Back at home, every summer I would pick pumpkins, just outside the electric fence. For some reason, these pumpkins were seen by no-one else. I went to show Katniss the spot once, and it would disappear completely, but when I came back 5 minutes later, alone, it would be the same as it always was. It was a huge field of massive, delicious pumpkins. Usually I would only pick two a year to sustain its population, keeping one for my family and give the other away to the bakery. In return for this, Peeta Mellark would give me a portion of what he made out of it- lovely pumpkin loaves with the seeds sprinkled on top.

There must of been hundreds of pumpkins, so one day I collected more. Greasy Sae made a wonderful hot stew out of it, which I occasionally gave away to others in the Seam if my family wasn't starving. Which wasn't that often.

Peeta was in front of me;

"Snap out of it Nicola! Come back!"

"Wake up! Come on!" Now it was Haymitch in front of me, persuading me to get up.

I stood up off the floor, stretching my stiff muscles as the train sped by.

"About time" Haymitch muttered sarcastically.

I ignored his sarcasm, "How long have I been out?"

"Almost 2 hours" Yale replied.

Woah. But it's not the record.

"Dinners up." We started to follow Haymitch, winding through the luxurious corridors of the train.

"Already?" I asked Yale.

"You were out for a long time"

Rich delicacies covered the dining table, food that would last my family a whole week, let alone one meal. I started loading as much food as I could from every dish. I couldn't help myself so I started eating savagely, grasping the food in my hands,and piling the food into my open mouth . The table was a dark oak, polished to perfection, the carpet purple velvet, the walls a fabric I had never before seen in my life. The luxury of the train made my feel depressed.

"Where's Effie?" Yale asked whilst slowly eating a rich looking potato salad.

No-one replied. Haymitch picked at a piece of steak. Dessert arrived and I stuffed my mouth with another foreign food. This one looked like some sort of pie.

"What do they call this Yale?" I asked.

"It is an apple pie." He said, bored.

In amazement, I looked at the pie. I've only ever seen apples, never eaten them. The taste was glorious as it melted in my mouth.

Everybody sat back after the meal and looked at each other.

"We should talk tactics."

"Since when did you care Haymitch? You never help tributes!"

"Since your Aunt Wilma threatened to ration my alcohol supply if I didn't properly help my 'darling niece Nicola.' God she is so sappy"

Yale burst out laughing, and slowly so did I, and Haymitch started to join in. It was nice having a good laugh in such a serious situation. The clouds of desperation that once hovered over the dinner table started to lift. I felt free of any worries, even as we began to talk tactics.

"Nicola, you can't leave again, otherwise you have no chance of winning! I can't spend all the money getting you pills, you and Yale need it for other stuff as well!" Haymitch exclaimed angrily.

"What can you do, what can you do that can keep you alive? Yale, apart from identifying edible animals, you cant do anything! Nicola, you don't have a skill at all!"

"I know."

Suddenly Effie walked in, her skin coloured a blinding yellow. Her perfume was so strong and smelt like roasting snails. Trust me-I had to eat them once whilst my family was starving. It was not is all the rage, I assume.

Haymitch had a devious glint in his eyes. He was going to do something bad,

"Hey guys, what's that smell. It is really putrid. Can you smell it guys?" Haymitch said.

" It seems to be coming from over near you Effie." Yale said, playing along with the game "Can you smell it?"

Silence followed as we waited for her reply. "The only thing I can smell is my perfume".

Realising our joke, Effie left the room with her head held so high you thought she might be observing the velvet on the ceiling.

We laughed so hard we thought we would burst for a very, very long time.

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