Chapter 1

"War, terrible war," says a deep voice on the television. A commercial sponsoring the Hunger Games is playing; I can hear it from the kitchen. The horrible time is here yet again. A time of tears. A time of bloodshed. A time of loss. To the Capitol, however, it is a time of excitement. Pitting young adults together to fight to the death for their own sick pleasure. A "punishment" they call it. A punishment for what? A war that waged almost a century ago? No. It's so she can feel superior. Our awful leader, President Estell Borden, loves to walk all over the Districts like we're nothing but dirty vermin under her feet. That's hilarious, because the Capitol would be nothing without the Districts.

We supply a great deal of their food, power, building materials, everything. What do we get in return? Our lives taken, our families destroyed, and, worst of all, we have to do it with our bare hands.

"Will, you alright?" my best friend, Ceedar, asks me. I blink and turn away from the kitchen window, remembering that I was supposed to be getting us drinks. I have a habit of getting lost in my thoughts, especially on the topic of the Hunger Games. I set the glasses down that I am holding, and I open the refrigerator. After we get our drinks, we walk back into the living room and sit down on the old yellow couch in front of the television. It's a small, rugged thing, but it's good enough.

A showing of last year's Hunger Games is on. When is it not? It's showing the final moments of the game. A dark haired girl, Contessa Brockfield, is smashing a brick into a boy's face and claiming her victory. It was a brutal end to the Games, and her life was changed forever. She has been glamorized all year, being showered with money, food, and anything else she wanted, as all Victors are. Of course it helped her that she was from District One, the wealthiest of all twelve districts.

The most recent Victor from District Seven, my home, is Johanna Mason. She won the 71st Hunger Games, in a very clever way, I might add. She pretended that she was weak and afraid until there were very few tributes left, then she slaughtered them. She also won the 75th Hunger Games, the 3rd Quarter Quell. Johanna is pretty amazing. The Quarter Quell consisted of Victors from previous Hunger Games being chosen to participate once again. Once you win the Hunger Games you are supposed to be immune from playing ever again, but that wasn't the case that year. The "star-crossed lovers", Katniss and Peeta, died that year, which was a tragedy. They were so close to sparking another rebellion which could have ended the Games forever.

I was thirteen at the time. The whole country was on edge, banning all signs of the "The Mockingjay", peacekeepers flooding the streets beating and arresting people. District Eight got the worst of it because there were rumors saying that it was the "headquarters" for the rebellion. Twelve also got heavy surveillance since Katniss and Peeta were from there. It all started because they were in love. The couple refused to kill each other at the end of the 74th Hunger Games, so, by threatening to kill themselves, leaving no Victor, they were both crowned winners. President Snow, our leader at the time, took this as a sign of rebellion. He thought that Katniss and Peeta were trying to make a joke out of him. There are many debates , even today, that argue whether that was the case or if they were truly in love.

"Come on, man. Let's not watch this," Ceedar says, waving a hand at the television. I nod and stand up, walking over to it. I twist the dial, flipping through the channels, and stop when I see a show that we both like. All of our channels are broadcast from the Capitol and District Three, the technology district.

Ceedar and I have been best friends since birth. Our mothers grew up together, got married at the same age, and even got pregnant at around the same time. I am only a few months older than he is. Bonney, Ceedars mother, is visiting my mother all the time. They talk about work, food, us, pretty much anything. Anything but the Games.

The show is abruptly interrupted by an announcement coming from the Capitol. The emblem bearing an eagle and pointed arrows appears on the screen for a few seconds before fading to an office-looking set. A very pale woman is sitting at a glass desk holding piece of paper. She has teal colored hair and is wearing very sparkly eye makeup.

"Hello Panem!" she cheers, almost blinding the audience with her porcelain white smile. "It is the most exciting time of year once again, folks!" Ceedar and I look at each other and roll our eyes. "The 79th Hunger Games is approaching fast and preparations will start being made very soon. You youngsters must be very excited!" I can almost hear the groan of every teenager in the district. The woman's name is Lucia Novalee. She is the spokesperson for the Hunger Games. She holds the interviews with the tributes, shares gossip, and tracks the progress throughout the Games season. The rest of the year she runs the channel that replays edited versions of past Hunger Games and holds interviews with Victors.

"Man, why do they all look so crazy?" Ceedar asks. I just shrug. The Capitol tends to have some strange fashion trends. One year everyone was painting themselves and dressing up like animals. Bears, wolves, birds, deer. It was very peculiar.

"The reapings will begin in one month, on the first of June," Lucia says. "District One's will be held at nine o'clock in the morning. District Two's at ten, District Three's at eleven," as she speaks, I hear the front door open and close. Heavy footsteps and a slight cough tell me that it's my father. He walks into the living room, sits down next to me, and lets out a sigh.

"What's up, dad?" I say, looking over at his tired face stubbly chin.

"Ah, nothing Will. It's pretty hot outside, better wear something thin for your shift," he says. I nod in agreement and look at the television. Each district has a specialty, something that they provide for the Capitol. District Seven collects the lumber form the thick forest that surrounds us and ships it off. We also make common items such as paper, pencils, and furniture.

After school every day, everyone over the age of sixteen goes to the forest to work. There are other jobs as well, such as factory workers and school teachers, but those jobs take a long time to acquire, so most people just stay in the forest. Like my father, for instance. He loves being in the woods. That's all he's ever done, and he has no intentions of quitting. My mother, on the other hand, works in a factory that produces paper. To get there, my she and my father had to pay for classes that taught her everything she needed to know the be able to do the job. Paying for the classes can be difficult, but my mother did very well in school, so the district helped her pay for them. It's one of the very few good things the government does for us.

"How are you today, Ceedar?" my father asks.

"I'm doing fine, Mr. Redwood. I was wondering if I could spend the night?" My father nods.

"Of course, anytime," he says, just as he always does. He looks at the television, which is now playing more clips from last year's Games, and sighs. He stands up and starts walking towards the stairs, his eyes drooping to the floor.

"Man, I hate seeing your dad like this every year," Ceedar says in a soft voice.

"Yeah, me too. But can you blame him after what happened?" I ask, getting up to click off the television. When my father was a little younger than me, his brother was taken by the Games. He died in a horrific way; an explosion. Another tribute had found a land mine, figured out how to activate it, and buried it. It just so happen to be my father's brother that found it. It was awful for him and the rest of his family. The two boys were best friends, spending all of their time together. This, of course, all came from my grandmother, who passed away a few years ago. My father isn't exactly an emotional person, but around this time of year he completely shuts down, locking himself away from his family and the rest of the world. He goes to work, only because he's forced to, and then comes home, only to lock himself in his bedroom. My mother gets kind of irritated sometimes, but she understands and lets him mourn. There are people like my father all over the district, all over Panem. Heartbroken and mournful of their lost family members.

I look at the dusty clock hanging on the wall and see that it is a quarter till four.

"Come on, Ceedar. We need to get going," I say, getting up and walking over to the stairs, heading to my room to change.

Reviews

[Ellie]

I liked it! I love that it's something new with the Hunger Games and not the same old, same old! The names are great too (because the Capitol definitely had some different names). I'm looking forward to reading the next one!

I appreciated the explanation for District 7 and about Johanna. I've read the books a few times but she didn't really spend a lot of time on the other districts so it was a nice review. My only "issue" is that it feels really short but I think that's more me wanting more than a defect on your end :) well done!