The Hunger Games
Chapter 1 The Reaping
I wake up feeling the cold concrete floor of the orphanage, and I turn in our makeshift bed towards Kora searching for her warmth. I deeply breathe in to prepare myself for today, it is a very important day for everyone in District 12. Today, today is the Reaping. I tap Kora on the shoulder and then whisper in her ear, "I've gotta get up and get some food to sell at the market."
"Okay get back soon, we've got to get ready for the reaping today and i want us to look as good as we can," Kora replied to me.
" I'll be back as soon as a can lightning bug," I say with a smile.
I get out of the "bed" and put on my hunting clothes and boots and head for the door of the orphanage passing our cat Goose with his smashed looking face, one cloudy eyeball, and ear that looked like it was half-bitten off. " I'll still cook you," I say to the cat after hearing him hiss at me. Then I turn and leave out the door and head towards the woods at the edge of the district. We live in a part of the district that is nicknamed the Seam and the orphanage that my sister and I live at is on the edge of the Seam. To get to the woods I have to pass a few houses and gates in order to get to the electrified fence. When I get to the electric fence which is hardly ever live because District 12 can barely afford to have electricity at all but regardless I still listen for the hum of electricity. After hearing no hum I drop down onto my belly to crawl underneath the gap at the bottom that has been there since I was a kid.
Once on the other side of the fence I immediately go to where I stashed my bow and my arrows, which are in a hole in the middle of a decaying tree, and put them on my back ready to go at a moment's notice. Going beyond the district's border is considered illegal but most of the peacekeepers turn a blind eye to us going out into the woods. The peacekeepers have actually turned out to be some of our biggest customers because they love the taste of fresh meat. "Welcome to District 12 where you can starve to death in safety," I jokingly say to myself.
In the woods is the only place that I can really be myself, that is mainly because for one I'm usually out here with Lincoln and I don't have a care in the world when I feel the wind at my back when I aim down my sight. I relax and quicken my pace as I climb towards Lincoln and my spot, which is a rock overlooking a large valley stretching for miles. Even Lincoln says that I look my happiest when I'm out here speaking of him. As I reach the top of the hill I see Lincoln sitting there overlooking the field.
"Hey Skye," Lincoln says. My name is Daisy Johnson but everyone just calls me Skye. It started as a way to bully me in school. I would always look up at the sky and I was too shy to tell anyone my name. To be honest I've always kind of liked the nickname. Having my head in the clouds is better than being in District 12.
"Look at what I caught in my snares today," Lincoln jokes as he holds up a loaf of bread with a string around it and I can not help but let out a laugh. I can tell by just looking at it that it is fresh from the bakery. As I hold it up to my nose and the smell of the freshly baked bread makes my mouth water.
"It's still warm," I say. He must have gone to the bakery at first daylight to trade for it. "How much did it cost you?"
"Just a rabbit. I think the grumpy old man was feeling emotional today," Lincoln explained. "He even wished me good luck today." Now that was weird because Mr. Ward was never nice to anyone and his wife was even worse, but damn they make great bread. "Kora left us cheese," I say as I pull it out of my pocket.
"Tell Kora I said thank you," Lincoln says as his face brightens up. "It almost slipped my mind. Happy Hunger Games!" He then slips on the accent of Jemma Simmons and says "and may the odds be ever in your favor."
We sat there for a while eating our feast of bread, cheese, and the berries that Lincoln brought with him from the berry bushes about a mile away. I'm sitting there looking at the valley and the trees thinking about my dad dying in the coal mines and that resulting in Kora and I getting sent to the orphanage. When out of nowhere Lincoln says, "we could do it you know, run away, leave the district, live in the woods you and I, we could make it."
"Maybe if we didn't have so many kids with us,"I retorted. We would have Lincoln's two brothers and Kora as well as Lincoln's mom. Lincoln and I would have to continuously hunt everyday in order to keep everyone from starving to death.
"I never want to have kids," I say.
"I might if I didn't live here," Lincoln says in reply.
"But you do," I counter, getting irritated.
"Drop it," Lincoln says sharply, clearly upset with me.
After a while of awkward silence and letting Lincoln calm down I ask him "what do you want to do today before we go to the reaping."
"Let's fish at the lake and get some food to trade and feed the kids," Lincoln says.
