Prim's Games

Chapter One

I wake to the sound of the birds twittering away in the forest. My mother lays beside me, still sound asleep. I am happy for a single moment until I realise that today is the day of reaping.

It will be my first time with my name on a slip of paper in the bowl. It sends shivers down my spine thinking that the tiny slip of paper will decide my fate, certain death in the Hunger Games or a year of peace until the next reaping.

The cheese I left for Katniss is not there anymore and I assume that she has left to go hunting. I don't know how she can do it, kill the innocent animals that have done nothing to her. She probably just wants to spend more time with Gale, though she doesn't know it yet he is totally in love with her.

People think that because I'm twelve years old that I don't understand the world around me. But I understand perfectly how horrible the Capitol is and what they put the districts through each year.

When Mother wakes she commences getting us ready for the reaping. I'm wearing Katniss' first reaping outfit, a skirt and a ruffled blouse. My Mother fiddles with pins to make it fit.

We sit and wait for Katniss. At 12:30 she still hasn't arrived. Mother starts to worry but I know she will be fine. I look up to Katniss in a way I don't look up to anyone else because she has kept this family alive which is something I can never repay her for.

At 1:00 Gale bursts through the door with Katniss in his arms. She is covered in blood and looks half-dead.

"What happened!" Mother screams.

"We were attacked by wild dogs, some of the Capitol's mutts I'm guessing."

I help Mother clear the kitchen table. Fear was rising in my throat.

My big sister, injured, I thought she was basically invincible. How could I possibly go to the reaping without her, she was my rock that I couldn't live without.

Mother gives Katniss some special herbs that put her to sleep.

"She will have to rest here while we go to the reaping." She explains calmly.

"But she has to go to the reaping, it's not a choice!" Gale exclaims.

"They will understand that she is too injured to go." Mother says.

                                *

I'm in the square, lined up with the other twelve year-olds right at the back because it is unlikely that our names will be chosen. I can't remember how I got here, or any details.

Without Katniss I am being overwhelmed by fear.

What if it's my name that they pull out of the bowl.

I'm barely aware of the speech that the mayor is making, or when Haymitch(who is too drunk to function) gives Effie Trinket a hug.

I finally come to when Effie Trinket trots back onto the stage.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour"

She walks to the clear bowls."Ladies first!" She says.

She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the bowl. I flinch when her hands find a piece of paper.

What if it's me, what if I'm the one who's name is pulled out. Apparently my worst fears have been answered.

"Primrose Everdeen"

My mind shuts down totally. The moment is replayed hundreds of times in my head before it registers.

Primrose Everdeen, me!

I walk up to the stage in a daze, knowing full well that Katniss can't save me. She's at home, dreaming peacefully. She can't save me.

And from that moment I know I'm going to die.