Prim's games - the hunger games

Chapter 2 - the tributes

Katniss reluctantly trudges up to the stage,trying to keep a steady face.Eventually, the sound of her climbing up the stage brings me back to myself.

My legs seem to have a mind of their own as I rush through the crowd "Katniss!" I scream hysterically behind her."Katniss!"I finally reach her.

"I volunteer!" My eyes burn "I volunteer as tribute!"
Theres some confusion on the stage.It's been decades since district 12 had a volunteer so the protocols become rusty.

Somehow,In some districts, the reaping is a big honour to whoever is fearless enough to risk their lives but in district 12,where the word tribute is interchangeable with the word corpse, volunteers are all but extinct.

"Lovely!" cheers Effie trinket. "But I believe there's a small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteers and if one does come forth then we, um. . ."she trails off,unsure of herself.

"What does it matter?" Says the mayor. he's looking at me with a pained expression. He probably doesn't know who I am,but there's a faint recognition under the pain.Maybe he remembers me as the little sister who tagged along with her daughters friend.The girl who stood huddled with her mother as he presented her sister,the oldest child, with a medal of valour.

"What does it matter?" he repeats coldly. "let her come forward."

Katniss stares at me hysterically. "No,Prim! No! You can't go!". All I can manage is a sturdy expression,the same kind of one I get whenever I help my mother treat others.

I will myself not to cry, being one of the weakest from the poorest district has its disadvantages. I can feel the peacekeepers dragging Katniss away as she flails desperately as I look away, unable to look at the girl that sacrificed almost everything for me.

I try to calm my nerves and climb the spine chilling stairs that'll lead me to my possible death.

"Well,bravo!" Effie trinket compliments. "That's the spirit of the games!" I suppose she's pleased to finally have a little action going on in this ,comparatively, boring District. Even if I wasn't quite the 'action' she was hoping for.

"What's your name?" She invites me to stand closer to her so I do.

"Prim," I mutter meekly "Primrose Everdeen" I feel my cheeks heating up as I try to focus anywhere but the sea of people.

"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we? Come on, everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" trills Effie Trinket.

To the everlasting credit of the people of district 12, not one person claps. Not even the ones holding betting slips, the ones who are usually beyond caring.

Something changes in the air but a shift has occurred since I volunteered and then one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd holds three of their left fingers to their lips and raises them towards me. It's an old and rarely
used gesture that I occasionally see at funerals. it means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love.

I can feel my eyes tear up.Luckily Haymitch decides that this is the best time for him to stumble across the stage over to me.

He slings an arm around my shoulders and starts to go into a drunken rant about how unfair the games are but I can't focus on anything he's saying. I do all I can to avoid Katniss' heartbroken stare as I start to feel a headache creep up.

"More than you!" I only notice that the peacekeepers have came when his arm gets ripped off of mine. "More than you!" He shouts, directly point at the camera whilst the peacekeepers drag him away.

Suddenly,as he's opening his mouth to continue, haymitch stumbles and knocks himself unconscious. I want to go help him,I really do, but my limbs refuse to move as I gawk at the man who's supposed to be my last hope.

Haymitch is promptly whisked away on a stretcher, and Effie trinket, with her slender hands trying to straighten her wig, is trying to excite the crowd. "What an exciting day!" She sighs as she walks over to the male reaping bowl and picks over another slip of paper.

"Peeta Mellark!" A boy with wavy, ashy blond hair walks steadily on stage. If it wasn't for his expression I would think he was almost too calm for the situation.

Effie trinket asks for volunteers but no one steps forward, even though he has two older brothers,one too old to be reaped and the other. . . Well, what I did was the abnormal thing.

The mayor begins to read the treaty of treason but I can't listen to a word. Why him? I think. I shouldn't even know him, the only thing he's ever done for me was years ago yet I still feel sorry for him.

When my father died, Me and Katniss were on the brink of death, She was only 11 and had to wait until her birthday, which was a couple months away.

Katniss tried to sell some of my old clothes in town and the rain was falling in relentless sheets. For three days, all we had to eat was some stale mint leaves as our money was slowly running out.

It was getting dark, so Katniss decided to take a look inside the merchants rubbish bins. Perhaps there was a rotten vegetable or some stale bread, something no one but our family was desperate enough to eat.

Suddenly, the bakers wife was screaming at her, telling her to move on and threatened to call the peacekeepers. As she was backing away from the bins, she noticed a young boy peering out behind his mothers back.

The woman began yelling after what felt like years "feed it to the pig! No one decent will buy burned bread!"

He started to tear off chunks from the bread and tossed them into the trough, whilst his mother disappeared to help a customer. Katniss had described the wound on his cheekbone and it sounded awful.

He glanced back at the bakery, as if checking that the coast was clear, and threw two loaves of bread at my sister's direction.

Katniss then returned with more food than we had seen in months. I remember trying to tear of a chunk but Katniss dragged my mother out of bed so we could have a proper meal together. We ate an entire loaf, slice by slice. I never knew why he burned those loaves but I'm still thankful it happened, on purpose or not.

The mayor finishes reading the treaty and motions for me and Peeta to shake hands. I reach over to shake his hand and he gives me a reassuring squeeze as the anthem of Panem comes to a close.