A/N: I'm sorry, I know they are still short. As the story progresses, I'm going to try to have the chapters 2,000 to 3,000 words long. Please let me know if you see any errors or have any suggestions.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games
I go to bed early that night and wake up around four. As I start to get ready, I can't help but think about Katniss. She should be taking me hunting for the first time. I pull on Katniss' leather jacket, I know she won't mind and borrow her boots too. The jacket is too big for me but it reminds me of Katniss. It's smooth on my skin and smells of fresh air, forest, and pine needles. I lace the brown boots as tight as they'll go, though they are still loose, and sit to wait for Gale in the kitchen. As I wait for Gale, I run my hands through Buttercup's fur. He reminds me of a little lion. His course fur is long and orange. He sure acts like he's a lion. He always acts like he's big and tough, but really, he just likes to be pet. It's a quarter past four, and only beginning to get light out, when I finally hear a knock on the door. Patting Buttercup on the head, I get up and slowly make my way to the door. I turn the handle and the door opens to reveal Gale, dressed like yesterday, greeting me with a small smile.
"Ready to go Prim?" he asks.
"Yes," I answer. I'm nervous for some reason. I guess it's partially because what we are doing is illegal. It doesn't feel right though, Gale hunting with me instead of Katniss. The sunrise is beautiful. The sky is lighting up and birds singing, oblivious to suffering below. Only a few people are up, but I know that later everyone will be outside, desperate to get out of their stuffy house. Seeing all the children always makes me sad, they shouldn't be going hungry and worrying alongside their parents. I wish I could help the children, give them food and teach them games, but we can barely provide for ourselves and with Katniss gone, it will be even harder. I sigh and begin jogging to catch up with Gale.
When we finally reach the fence, we stop for a minute. The fence is rarely on, but we still must listen for the buzzing. When we hear nothing, he walks down the fence line a few yards and then bends down. I watch curiously, not sure what he is doing or how we cross. Under the fence, he starts moving some long, dried pieces of grass, which I can now see was placed there. After a minute, I see a hole under the fence just big enough for us to go under. He motions for me to go first. I crawl under the fence in the soft dirt. He follows, in the same way, inching his way under the fence before standing up. We walk into the woods and within a few minutes, he points to a tree. At least I think that's what he's pointing at, I really have no clue. He's kneeling on the ground next to a sapling that looks like it's bent in half. He motions for me to come over to him. I walk towards him and realize that the sapling has been bent.
"It's a snare," he explains. I have heard Katniss talk about snares. She's said that Gale is really good at making them. She says he can think like the animals and knows exactly how they'll react to trouble or bait.
"Katniss told me you're good with snares," I tell him. He looks up at me for a moment, a pained expression in his eyes, before looking back down at the snare.
"Yeah, well she could beat me with a bow any day," he mumbles.
"She's better than anyone with that bow..." he says, his voice trailing off, still looking down. I sit down beside him, staring off into space. I feel hot tears running down my cheeks, and I don't bother to wipe them.
"I don't know what to do," I whisper. He puts an arm around me, shaking his head. I rest my head on his shoulder and try to control my breathing. He loves her, I can tell. I wish they could be together. I find myself wishing Katniss hadn't volunteered. Then she and Gale could get married, have kids, and be happy. After the Reaping, he went to say goodbye to Katniss then, I saw him running towards the woods. I think I saw a tear run down his cheek as he ran. I'm so scared, I don't know what to do without her.
"Let's go check that next snare," he says, his voice raw and laced with pain. Gale gets up and starts to jog down a well-worn path. Suddenly, he stops, turns a sharp left, and stalks into a deeper wooded area.
"There," he says. I see another snare set up, similar to the first but this time, with the sapling not bent over on the ground, but holding up a rabbit. He takes the mini noose off its neck and shows me the rabbit before storing it in the game bag. The rest of the morning goes on like this. We get two more rabbits and one squirrel. Gale walks me home, then turns to go.
"Thank you, Gale," I say.
"No Problem," he says and leaves to walk home. I cut up the rabbit that he gave me, just like he showed me yesterday, surprised that I remember how, and throw some of it onto the stove. By the time it's done, Mom is in the kitchen. She is finally changed out of the clothes she wore to the reaping, and her hair is in a messy bun. She gives me a thoughtful smile and goes to sit on our small, worn-out couch. I bring two plates for our breakfast, consisting of a bit of rabbit, and some cheese from my goat.
Mom turns on the TV, and we see that it has changed from the usual propaganda to Caesar Flickerman getting an audience "pumped up" as he calls it. After listening to his terrible jokes for a few minutes, they show recaps from the reaping.
District one is terrifying. When a girl is picked, you barely hear the name. Everyone is shouting, but it's not a protest. People are tripping over one another to volunteer. It starts the same for the boy, but he jogs to the stage and holds up his hand, motioning for the crowd to stop. He's grinning madly. It's sick, he actually wants to go to the games. In District Two, it is worse. They are both volunteers, and by the looks of it, it was planned and they know each other. They were both standing at the front of the crowd and volunteered immediately, grinning at each other. All the careers are terrifying. They have trained their entire lives and look to be pure muscle.
All the other districts fly by, but I'm not paying much attention to them until I see a young girl, probably my age, get picked. She's holding a toddler, probably around two, on her hip. She sets her down and, after coaxing her to stop crying, she walks up to the platform. She has dark skin and beautiful curly hair. I can't help but wonder, why we send all these people to die. It can't just be to keep us all in line. The next, I know, will be our Reaping. It shows me being picked then Katniss screaming, panic in her face, anger in her eyes. She yells to volunteer and unlike the career districts, no one cheers. Everyone holds up their hands in the three-fingered salute. The boy is picked and still, no one says a word. Mom moves to turn off the TV, then she wraps me in a hug, softly stroking my hair.
It's 7 now, and what will now be the nightly mandatory viewing comes on. Tonight is the start of the Hunger Games, or at least all the events beforehand. Tonight I will see Katniss. All the districts come out one by one in giant chariots. Flickerman is doing annoying with another guy who looks just as weird. Suddenly, everyone goes quiet before erupting in cheers.
"My, my, my. Who could that be?" He says, a bit too enthusiastically. I start to roll my eyes in disgust, but then I hear him again.
"It's Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from district 12!" I look up immediately to see Katniss, covered in flames. I gasp. They can't kill her before the games. It's not allowed, is it? It zooms in on her and I see that she is smiling and waving. I finally exhale in relief, still shocked. My sister, it seems, is wearing fire.
That night, I fall asleep in Mom's lap on the couch, and for the first time since the Reaping, I begin to have a good dream about Katniss.
We are playing in the meadow. Daisies are growing in the tall grass, and we are braiding them into each other's hair. Then we begin to climb a tree. We get up to a high branch to sit down, and look down at the beautiful view below. Then, I hear a crunch, the branch snaps and I scream. We are about to hit the ground when I awake with a start.
Just like in my dream, it seems that all the good things in my life are coming to an end.
A/N: Please just take one minute to leave a review or follow. It makes my day. I'm going to try to have chapters posted once or twice a week.