Ok here is chapter three. It corresponds with chapter three in the book. Please let me know what you think, constructive criticism is welcomed! Look for chapter 4 coming soon!
Chapter 3 –
After they finish playing the national anthem, Katiness and I are taken in to custody. We weren't handcuffed or anything, but they marched us into the Justice Building and gave us each a separate room. The room was very rich and luxurious, but I couldn't focus on that. It was time to say our goodbyes. As I sit on the couch awaiting my first visitor, I try to think of what to say. It will be my last chance to say anything to them, my last chance to say goodbye. I'm not very good with goodbyes. Not when it's goodbye forever.
My first visitor is my mother. She comes in, her face expressionless, and gives me a quick stiff hug. "Good luck," she told me quickly, and made her way to the door. A quick goodbye, but one none the less awkward and forced. Just as she walks out she mutters, "She's a fighter that kid, Maybe District 12 will actually have a winner this year," It didn't hit me until after she closed the door that she didn't mean me, she meant Katiness. Yeah, she is, and I would make sure she would win, but it still hurt not to have her support.
My next visitor is my father. He came in with tears in his eyes. "Hey there kid," he says. "Hey dad," I say. He doesn't say much, but he comes up to me and gives me a big hug, not letting go. "I love you dad," I say. I can already feel my eyes welling up; out of all the people in the world, I probably love my dad the most. He was always there for me; he was always by my side to tell me it would be ok. I know his face like the back of my hand, his eyes always bright and a small smile on his upturned lips, even in the worst of situations. As I hug him, I take in the smell of freshly baked pastries, and flour, and sugar. He always smells like a freshly baked loaf of bread. To me it's the best smell in the world.
"Don't worry, it's going to be ok, kid. I'll make sure to have a huge cake ready for when you come home." He told me. "and don't worry, I'll make sure that the little girl won't starve, I'll make sure her and her mother have enough to eat," he whispers in my ear. My father knows, I guess he always had known about me and Katiness. And if he knew that then he would understand I won't be coming home. But he still gives me reassurance. "I love you, son," he whispers. Just then the Peace Keepers come into the room and tell him it's time to go. He doesn't struggle, he pulls away and goes with them out the door, giving my hand one last reassuring squeeze, and slipping a small item into my hand.
After he is gone I look in my hand and see that the item he has given me is a necklace. The token on the chain is a circle, but I notice that it opens. Carefully opening it up, I see a photograph on one side of me and him, the one picture of my life that I have. In the other side is a sliver of bread; a sliver of home. I stare at it for a few minutes, thinking about all I was about to lose. Then carefully I clasp the necklace around my neck. Clutching the locket, I take a deep breath and approached the door as the Peacekeepers came to take me away.
It is a short ride to the train station, and they drive us in a car. As we ride, I glance over at Katiness. Her face is still cold and expressionless. I am curious as to why until we pull into the station. It is swarming with cameras aiming directly at our faces as we get out of the car. Still, I do not try to hide my blotchy eyes. Let them see, let them target me as a weakling, it won't matter anyways. I found Katiness glancing at me strangely; almost analyzing my emotions, trying to figure me out as we load up on the train. I am grateful, there are no cameras on the train, and so we can get a break. At 250 miles per hour, we will reach the capital in under a day.
We are shown to our rooms to get cleaned up. My room is just past Katiness's room. We walk past each other without a word; we hadn't spoken since our names were draw out of the globe. Funny it was just this morning, morning felt like ages away. I don't bother to shower off, having cleaned up this morning. Instead I change into a simple shirt and pants and wash the redness from my face. With nothing else to do, I head over to the dining car for dinner. It isn't long before Effie shows up, and Katiness follows like a shadow behind her. "Where is Haymitch?" Effie asks, eyeing at the empty seat next to me "Last time I talked to him he was going to take a nap," I reply coolly. Effie seems to relax a little at this news. I can't really blame her.
