong went off and the rest is history.
Authors Note: Hi! This is going to be the 1st story of many that I have planned. This chapter is short and sweet since there was no reason to drag it out any longer. I hope you enjoy Hudson and his history project. As Hudson said, Let the Games begin!