I'm perched in my tree with my mom's old bow. Jay couldn't come to meet me here today. He said he had to help his mom at the laundry today. I pull the arrow back and take my aim. It all happens in one quick second. I heard the deer coming a minute before and got up in the tree. Now The deer runs through the clearing and I release my arrow just in time. The deer keeps running but I hear a loud thump and I know I got it's chest perfectly. I stand up straight and drop my quiver and bow into a pile of leaves under me and jump off the branch making sure to bend my knees and land so I am on the ground on the balls of my feet leaning forward and finally am on my knees. I'm back up running to find the deer.
I was right, there is a perfect hole in the deer's chest when I pull out my arrow. There isn't even that much bloodshed. I clean off my arrow and realize I shouldn't have gone with a deer since I'm alone, it's a full grown male, too. I grab it's back legs and start dragging it back over to where my quiver and bow is and put my arrow back and the quiver and bow over my shoulder before I start trying to haul the deer back to the fence. I hide my bow and arrows in the same tree my mom hid and still hides her quiver and bow in as well and heave the deer to the hole at the fence where we slip through to escape District 12 and hide out in the woods. My mom, me, my best friend Jay, and his dad go out here and hunt for meat even though it isn't necessary for us. Both Jay and my families have plenty of money to keep us going but it's just fun and besides, fresh meat is the best.
When I reach the fence I see another problem. Usually, when Jay and I get big game like this, he slips through to the other side and pulls it through while I help when the fur or the hoof or something gets caught on the fence. But again, I'm alone so I'll have to figure out another solution. I sit down and put my ear close to the fence, checking for the hum of the fence to show that it's electricity is on, but of course it isn't. The fence's electricity is never on. I tighten my ponytail and consider hiding the deer and going home to get Mom to come help me get the deer through. I stand up to go hide the deer when a voice says, "Need some help?"
I look up and see my savior. "I thought you had laundry to do, mister?" I say looking at him smiling.
He returns the smile and walks to the fence and starts to help me pull the deer through the gap under the fence. "Mom let me off for the day," he says getting the antlers under and then yanking the first half through.
"Ohh nice," I say as he pulls the whole deer through and helps me through. I hug him and we both carry the deer back to my house.
On the way Jay brings up a topic I've been trying to avoid. "So, excited for tomorrow, birthday girl?"
I sigh, and it isn't from the weight of the deer. "I don't think I'll ever be excited for my birthday until I turn nineteen... If I ever turn nineteen," I say. Tomorrow is my twelfth birthday and it's also the day my name get's put into the reaping ball for the Hunger Games. Each year, they'll put my name in there one more time than before.
"Don't say that," Jay says. "Both of us will turn nineteen. We've only got our names in once, Felicity."
If your name gets drawn for you to be a tribute for the Hunger Games, well, almost every tribute from District 12 doesn't make it back. The last time a tribute survived the Games was during the seventy-fourth Hunger Games- the one my mom and dad one as a District 12 team.
"I know, I know," I say as we approach the Victor's Village where I live with my mom and dad. We drop the deer on my front porch and I look at Jay with a weak smile. Then I notice something blue smeared above his left eyebrow.
"What's that?" I say reaching forward and wiping it off with my thumb. Jay looks at it on my finger and grabs my hand and wipes it off on his shirt before I can examine it. I give him a questioning look but just shake my head deciding I don't really care anymore. The mention of my birthday has made my mood drop a little.
Jay and I walk into the front door and I hear my mom yelling, "Peeta! Peeta! You forgot to take the tea off the stove! Ugh, I swear! I see her rushing into the kitchen and taking the tea kettle off the stove and mumble, "The man can take a cake out of the oven with perfect timing but ask him to simply take the tea off the stove - noo that's too difficult to remember..."
"Mom! I'm back," I say closing the door behind Jay and slipping my shoes off at the rug. "I caught a deer!"
Dad rushes in with paint on his cheeks and hands and sees Mom setting the tea to cool. "Oh, hey you got it!" he says to Mom, earning a dirty look. Then he turns to me and points a finger at me. "Did you leave it on the porch again? Is it bleeding? Is that deer blood on your hands?" Dad asks all at once.
I blink then respond, "Yes, not much, and probably." I look down at my hands and sure enough I've got some deer blood on them. Gross.
Jay does too so we both go wash our hands while Dad moves the deer to the backyard and Mom pours us some tea.
Dad just goes right back up to the spare bedroom he uses as an art studio, he says he's working on a new project.
Mom helps me and Jay skin the deer and she wraps up half of it to for us to take to Jay's parents. I'm already half way to the front porch when I realize Mom and Jay haven't followed me. She runs up holding the wrapped up meat and I ask where Jay went.
