Chapter1

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My

fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding

only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must

have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother.

Of course she did. This is the day of the reaping.

I prop myself up on one elbow. There's enough

light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim,

curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother's body,

their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother

looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down.

Prim's face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the

primrose for which she was named. My mother was

very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me.

Sitting at Prim's knees, guarding her, is the world's

ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing,

eyes the colour of rotting squash. Prim named him

Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat

matched the bright flower. He hates me. Or at least

distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he

still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket

when Prim brought him home. Scrawny kitten, belly

swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last

thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim

begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It

turned out OK. My mother got rid of the vermin and

he's a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat.

Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the

entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.

Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever

come to love.

I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my

hunting boots. Supple leather that has moulded to my

feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid

up into a cap, and grab my forage bag. On the table,

under a wooden bowl to protect it from hungry rats

and cats alike, sits a perfect little goat's cheese wrapped

in basil leaves. Prim's gift to me on reaping day. I put

the cheese carefully in my pocket as I slip outside.

Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is

usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the

morning shift at this hour. Men and women with

hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many of whom

have long since stopped trying to scrub the coal

dust out of their broken nails and the lines of their

sunken faces. But today the black cinder streets

are empty. Shutters on the squat grey houses are

closed. The reaping isn't until two. May as well sleep

in. If you can.

Our house is almost at the edge of the Seam. I only

have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called

the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods,

in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link

fence topped with barbed-wire loops. In theory, it's

supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day as a

deterrent to the predators that live in the woods – packs

of wild dogs, lone cougars, bears – that used to threaten

our streets. But since we're lucky to get two or three

hours of electricity in the evenings, it's usually safe to

touch. Even so, I always take a moment to listen

carefully for the hum that means the fence is live. Right

now, it's silent as a stone. Concealed by a clump of

bushes, I flatten out on my belly and slide under a

metre-long stretch that's been loose for years. There are

several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so

close to home I almost always enter the woods here.

As soon as I'm in the trees, I retrieve a bow and

sheath of arrows from a hollow log. Electrified or not,

the fence has been successful at keeping the flesh-eaters

out of District 12. Inside the woods they roam freely,

and there are added concerns like venomous snakes,

rabid animals, and no real paths to follow. But there's

also food if you know how to find it. My father knew

and he taught me some ways before he was blown to

bits in a mine explosion. There was nothing left of him

to bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake

up screaming for him to run.

Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and

poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people

would risk it if they had weapons. But most are not

bold enough to venture out with just a knife. My bow

is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others

that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped

in waterproof covers. My father could have made good

money selling them, but if the officials found out he

would have been publicly executed for inciting a

rebellion. Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to

the few of us who hunt because they're as hungry for

fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they're among our best

customers. But the idea that someone might be arming

the Seam would never have been allowed.

In the autumn, a few brave souls sneak into the

woods to harvest apples. But always in sight of the

Meadow. Always close enough to run back to the

safety of District 12 if trouble arises. "District Twelve.

Where you can starve to death in safety," I mutter.

Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here,

even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone

might overhear you.

When I was younger, I scared my mother to death,

the things I would blurt out about District 12, about

the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-

off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood

this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned

to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an

indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my

thoughts. Do my work quietly in school. Make only

polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little

more than trades in the Hob, which is the black market

where I make most of my money. Even at home, where

I am less pleasant, I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like

the reaping, or food shortages, or the Hunger Games.

Prim might begin to repeat my words, and then where

would we be?

In the woods waits the only person with whom I

can be myself. Gale. I can feel the muscles in my face

relaxing, my pace quickening as I climb the hills to

our place, a rock ledge overlooking a valley. A thicket

of berry bushes protects it from unwanted eyes. The

sight of him waiting there brings on a smile. Gale says

I never smile except in the woods.

"Hey, Catnip," says Gale. My real name is Katniss,

but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So

he thought I'd said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx

started following me around the woods looking for

handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I

finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game.

I almost regretted it because he wasn't bad company.

But I got a decent price for his pelt.

"Look what I shot." Gale holds up a loaf of bread

with an arrow stuck in it, and I laugh. It's real bakery

bread, not the flat, dense loaves we make from our

grain rations. I take it in my hands, pull out the arrow,

and hold the puncture in the crust to my nose, inhaling

the fragrance that makes my mouth flood with saliva.

Fine bread like this is for special occasions.

"Mm, still warm," I say. He must have been at the

bakery at the crack of dawn to trade for it. "What did

it cost you?"

"Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling

sentimental this morning," says Gale. "Even wished

me luck."

"Well, we all feel a little closer today, don't we?" I

say, not even bothering to roll my eyes. "Prim left us a

cheese." I pull it out.

His expression brightens at the treat. "Thank you,

Prim. We'll have a real feast." Suddenly he falls into a

Capitol accent as he mimics Effie Trinket, the

maniacally upbeat woman who arrives once a year to

read out the names at the reaping. "I almost forgot!