After fishing all morning we have about a dozen fish, a bag of vegetables, and a gallon of strawberries picked from nearby bushes. On our way back home, we stop at the Hob which is like the black market for us. Most places to buy and sell food are closed on the day of the reaping but the black market stays open and is busy. We traded the fish for more bread and salt, and the shopkeeper gave me a pin of a mockingjay. When we get done trading I tell Lincoln while walking away " I'll see you at the reaping later today." Then I head back towards the orphanage and to my sister.
"See you there Skye, wear something pretty." I hear Lincoln say as I leave.
As I walk towards the orphanage to go get ready for the reaping ceremony I start to think about the rules of the reaping. At age twelve is when you first get entered into the big glass ball that has everyone's names from District 12. Every year after your first year being entered into the reaping, your name is entered for an additional time. So by the time you are eighteen years old you would have seven but this does not take into account the poorer people of the district that trade entries for, I myself have twenty entries at age sixteen. I then think of Lincoln who has been feeding his family of five for about seven years, will have his name in the drawing forty-two times. The odds are not in his favor.
When I get home there is a tub of warm water waiting for me probably courtesy of Kora. I get in the tub and scrub the dirt and the sweat off of my body and I even wash my hair. When I got done in the tub and got back to my room I see that there is a light blue dress sitting out for me again probably because of Kora. After putting my dress on Kora puts my hair into a single braid that I set to one side of my head.
"You look beautiful," Kora says when we get finished getting ready for the reaping.
"And nothing like myself," I reply as I give Kora a hug, "you look beautiful to Kora, make sure you tuck in your tail, lightning bug."
We quickly eat a little bit of food and drink some milk from Kora's goat, and then we leave so we can get to the reaping on time. The reaping starts at exactly one o'clock with mandatory attendance except for those that are actively dying. The mandatory attendance is the Capitols way of knowing each district's population as a means of controlling them. Everyone starts filing into the square and starts getting checked in. That's when Kora notices that all the possible tributes need to get a little bit of blood taken and she starts freaking out. Kora has trypanophobia (a fear of needles) and I have to calm her down by promising her that it will only hurt for a little bit, which it does and then we proceed with heading to our assigned areas by age and gender.
As people started filing into the square it was feeling more and more crapped. The population of District 12 is about eight thousand people and the latecomers were directed to the street just outside the square. I was put into a clump of sixteen year old girls from the Seam. We are all facing forward towards the stage and I see three chairs, a podium, and two glass balls one for the boys and one for the girls. I just can not help but stare at the paper slips in the girls glass ball, twenty of them have Daisy Johnson on them.
Two of the three chairs have been filled with the Mayor Jeffrey Mace who is in his 40s with short brownish-grey hair. Next to him is Jemma Simmons who is a representative of the Capitol for District 12. Jemma Simmons has a powdery painted white face, long dark hair, and wearing a bright green suit. Both Jemma and the Mayor are talking to each other and then they look over at the empty seat that is next to them. I know who they are looking for and talking about now, it's Melinda May, she won the 50th Hunger Games, the second quarter quell.
When the clock strikes two o'clock Mayor Mace steps to the podium and starts to recite the same old story every year. Panem was the country that came out of the ashes that was once called North America. He went on to list a bunch of natural disasters, droughts, stroms, fires, all the brutal wars, and the seas that swallowed up the land. The result of all these disasters was Panem, a Capitol in charge of thirteen districts, which brought peace and tranquillity to the citizens. Then came the dark times where the districts were rising up against the Capitol (which I think is pretty kickass) the first twelve districts were defeated and the thirteenth district was completely obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave new laws, guaranteed peace and as a yearly reminder of these dark times, it gave us the Hunger Games.
The rules of the Hunger Games are pretty straight forward twenty-four tributes from the district, a boy and girl from each district. Then the tributes are gathered together in an arena to fight until the last tribute is standing and that person is crowned victor.
"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," the mayor says.
In District 12 we have had two victors only one which is still alive, Melinda May who comes up onto the stage drunk and stumbling all over and fall into the empty third chair. Then May goes to lean over to give Jemma Simmons a big hug which she barely manages to avoid. The Mayor Mace then proceeds to introduce Jemma Simmons to do the drawing of the names of the tributes.
Jemma Simmons then proceeds to walk up to the podium and in her usual bubbly voice says, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" It's time for the drawing. Jemma walks over to the big glass that is filled with all the girls' names from the district and she says, "ladies first." She reaches her hand into the glass ball and pulls out a slip of paper. She goes back to the podium, clears her throat and in a smooth read out the name on the paper.
Kora Johnson.