"Your father wanted to talk to him about something. C'mon, I'd like to see Gale," she says and we set off to the Hawthorne house.
When I knock on the door, Gale opens it and smiles at the sight of us.
"Hey, Katniss. Hi Felicity," he says ruffling my hair a little and giving Mom a kiss on the cheek in return for the one she gave him.
"Felicity caught a deer today. Thought you'd like some fresh meat," Mom says holding up the wrapped heap and Gale lets us in.
Jay comes home a little bit after we got to his house and his dad tackles him to the couch calling him a slacker.
We stick around for a little bit until Mom says she needs to get home so she can start dinner and do some "stuff".
So I hug Jay and Mom hugs Gale and me and her go home to find Dad just walking downstairs with a few paintbrushes in hand and some green and blue paint in his blond hair.
"Hi Daddy," I say skipping over and hugging him. He hugs me back and then goes into the kitchen to wash his brushes so Mom can have the kitchen.
"Can I go see what you're working on, Dad?" I ask sitting at a chair at the island.
Dad shakes his head. "Nope. It's a surprise," he says ruffling my hair. "But I 've got some other ones you can see." He takes me into his studio, or the spare room but Mom just let's him have it as his studio. Dad loves to paint, he says it's sort of like decorating cakes. We walk in and the wall has almost all of his paintings on the walls. The ones he can get up there and the ones he hasn't sold. Sometimes people from the Capitol will buy paintings from him.
I look and he has three new paintings sitting out to dry. One is of me and Mom, another of me with icing all over my face and hands. I'm reaching toward the person looking at the painting, like in a picture as if I were reaching for a camera. The last one is of me, him, and Mom sitting out in a meadow. I'm in between them picking dandelions. It looks like I'm about five in the picture.
"I like that one best," I say pointing to the last one.
Dad smiles. "Me too," he says.
After dinner I take a shower and brush my teeth. I'm heading up the stairs to my room when Dad puts his hands around my waist and pulls me back and into his arms. "Oh no you don't!" he says.
I squeal when he tosses me over his shoulder and takes me up to his and Mom's room. "Dad! Daddy! Put me down! Ahh!" I squeal pawing at his back. He tosses me down on his and Mom's bed and starts tickling my sides only making me giggle more. "D-Daddy! St-Stop it!"
He finally does then kisses my cheek and ruffles up my hair. I'm still giggling a little and my sides ache a little but I can't seem to stop smiling.
Dad lays on the bed next to me and pulls me over so that I lay on top of him. "You're sleeping in here tonight with us," he tells me hugging me to him.
I put my legs flat on his and put my hands in his hair. "Why? Is something wrong with my room?" I ask.
"No, but I've got a birthday surprise in there for you," he says taking my hands in his and waving them around.
I giggle and put my nose on his. "What is it?" I ask.
"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
"It would be if I act surprised."
"I don't think so."
"Well can I have a hint?"
Dad thinks for a minute then lets go of my arms. "It's got your name on it," he says and flips me so I'm laying on my back again and he tickles my sides once more before giving me a quick kiss. "Now, get under the covers and I'll be right back to tell you goodnight."
I watch him leave then curl up in the middle of the bed under the covers. I scoot over closer to Dad's side because I know it'll bug him and it's funny.
Mom comes up and kisses me before she tucks me in and turns the light down. "You go right to sleep now, birthday girl," she says brushing my hair out of my eyes. "You've still got school to go to."
"Mommy... What if my name gets picked?" I say quietly. I don't have to say more, she knows what I'm talking about.
"Don't even suggest that," she says. "Your name is only one out of the thousands of names that are in that reaping ball. And you never have to put your name in more than what is required. Some kids have their names in so many times for teserae. I had to do that, but you don't have to." I've heard my mom's stories about when she and my dad were in the Hunger Games. How they saved each other multiple times. Their sweet romance and how she faked it, but then fell in love with him back in the end. How they got married at 20 and had me the next year. Originally it was for the publicity, to keep the Capitol out of their hair. I guess that makes me a child not of love but it doesn't bother me because I know how much they love me now.
"Jay said that his dad told him that we'd both get to turn nineteen," I say not looking in her eyes.
"Gale is right. I have complete faith that no matter what you both will make it past eighteen." With that she kisses my forehead once and gets up. "Try to get some sleep, honey. Your father will be in here in a minute."
She walks out and shuts the door behind her. I lie awake and stare at the ceiling for a few minutes before Dad walks in and as soon as he sees me he puts his hands on his hips.
"Hmm... I think someone's in my spot," he says raising an eyebrow at me.
I giggle. "It's soo much more comfy right here," I say stretching so I cover his side almost completely.
"Well where do you propose /I/ sleep?" he asks waving a hand to the rest of the bed.
