Shepard Howard- District Ten male (17)

Perhaps no other Tribute in Games history had gone through such a cultural shift as I had. We had some battery-powered things back home but they were functional and mostly for emergencies. We got our water from a river and that's how warm our baths were. Life was spartan but I'd never felt deprived. I wasn't sure how I felt anymore after seeing the Capitol.

I hadn't known there could be just this much technology. Most people had electric lights and running water, sure, but nothing like this. Here the walls and floors were made of some unrecognizable material unlike any wood or stone I'd ever seen. I couldn't take a step without something lighting up or making a noise or moving. I didn't know how people could think with all this music and color. Was that why people said the Capitolites were so vapid? They just literally couldn't hear themselves think?

It wasn't even just the technology. It was the excess. There weren't just lights in my room. There were rainbow twinkling lights that automatically synced to any music I turned on. There wasn't just a tub in the bathroom- though I did admit I appreciated a hot bath. There was a giant pigpen-sized sunken pond with a button for waves or a whirlpool or whatnot. I could only imagine the Capitolites were like last-stage sensation freaks who'd so burned out their ability to appreciate life that they had to chase these ludicrous highs to feel anything at all.

This is just too much. I'm going up. I couldn't go out, since Tributes were confined to the Games building, so I'd go up. At least I could see the sky. I climbed the stairs, appreciating that at the very top they were almost plain concrete. Not many people care to see the sky, I guess. I opened the door and-

Oh. It's cloudy. What a way to spend the last night in the Games building. Some people might call it an omen. Still, the barren concrete walls and floor were at least not so gaudy. I stretched myself out on the ground to look up into the air and to hear only the faint sound of cars beneath me. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I learned a disquieting truth. It wasn't cloudy at all. There were just no stars.

What? How are there no stars ? Was there a giant dome over the entire Capitol, maybe for security or air purity reasons?

I felt stupid when I remembered. If there was too much light at night the stars were hidden. I'd never been in a crowded enough part of Ten to see it for myself, but I'd seen full-moon nights where they were certainly fainter. Wasn't that just symbolic? The Capitolites had walled themselves up so far with their lights and their luxuries that they'd literally lost their connection to the world. None of the lights in the Capitol could compare to the quiet brilliance of the stars at night. So many things they missed out on because they wanted more. I didn't mean to be some stubborn pearl-clutcher- technology had its place and we were all better off for it. My cousin Mae sure had a lot fuller life after she got her inhaler, which wasn't exactly made of wood and straw. There just needed to be a balance. Some old, some new, some natural, some manmade. Don't turn your nose up at anything not made of stone and bearskins, but don't blot out the stars.

Octavia Jacobs- District Two female (18)

I hadn't seen my brother's silhouette in the doorway at night for a long, long time. Val had always had such a more vivid imagination than I had. When we would sneak horror movies while our parents were out late I would sit there thinking they were just silly. Val would say the same but then an hour later he'd come creeping into my room, saying maybe we should sleep together for the night, just in case. Even then I'd thought it was something to treasure. Someday we'd be old and have our own separate lives. Someday one of those sleepovers would be the last and we wouldn't know at the time. I'd never thought I actually would.

Trydan Briod- District Five male (17)

What was my family doing right now? I didn't even know what time it was at our house. They might be eating dinner. I doubted anyone could eat. They might already be in bed, in which case I doubted anyone could sleep.

Will Cebl remember me? I was eight when my grandfather died. I had a few pieces of memory with him but not much. I remembered his white mustache but not his entire face. My little sister was seven years old now. Would I be part of her forever or would I fade from her mind as much as Grandpa had from mine? It might be the best picture she had of me was the ever-looping, ever-inevitable footage of my death.

Rowena Aspen- District Seven female (14)

I sat on the edge of my bed bouncing my leg. I should sleep. It's not like I'll be able to, though. I gotta do something. Just anything is better than this.

I got up and started pacing in squares around the room. Good. Stretch out the muscles. Be ready for the Arena. Stretching! That's a good idea.

I flexed one leg and then the other. I bent my back and flexed my arms over my head. I pulled up one foot and then the other, balancing unsteadily.

Maybe I should do some push-ups?

Alara Banks- District Four female (17)

Dad's grave didn't have a fresh strand of sea lavender today. I wondered if my strands were still there, drying out and wilting. If I lay next to him, would my grave have any flowers?

Enzo Charmont- District Twelve male (18)

"Hey computer, which foods take longest to digest?"

"Meat and fish can take up to two days to fully digest."

"So if I just pig out on meat and fish right now I'll have a cushion for like two days into the Arena?"

"I'm not sure I understand that question."

I was more of a man of action than words anyway. I ordered up a plate of chicken breasts, for health, and steak, for fun. I would have chugged water but I remembered from school that it only took about half an hour to run through my system. Wonder how many calories I can eat in one sitting…

"Hey, computer?"

"Yes?"

"If I hold my poop in for a few days will my body pull out some more nutrients from it?"

"Forced lack of defecation will eventually result in you expelling the feces orally."

"No shit?!"

"No, lots of shit."

Yarrow Venus- District Three female (17)

Chances were at the very least five of us would be dead in twenty-four hours. As I lay unable to sleep I let my morbid thoughts run wild. It could be me- I got that one out of the way straight off. If not, who? Ai, I reckoned. Enzo, if he did something stupid. For no reason, I suspected Persi. I just thought the Careers wouldn't like the way she looked. And probably someone no one expected. Kendall? Kallik? Shep? So much depended on who happened to be standing by who.

Thought I'd shake things up and have a lot of little POVs, plus Shep to finally get him caught up.