A few days later, the opening ceremonies of the Hunger Games aired on national television. Katniss looked beautiful. Dressed in all black with her hair pinned in an intricate braid, a cape of dazzling flames trailing behind her. When I first caught sight of the fire on my sister’s back, I had a moment of panic, but after a few seconds, I realized that it was not burning her. She was unhurt.
Peeta looked strong and at ease, much to the contrary of Katniss. My sister seemed rather disheveled at first; perhaps a bit confused. Once Peeta took her hand and thrust it into the air, Katniss looked less alarmed and more approachable, as if she was glad to see all the smiling, cheering, heavily made-up faces of the capitol people. The other tributes looked mediocre at best compared to 12's flaming beauties.
Yet another few days droned by and the tributes' training scores were revealed. Gale stopped by our house that day and watched the show with us. He had brought along a pheasant. Mother stood in the kitchen, cooking away, while Gale and I awaited the airing of the scores. In the silence, Gale covertly slipped his hand beneath mine; there we sat, anxious. I had been trying to forgive the fact that Gale hadn't come to see me since the reaping. After all, he was very good friends with Katniss and I think he is reminded of her when he looks at me. Though he claimed to have been too busy or exhausted to attend our usual midnight outings to the meadow, I knew he simply missed his friend. He was scared for her, and so was I.
Gale jerked his hand away from mine as my mother returned to the room with the cooked pheasant.
One by one, each tribute's score was whisked onto the screen. As Katniss's score finally came on, I gasped and nearly choked on a bite of pheasant. Coughing, I gazed at the television in awe. Eleven! My sister had recieved a score of eleven! This score had brought hope to a hopeless situation. Katniss could actually win! Certainly, sponsors would line up to send her gifts.
"Eleven..." Gale whispered, a look of pure joy on his face. "She shot for them."
YOU ARE READING
Not a Tale of Love
Fiksi PenggemarPrim's sister, Katniss, is the main character in The Hunger Games trilogy, but what if Prim narrated instead? This take on THG tells the story from Prim's perspective. A/N: I've paired Prim and Gale in this fanfic and I know it's a weird pairing but...