Happy Hunger Games!" He plucks a few blackberries

from the bushes around us. "And may the odds—" He

tosses a berry in a high arc towards me.

I catch it in my mouth and break the delicate skin

with my teeth. The sweet tartness explodes across my

tongue. "—be ever in your favour!" I finish with equal

verve. We have to joke about it because the alternative

is to be scared out of your wits. Besides, the Capitol

accent is so affected, almost anything sounds funny

in it.

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the

bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair,

olive skin; we even have the same grey eyes. But we're

not related, at least not closely. Most of the families

who work the mines resemble one another this way.

That's why my mother and Prim, with their light

hair and blue eyes, always look out of place. They are.

My mother's parents were part of the small merchant

class that caters to officials, Peacekeepers and the

occasional Seam customer. They ran an apothecary

shop in the nicer part of District 12. Since almost no

one can afford doctors, apothecaries are our healers.

My father got to know my mother because on his

hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and

sell them to her shop to be brewed into remedies. She

must have really loved him to leave her home for the

Seam. I try to remember that when all I can see is the

woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her

children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her

for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the

forgiving type.

Gale spreads the bread slices with the soft goat's

cheese, carefully placing a basil leaf on each while I

strip the bushes of their berries. We settle back in a

nook in the rocks. From this place, we are invisible, but

have a clear view of the valley, which is teeming with

summer life, greens to gather, roots to dig, fish

iridescent in the sunlight. The day is glorious, with a

blue sky and soft breeze. The food's wonderful, with

the cheese seeping into the warm bread and the berries

bursting in our mouths. Everything would be perfect if

this really was a holiday, if all the day off meant was

roaming the mountains with Gale, hunting for tonight's

supper. But instead we have to be standing in the square

at two o'clock waiting for the names to be called out.

"We could do it, you know," Gale says quietly.

"What?" I ask.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods.

You and I, we could make it," says Gale.

I don't know how to respond. The idea is so

preposterous.

"If we didn't have so many kids," he adds quickly.

They're not our kids, of course. But they might as

well be. Gale's two little brothers and a sister. Prim.

And you may as well throw in our mothers, too,

because how would they live without us? Who would

fill those mouths that are always asking for more? With

both of us hunting daily, there are still nights when

game has to be swapped for lard or shoelaces or wool,

still nights when we go to bed with our stomachs

growling.

"I never want to have kids," I say.

"I might. If I didn't live here," says Gale.

"But you do," I say, irritated.

"Forget it," he snaps back.

The conversation feels all wrong. Leave? How

could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world

I'm certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family.

We can't leave, so why bother talking about it? And

even if we did . . . even if we did . . . where did this

stuff about having kids come from? There's never been

anything romantic between Gale and me. When we

met, I was a skinny twelve-year-old, and although he

was only two years older, he already looked like a man.

It took a long time for us to even become friends, to

stop haggling over every trade and begin helping each

other out.

Besides, if he wants kids, Gale won't have any

trouble finding a wife. He's good-looking, he's strong

enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can

hunt. You can tell by the way the girls whisper about

him when he walks by in school that they want him. It

makes me jealous, but not for the reason people would

think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.

"What do you want to do?" I ask. We can hunt,

fish or gather.

"Let's fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and

gather in the woods. Get something nice for tonight,"

he says.

Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to

celebrate. And a lot of people do, out of relief that their

children have been spared for another year. But at least

two families will pull their shutters, lock their doors,

and try to figure out how they will survive the painful

weeks to come.

We do well. The predators ignore us on a day when

easier, tastier prey abounds. By late morning, we have

a dozen fish, a bag of greens and, best of all, a large

quantity of strawberries. I found the patch a few years

ago, but Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around

it to keep out the animals.

On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black

market that operates in an abandoned warehouse that

once held coal. When they came up with a more

efficient system that transported the coal directly from

the mines to the trains, the Hob gradually took over

the space. Most businesses are closed by this time on

reaping day, but the black market's still fairly busy. We

easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other

two for salt. Greasy Sae, the bony old woman who sells

bowls of hot soup from a large kettle, takes half the

greens off our hands in exchange for a couple of

chunks of paraffin. We might do a tad better elsewhere,

but we make an effort to keep on good terms with

Greasy Sae. She's the only one who can consistently be

counted on to buy wild dog. We don't hunt them on

purpose, but if you're attacked and you take out a dog

or two, well, meat is meat. "Once it's in the soup, I'll

call it beef," Greasy Sae says with a wink. No one in

the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of

wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob

can afford to be a little choosier.

When we finish our business at the market, we go

to the back door of the mayor's house to sell half the

strawberries, knowing he has a particular fondness for

them and can afford our price. The mayor's daughter,

Madge, opens the door. She's in my year at school.

