The games.
Chapter 1
I woke up to the screams of Hayley. "Sh... It's alright." I say and hold her tightly. "It's not okay! I could get picked! I could die!" Hayley screams and cries. "Your name... Hayley Noelle Leblanc is in that glass ball once! Mine is in their 20. There are thousands of names! You will be fine!!" I say and try to calm her. "Julianna." Hayley says. "Yes?" I ask. "This isn't right." Hayley says.
I feel the warmth of the broth and the chewy rabbit in my mouth. It's delicious. "Enjoying it?" I ask Hayley. "It's great." She says and cracks a half smile. Her face is very gloomy. She isn't ready for her first reaping. I wasn't ready when I was 12. Now I'm 16. This is my 5th year of the being in the reaping and I have calmed down. Hopefully she will pull herself together when she is okay. My mother does mine and Hayley's hair and does wonderful braids. But I don't trust my mother. She let down our family when my brother died. I never had a dad. So my older brother was our dad. He taught me how to hunt. And taught me dozens of things before he was blown to bits in the mines. His name was Caleb. But my mother let down Hayley and I. She didn't know how to handle the pain. So I keep this family from starving.
I use a bow and arrow. I shoot all of my family's food. But not alone. I go beyond the barriers of my district. District 12. I go with Luke. My very good friend. One of my only friends. We met in the woods. We hunt a lot together. His father was blown up in the same mine explosion as my brother. So now we hunt together to feed our family's. He has 2 sisters and one brother plus a mother to feed. I just have my mother and Hayley. But let's explain some of this to you. There is 13 districts. Which are areas in North America. Then we have our Capitol. As you know it would be your government. They run the games. Which the games are where, from districts 1-12 they pick 1 boy and 1 girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to be put in a computerized arena to fight to the death. Only 1 person goes home out of 24. There was 13 districts until district 13 tried to make a rebellion against the Capitol to try to destroy it. They failed and the Capitol blew them to bits. Now there are 12. Today is the day they pick the tributes from each district. And this year is Hayley's first year to be possibly selected. This day is called the reaping.
The reaping is held in the square, which is a big area where the district gathers and the border of the square are different shops. We get a projected message from the Capitol. In the districts people are too poor to own televisions. This place is too poor. Well since the Capitol is rich, they drain our money. The message was from president Snow. The leader of Capitol. The leader of Panem. Which is what the Capitol and all 12 districts are called. Panem is a country. Which I sadly live in this country. The message said "Greetings, the reaping in district 12 will begin soon. All children of the ages 12-18 head toward the square now. Thank you for your participation."