"You could sleep down there," I say pointing to the foot of the bed, "Or right here." I pat the half of a foot left on his side of the bed and he shakes his head.
"Ohh I don't think so." He comes over and lays on his side next to me and drapes half himself all across me. I giggle and try to push him off but he isn't budging. "Ahh, this is super comfortable," he says happily.
"Hey get off!" I groan trying to squirm out from under him but the moment I get free he pulls me into his arms like a teddy bear. "Hey!"
"Hey yourself, silly," he says and rolls on his back so that I'm now lying on top of him. "You go to sleep right away, got it?" he says.
I nod and touch the tip of his nose with my finger. "Got it."
He tucks me back in and lays next to me after I ask him to stay until I fall asleep.
"Now just close your eyes and don't think about anything," he says moving my hair out of my face. I curl up to him in response and close my eyes.
"I don't want my name to get picked, Daddy," I say softly.
He holds me close and comfortingly. "Don't worry about it, baby. It's only once your name goes into the reaping ball. No more than that this year."
"But you and Mom will have to leave, won't you? For whoever get's picked? What if they want both of you this year?" Every year, since my parents are both victors and Haymitch Abernathy, our neighbor and the oldest District 12 victor alive, is usually wanting nothing to do with the games and drinking away his sanity, either Mom or Dad has to leave for however many weeks it takes for our District's tributes to be eliminated. Usually they take turns, but one year, I was nine and the Capitol said that both had to go. I lived with Jay and his family for those weeks. It was that year that our tributes actually almost won so they were at the Capitol for much longer than I was used to. But at the last second the District 4 tributes came out of no where and took down the District 12 kids and won.
Dad shakes his head. "They won't. If they do, we'll get them to let one of us stay. Or make them let you come. We won't leave you behind again," he promises and I can hear it in his voice that he means it.
Soon enough I doze off. I wake up at some point and hear Mom and Dad talking. I keep my eyes closed and pretend I'm still asleep, so I can hear their conversation.
"Prim's name got called, I don't want that to happen to her too. This is exactly why I didn't want to have a child," I hear my mother's voice say. "I love Felicity with all of my heart but I don't know what I'd do if she gets called."
"I know, but there wasn't anything we could do, Katniss. I only regret not trying to talk to the president to get a law passed. It isn't right that two victors' child has to risk being reaped. Especially since /both/ parents are victors in her case," Dad says. They're talking about me and before I was born. I feel them both lay down under the covers and shift a little so I am curled up to Dad again. He puts his arm around me.
"Peeta what are we going to do? If her name /does/ get called?"
Dad doesn't even try to tell her it won't happen like they did to me. He simply says, "We go with her. Get her sponsors and sponsor her ourselves. She won't be alone and we've both taught her strategies."
Mom lays next to me and puts an arm around me as well. It feels comforting where I lay now. In between my parents where no matter what happens I am safe and sound. They kiss and Dad turns the lights off. I put my worries behind me and doze back off.
When I wake up, I'm alone in the bed again and the time is right around when Mom usually rouses me to get ready for school. I crawl out of bed and tiptoe into the kitchen. Dad and Mom are at the breakfast nook and there is a stack of chocolate chip pancakes warm and fresh on the counter as if they're cooling. I see a bowl with icing in it and tiptoe over behind the counter so they can't see me. Every year Dad and Mom let me put candy and sugar and icing and stuff all on my breakfast on my birthday.
I hear Mom say something to Dad and poke my head up and see the bowl of icing right in front of me and put my head back out of view. I reach up and go to stick my finger in the icing to have a taste and then hear Dad say, "Look at that, Katniss. The counter's grown hands and is trying to eat the icing with it's fingers." I giggle and pull my hand back down and he comments that the counter can giggle too. I get on my knees and crawl around the island to poke my head around the corner but Dad isn't sitting there. Suddenly there are hands around me, pulling me up into the air and into their owner's arms.
"Trying to sneak some, eh?" Dad says tossing me over his shoulder.
I squeal. "No no! My hands have a mind of their own! /They/ were stealing it!" I protest but he just walks over to the couch in the living room and tosses me on it with a grunt.
I land against the soft cushions, completely consumed with giggles.
Dad smiles down at me. "Good morning, birthday girl," he said reaching down and tickling me. I laugh and he picks me back up so that he's holding me bridal-style.
"Good morning, Daddy," I say with a smile. He carries me over to the breakfast nook and sits me down in a chair. Mom gives me a hug and tells me happy birthday while dad readies a plate for me.
"So how much icing, kiddo? The usual three spoonfuls?" Daddy asks dipping a spoon in the bowl of icing.
