Rue's Story

Chapter 3 - First Impressions mean Everything

Before I know it, it's the next morning and we are heading towards the Capitol. Over breakfast, Chaff, one of District 11's past victors, warns us to just do as the prep team and stylists say. It's for the best. I don't exactly know what he is talking about but I guess I will see when we get there.

After breakfast, there are still two hours until we arrive in the Capitol so I decide to try out the shower. I don't quite understand how it works but I guess I'll work it out eventually. The first step is to actually turn it on. I swear, I pressed every button in that thing before I finally worked out that to turn it on, you pull the big handle in the centre. The shower bursts into life and because of all the stupid buttons I pressed, I am assaulted with a variety of soaps, sponges, and varying water temperatures. I quickly turn the shower off and realise I forgot a towel. Oh well. I'll just dry the floor later. To my surprise, though, as soon as I step out of the shower, warm air escapes out of vents in the floor and I am dry within seconds! These Capitol people are fancy.

I change back into my dress from the reaping yesterday because I can't bear the thought of leaving it behind. The only way I can be sure I'll bring it with me is to wear it... I decide to relax in the lounge for a bit before we arrive.

As I enter the lounge, I notice someone else sitting with their back to me. As the door slides shut behind me, they look around. It's Seeder.

"Hey there, Rue," she says and smiles at me, "come take a seat."

I smile back and take the seat opposite her.

"You excited to see the Capitol?" she asks and I nod in response. I have heard so much about the huge city which runs the whole of Panem and I can't believe that me, of all people, gets to see it before they die. I guess that's a positive to being reaped for the games.

"I was excited too," she says and sighs. I suppose she must be remembering when she was reaped. She was 18 when she won her games.

"I never expected to win," she says, interrupting my thoughts, "but I did. It surprised everyone."

I'm not entirely sure why she is telling me this but it might help, I suppose.

"The thing you can learn from this, Rue, is that even the most unlikely victories can still occur. You just have to play it right."

"So you're suggesting that I could win..." I say, unsure. How could I, of all the tributes, win? If the rest of them are anything like Thresh, I definitely don't stand a chance.

"Of course you could," she says confidently, "you have plenty of strengths, I'm sure. All you need to do, is use them to your advantage and make sure you understand your competition."

"Oh," I say after some thought. "I guess that does make sense..."

Seeder smiles at me.

"Don't give up hope just because you are small and the youngest of the tributes. Miracles can happen in the arena. They happen all the time, in fact. How do you think I won?"

I pause and think about it her question before answering:

"Didn't you hide from the other tributes until the very end and then you killed them with a well-aimed knife throw to the heart or something like that?"

She nods. I may not have been alive 47 years ago but everyone knows Seeder's story. And Chaff's too. They are our victors, after all. Our District's pride and joy.

Suddenly, everything goes dark. I jump up in surprise. I thought that if the Capitol people had showers, they could at least control the lighting of their train!

"It's okay, Rue," Seeder says to me. "We're just going through the tunnel to the Capitol. We'll be arriving soon!"

Just as quickly as it appeared, the darkness is replaced by the blinding light outside the tunnel. I can't help myself. I rush to the window to get my first look at the Capitol. It's nothing like I could ever have imagined. Everything is brightly coloured and busy, not to mention it's huge!