The Hunger Games (Told by Primrose Everdeen)

Chapter 8

         It was almost time. The Games were to begin tomorrow morning. A few days have passed since my mother and I watched the replay of the interviews. Everyone in District 12 would gather in the square tomorrow evening to watch the recap of the day. I have never in my life been this nervous. The only other time that I've felt close to this was when my teacher was handing back our math tests that I was sure that I failed. Turns out I did okay. Maybe this will turn out okay, too. 

        I get out of bed and dress in a plain cotton brown shirt and gray pants. My mother is already out of bed. She is sitting in the living room, stroking Buttercup, while she mutters under her breath to herself. I go to the kitchen to start breakfast. We don't have much food right now. We ate up the rest of the food Katniss brought on the day of the reaping. I'll have to talk to Gale. I slice the rest of the bread that was in the pantry into two slices. I grab the little goat cheese that we had left and spread it onto the two slices. That was all I could find. I go out and milk Lady. Thank goodness for my goat. If we didn't have her, I was sure we would starve. I bring in the full bucket and pour some of it into a glass for Mom. I grab a piece of the dry bread and a glass full of milk and bring it to my mother. 

         "Thank you," she says simply. 

         "You're welcome." I go back to the kitchen and grab my small meal. I go back to the couch and sit next to my mom as I eat. I finish quickly and wash the dishes by my myself. After that, I go to the living room and sit next to my mom once more. 

         "I was going to go out and talk to Gale about him hunting for us," I say to her. "We're out of food." 

          "Okay," is all she says. I slowly stand up from my seat and go to the front door. I grab a light jacket, just in case, open the door, step out, and close it behind me. The day is nice and cool, with a gentle breeze rustling the leaves on the nearby trees. I inhale the fresh air and start off to Gale's house. Gale lives just a few houses down from us. The Seam is where the poorer crowd of District 12 lives, including my family, and Gale's. I've known Gale for most of my life. Our families help each other out when we need food or other things. This comes in handy when your older sister, who provides food for your family, is taken away to fight other kids in an arena full of who knows how much danger. 

              I arrive at Gale's front door in no less than three minutes. I knock our special rhythm on the door, the one that shows that it's either Katniss, my mom, or me. Soon, there is Gale, standing in the doorway. It almost looks as if he's been crying. 

               "Hey, there," he says, in his deep, manly voice. 

               "Hi. I just came over to tell you that we've run out food." 

                "I was just about to go over to your place to ask if you needed anything." 

                "Perfect timing," I say. 

                "Do you want to come in?" he asks. 

                "Sure." I step through the doorway. Gale's house is no nicer than ours. After all, both of our families live in the Seam. Once inside, I see that Gale's little brother, Rory, is sitting on their beat-up couch. Gale's other siblings are nowhere to be seen, and Hazelle's probably doing laundry. 

                 "Hey," says Rory. 

                  "Hi," I answer politely. Rory has really been my only good friend. We were in the same year at school. We met the same day Katniss and Gale met. I sit next to Rory on the couch. 

                  "How have you been?" he asks me. 

                  "We're holding up," I reply. He gives me a knowing look. Gale goes to his bedroom to get something. Rory and I sit awkwardly on the couch together with nothing to talk about. Soon, Gale comes out with a brown burlap sack over his shoulder. 

                   "I'm gonna go up and check my traps," he says. 

                   "Okay," I answer. 

                    "You can stay here or go back to your house. I'll stop by there in about a half an hour," he says, opening the front door. 

                     "Okay," I say again. With that, he steps out, and shuts the door. 

                     "So, how have you guys been?" I ask Rory. 

                     "Pretty good," he replies. "Been thinking about Katniss." 

                      "Me too." We don't say anything after that for a while. We just sit in silence. 

                        After a while, I say, "I should get going." 

                       "Okay," says Rory. I stand up and go to the front door. I open it and it squeaks. I glance back at Rory and smile. He returns it. How did we get so lucky to have these people in our lives? I step out the door and close it behind me. Gale will be at our house soon. I start off back to my house. Some of the neighbors that are working outside their houses look up from their work and smile sympathetic smiles as I pass by. Soon, I reach my front door. I step inside and find my mom on the couch where she was sitting when I left. She doesn't even glance up at the sound of the door opening. 

                       "Mom?" I stride over to where she sits and put my hand on her shoulder. She jerks her head up. Her eyes looked alarmed. 

                        "Oh! Sorry, Prim. I didn't hear you come in." 

                         "That's okay. Are you alright?" 

                         "Yes. Of course." 

                         "Okay, well, Gale's gonna be here soon. He went up to check his traps for us," I tell her. 

                          "Okay, sweetheart," she says as she stands up from her spot on the couch. I don't really have anything else to do, so I sit on the couch and wait for Gale. My mom goes to the bedroom. I wait for about ten minutes on the couch. Then, I hear the special knock on the door. I rush to the door and open it. There stands Gale, a sack full of dead animals. 

                           "Come in," I say to him. "Thank you so much for doing this." 

                           "Of course," he replies. His voice cracks in the process. I look at him straight in the face. And this time, I could definitely tell that he was crying.