I shake my head. "None.. I'm not really in the mood for all of that sugar today." And I'm not. I'm very hungry, but I've completely lost my sweet tooth to nerves. I'm twelve now. Today, my name goes into the reaping ball. Today I'm legally allowed to be reaped into the Hunger Games. And it scares the life out of me.
Mom and Dad exchange a little concerned look and Dad nods and puts my plate of pancakes and glass of milk in front of me. He ruffles my hair a little.
"Try to hurry, missy. Your father's taking you to school and he has to drop by the Bakery on the way there," Mom says kissing my head. I nod and start eating.
Mom and Dad let me wear my favourite green dress to school and I've been trying all day to keep it clean. Jay and I are outside for recess.
"So it's about time you turned twelve," Jay says. We're on the swing set and he's going a bit faster than me.
I smile a little. "Sorry to keep you waiting. But it isn't my fault you're two months older," I say sticking my tongue out at him. He returns it and I can't help but smile because he just looks kind of silly.
"So, I forgot to bring your present to school. Dad said he'll bring it by when he comes to pick me up," Jay says.
I nod. "Is it another turtle?" I ask giving him a skeptic look. For the past two or three years Jay has found a turtle in his back yard and given it to me as a birthday gift. It's become a sort of joke with us now.
"You'll just have to wait and see," he says with a grin.
It's after school and Jay and I are standing by the front doors. I see Mom and Gale and nudge Jay. We run to them and Gale gives me a hug and tells me happy birthday.
"Thank you, Gale," I say.
"No problem, Blondie. And here you go, Jay. It was right where you left it," Gale says handing jay a little bag.
Jay smiles at me and pulls out a necklace with a turtle charm on it out of the bag. "I did kind of get you another turtle," he says smiling.
I smile, probably bigger than I noticed. It's a really pretty wooden turtle that is about as big as a coin. It's got a green shell and little eyes painted on. I carefully take it into my hand, admiring it. "How did you get this, Jay? It looks like it'd cost a lot of money."
Jay shook his head. "You know how Jennifer, the girl in our class, her dad owns that store where he makes stuff out of wood?" I nod. "He helped me make it. It was really cool though cause he showed me how he could make one in like two seconds," Jay gushes.
"Whoa," I say smiling at the little necklace. Jay tells me to turn around and he puts the necklace on me. I look down and admire it. "Oh, thank you so much, Jay! I love it," I say and I give him a big hug and kiss his cheek.
"Ready to go, Felicity? Your father wants us to meet him at the bakery," Mom says brushing my hair out of my face. I nod, still smiling and give Jay another hug before starting off with Mom. I turn around and wave at him and Gale before we turn onto the street Dad's bakery is on.
Later that night, after dinner, Mom, Dad, and I are sitting in the living room playing cards. I'm in a new nightdress that Grandma got me. Mom and Dad got me some new art books and dresses.
"So, Jay made that necklace for you, huh?" Daddy says, noticing the turtle around my neck.
I nod. "Isn't it pretty? I love it."
Dad nods and agrees that it's nice. He looks over at the clock. "Whoa, it's past your bedtime little girl. Go get your teeth brushed."
"Aww, can I just stay up late tonight since it's my birthday?" I give him a pouty look.
He shakes his head. "You'll be so tired tomorrow at school if you do!"
"So?"
"So, you'll fall asleep and miss out on what's going on in class."
"Hmm... Is that a bad thing?"
Mom rolls her eyes and pokes my cheek. "Go get ready for bed, you."
I smile and go and brush my teeth. Dad comes to tuck me in when I finish.
We walk into my room and I turn on the light. My walls that were plain yellow last I remember are now painted with beautiful murals. It looks like my bed is in the middle of a little forest and on the walls where my door and closets there is a beach mural that blends in with the forest.
I gasp, literally speechless. I can tear my eyes away from the walls. I look up and see the ceiling painted to look like a cloudy sky.
"What do you think?" Dad asks smiling.
"It's beautiful, Daddy!" I look and see that my name looks to be written in the sand on the beach. "This is so cool!" I run over and touch the wall nearest to me gently.
Dad chuckles. "I'm glad you like it."
I looked around for a minute before he pulls me to bed.
Dad picks me up and puts me in bed.
"So did you have a nice birthday?" he asks pulling my covers up as I lay down.
I nod. "Yes. It was fun," I say yawning.
"Well good. I'm glad." He leans down and gives me a goodnight kiss. "Get some sleep, baby. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Daddy," I say as he walks back to my door.
He smiles at me. "Goodnight, cupcake." The light switches out and he leaves.
I lay awake for a while thinking about how the Reaping is getting closer and closer and my name is now in that ball.
*Author's Note*
I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters from the books mentioned in this chapter. All of the Hunger Games characters and references belong to Suzane Collins.
Thanks, I hope you enjoy ^^
-Tatiana :3