The Hunger Games

Chapter One

Rain sprinkled Ellie's face as she rolled over, looking up at the hole in the roof of her little shack that she called home. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, throwing off a poorly knitted blanket, the ends fraying and holes in some parts. She swept her feet off the bed, her feet touching the damp and cool floor. She lived on the outskirts of District 12 and had to get an early start to make it to the markets in time to get good or at least decent trades.
     She pulled on her trousers, the cuffs covered in mud and the knees stained with grass. She put on her hiking boots and pulled back her blonde hair into a ponytail. She put on a long sleeve shirt, pulling up the white sleeves. She grabbed her brown leather jacket and a piece of soggy bread and gently opened the crooked and cracked door.
    She broke into a jog as she headed towards the fence that separated the woods from District 12. She waited for a moment and heard no humming from the electric fence and slid through a ditch at the bottom of the wire. She ran into the trees, flipping over a rock that hid a bow and a sheath of arrows along with a hunting knife.
    She once hunted for her parents, but was now hunting for herself and for trading since an explosion blew her mother and father to bits. They barely had any remains to bury. She taught herself to fish and use a bow and how to make arrows since that was luxury that she couldn't afford. She figured that she would need these skills but felt like they would be useless if she was called today in the Reaping for the Hunger Games.
    She had witnessed a girl, Katniss Everdeen, volunteering in her sister's place. Ellie had become familiar with Katniss' younger sister, Prim, due to accidents when hunting. She would cut her hand on a branch or sprain her ankle from risen roots in the forest. She had since Katniss before, sometimes hiding in the bushes, an arrow pulled back waiting for the kill as a deer would raise it's head before she would release the arrow, the shaft landing in the animal's flank.
    Ellie did the same now, she crouched behind lush berry bushes, picking up a rock by her foot and throwing it at a nearby shrub, tiny birds flew in every direction. In one fluid movement, Ellie reached for an arrow, nocked it, and fired, a bird flapping twice before falling into another berry bush. Ellie pulled back the string again and released another arrow, the shaft going through the bird's plumage and into the bird's stomach; the creature falling to the dirt.

    Ellie carried the two birds by their feet, entering the streets of coal miners and traders. She had put her bow and knife back in her hiding place and she thought about if the birds would be enough today. She dodged people and other marketers as she made her way to the baker and other stores that had meat.
She bumped into familiar shoulders --the same people she saw each day-- and stopped at an older woman sitting in a rocking chair under a makeshift canopy; out of the rain. "What could I get for the bird?" Ellie asked, beginning to shiver in the cold. "Lamb." The woman replied flatly. She reached over and grabbed a parchment wrapped package. She snatched the bird from Ellie and handed her the chunk of meat. "Thanks." Ellie muttered as she walked away.
    She sat on a rock and plucked the feathers from the bird --useful for arrows-- and munched on berries she had gathered from the woods. She stuffed the feathers in her pockets and went into the bakery. She smiled at the boy on the porch who was feeding the pigs burnt bread. Peeta Mellark. The boy who survived the Hunger Games with Katniss. She passed him and opened the door, the aroma of freshly baked bread and warmth hitting Ellie.

    She began walking home with a loaf of bread -which was very generous of the baker-- and a slab of lamb when Prim came up to her. She wrapped her arms around Ellie and squeezed. Ellie hugged her back, Prim feeling the warmth of the bread and coolness from the meat on her back. Prim and Ellie had become friends and visited outside of medical attention and had become good company for each other.

"Prim! Hey! Where did you go? Primrose Everdeen!" Ms. Everdeen and Katniss came up to Prim and Ellie, surprised to see her hugging someone neither of them really recognized. Prim pulled away. "Hey Bandage." Prim's nickname for Ellie since she had visited Prim every other day. "You only needed to use that once!" Ellie teased. Prim giggled as she walked into Katniss' embrace. Prim's hair was in two blonde braids, much like Katniss 's brown hair in one thick braid.
Ellie noticed that they all looked a little bit thinner and assumed that they hadn't been eating much. Ms. Everdeen had dark circles under her eyes and Ellie understood why. She had barely been sleeping herself due to the approach of the Reaping. She split the bread into half with a crunch and handed the bigger piece to Prim. "Oh no. We couldn't possibly take that from you." Ms. Everdeen said, staring at the loaf in Prim's hands. Katniss seemed to be in shock as well, looking at the bread, her mouth watering.
"Keep it." Ellie said. "Consider it a gift of good luck." She looked mostly at Katniss as she said good luck. She saluted at Prim and smiled and nodded at Katniss and Ms. Everdeen and turned on her heel, walking away; leaving the Everdeen's with food. She smiled at herself as she glanced back at the three girls, the bunch hugging and smiling at her gift. She picked up the pace, remembering that she needed to get ready for the Reaping.

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