The servants quickly bring out our food. The plates are massive, and they never seem to end. The set so many plates on the table that I can't even see the table cloth! Not only that, but each plate is mounded with food, of all types and flavors. I have never seen so much food in my life! I glance over at Katiness, her eyes widening at the sight of the food, and I know she is thinking the same thing. Greedily, we began to scoop the delicacies on our plates. I try a little of everything, some of the stew, a helping of carrots, a big slice of honey smoked ham with a cherry glaze. When I can no longer fit any more food on my plate, I pick up my knife and fork and began to eat. Katiness does the same. The food is so delicious, I never knew it could taste this good! Closing my eyes as I scoop another bite of stew into my mouth, I savor the flavor. "Well it's nice that you two have good manners!" Effie chirped in her silly Capital accent, "The last two tributes I had ate like savages! It was truly barbaric, I lost my appetite!" Looking up at her, I found myself filled with anger. Last years tributes were from the seam, and they never had enough to eat a day in there life. And so certainly when they see food like this, table manners was the last thing on their mind! Katiness and I both had the same idea, setting down our utensils and making it a point to eat the rest of the meal with our hands, and sloppily using the tablecloth as our napkin. That shut Effie up. By the time I am done, I am struggling to hold down the food. Leaving in the District, we are not use to such rich food. But I am determined to hold it down; I will need all my strength in the arena if I want to keep Katiness alive.
After dinner, during which Haymitch never bothered to show up, we were taken to the next compartment to watch a recap of the reapings. I try to pay close attention so I know what we are up against. When we got to our district, you see Katiness volunteering and the goodbyes of the local people. I watch Haymitch's famous head dive with amusement. Effie is not so easily amused. "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation," she griped. I laugh "He was drunk, he's drunk every year," I replied."Every day!" Katiness adds with a smile. Haymitch doesn't have any family or friends, so with the money from his victory he wastes it buying spirits. I don't recall if I've ever seen him sober a day in my life! His behavior issues wouldn't be fixed by any of her high class tips! "How odd you find it amusing considering he will be your lifeline in the games, being your difference in life and death!" she hissed. Right on cue, Haymitch enters into the compartment."Did I miss dinner?" he asks in a slurred voice. Then he vomits right on the floor and passes out cold. "So laugh away!" Effie exclaims bitterly as she hobbles out of the compartment, avoiding the pool of vomit.
Even if she was annoying, she was right. We couldn't afford to loose Haymitch, or to get on his bad side. Exchanging glances with Katiness, I know she agreed. Slowly we grab Haymitch by the arms and pull him up. Carefully with Haymitch half walking – half leaning on us, we make our way to his room and set him down in the tub. He barley notices. I notice that Katiness is uneasy, so I decide to finish cleaning up Haymitch alone. "It's ok, I'll take it from here," I tell her."Alright," she says finally, after obviously giving it a little bit of thought, "I can send one of the capital people to help you." "No, I don't want them," I reply quickly. There is nothing that I would let the capital people help me with unless I was forced to. They sit in there huge homes, eating so much food it could feed an entire village, and sipping their tea, just waiting for the days when the Hunger Games with start so they can watch us die. As if there isn't enough people dying already from starvation in the districts! No, starvation is never the official cause of death. They would call it over exposure, flu, food poisoning, but never starvation. Try telling their families that when they hold the body of their child in their hand, their corpse so thin you can see their ribcage, their face sunken in, and their skin clutching tightly to their bones. No, I do not want the help of the capital people, ever. Katiness nodes, politely flashes a thankful smile, then quickly returns her face to her sullen thinking look. I shake my head as she walks out; if only I knew what she was thinking.
Careful, I undress Haymitch and turn on the shower. He stinks of spirits and vomit, but none the less, I wash him up using the sweetest smelling soaps to cover up the stink. I am glad Katiness isn't here to see this, cleaning up Haymitch is not a pretty sight. When I finally have him cleaned up, I dress him in a pair of pajamas from his dresser and help him into bed. Then I return to my room to go to sleep. Tomorrow we will be in the Capital. In the early morning we will be handed off to our stylists to get cleaned and dressed up for the evening presentation ceremony. Climbing into bed, I shut my eyes and drift off to sleep. I let the tiredness take over me, and float dreams into my head. Dreams in a world where there is no capital. There is no hunger, or thirst, or pain. A world where there is no Hunger Games, no death, no fear. It makes me wonder, living in a dark world like this, if there even is such a thing like happiness. My mind drifts to Katiness, her face glowing and lit up with a smile. I see her in my arms, laughing. We are standing in a field; there are no decaying buildings of the districts, nor the tall, powerful towers of the capital. It is just me and her. Happiness, it must not be real. Not the deep, all the way through kind of happiness. Yes we have some joy, and love, but to be truly happy with our lives seems like a dream. Not while the capital people rule over us. We would be free of them one day, free to live our lives as we wish. One day, I thought. And I would pray that Katiness live long enough to see this for me. One day.