Being the mayor's daughter, you'd expect her to be a

snob, but she's all right. She just keeps to herself. Like

me. Since neither of us really has a group of friends, we

seem to end up together a lot at school. Eating lunch,

sitting next to each other at assemblies, partnering for

sports activities. We rarely talk, which suits us both

just fine.

Today her drab school outfit has been replaced by

an expensive white dress, and her blonde hair is done

up with a pink ribbon. Reaping clothes.

"Pretty dress," says Gale.

Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it's a

genuine compliment or if he's just being ironic. It is a

pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it

ordinarily. She presses her lips together and then smiles.

"Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look

nice, don't I?"

Now it's Gale's turn to be confused. Does she mean

it? Or is she messing with him? I'm guessing the

second.

"You won't be going to the Capitol," says Gale

coolly. His eyes land on a small circular pin that adorns

her dress. Real gold. Beautifully crafted. It could

keep a family in bread for months. "What can you

have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve

years old."

"That's not her fault," I say.

"No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is," says

Gale.

Madge's face has become closed off. She puts the

money for the berries in my hand. "Good luck,

Katniss."

"You, too," I say, and the door closes.

We walk towards the Seam in silence. I don't like

that Gale took a dig at Madge, but he's right, of course.

The reaping system is unfair, with the poor getting the

worst of it. You become eligible for the reaping the day

you turn twelve. That year, your name is entered once.

At thirteen, twice. And so on and so on until you

reach the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility,

when your name goes into the pool seven times. That's

true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire

country of Panem.

But here's the catch. Say you are poor and starving,

as we were. You can opt to add your name more times

in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a meagre

year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You may

do this for each of your family members as well. So, at

the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times.

Once because I had to, and three times for tesserae for

grain and oil for myself, Prim and my mother. In fact,

every year I have needed to do this. And the entries are

cumulative. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name

will be in the reaping twenty times. Gale, who is

eighteen and has been either helping or single-

handedly feeding a family of five for seven years, will

have his name in forty-two times.

You can see why someone like Madge, who has

never been at risk of needing a tessera, can set him off.

The chance of her name being drawn is very slim

compared to those of us who live in the Seam. Not

impossible, but slim. And even though the rules were

set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not

Madge's family, it's hard not to resent those who don't

have to sign up for tesserae.

Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On

other days, deep in the woods, I've listened to him rant

about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause

misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between

the starving workers of the Seam and those who can

generally count on supper; and thereby ensure we will

never trust one another. "It's to the Capitol's advantage

to have us divided among ourselves," he might say if

there were no ears to hear but mine. If it wasn't reaping

day. If a girl with a gold pin and no tesserae had not

made what I'm sure she thought was a harmless

comment.

As we walk, I glance over at Gale's face, still

smouldering underneath his stony expression. His

rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so. It's

not that I don't agree with him. I do. But what good is

yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods?

It doesn't change anything. It doesn't make things fair.

It doesn't fill our stomachs. In fact, it scares off the

nearby game. I let him yell, though. Better he does it

in the woods than in the district.

Gale and I divide our spoils, leaving two fish, a

couple of loaves of good bread, greens, a few handfuls

of strawberries, salt, paraffin and a bit of money for

each of us.

"See you in the square," I say.

"Wear something pretty," he says flatly.

At home, I find my mother and sister are ready to

go. My mother wears a fine dress from her apothecary

days. Prim is in my first reaping outfit, a skirt and

ruffled blouse. It's a bit big on her, but my mother has

made it stay with pins. Even so, she's having trouble

keeping the blouse tucked in at the back.

A tub of warm water waits for me. I scrub off the

dirt and sweat from the woods and even wash my hair.

To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own

lovely dresses for me. A soft blue thing with matching

shoes.

"Are you sure?" I ask. I'm trying to get past

rejecting offers of help from her. For a while, I was so

angry, I wouldn't allow her to do anything for me.

And this is something special. Her clothes from her

past are very precious to her.

"Of course. Let's put your hair up, too," she says. I

let her towel-dry it and braid it up on my head. I can

hardly recognize myself in the cracked mirror that

leans against the wall.

"You look beautiful," says Prim in a hushed voice.

"And nothing like myself," I say. I hug her, because

I know these next few hours will be terrible for her.

Her first reaping. She's about as safe as you can get,

since she's only entered once. I wouldn't let her take

out any tesserae. But she's worried about me. That the

unthinkable might happen.

I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless

against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when

she's in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to

register on my face. I notice her blouse has pulled out

of her skirt in the back again and force myself to stay

calm. "Tuck your tail in, little duck," I say, smoothing

the blouse back in place.

Prim giggles and gives me a small "Quack".

"Quack yourself," I say with a light laugh. The kind

only Prim can draw out of me. "Come on, let's eat," I

say and plant a quick kiss on the top of her head.

The fish and greens are already cooking in a stew,

but that will be for supper. We decide to save the

strawberries and bakery bread for this evening's meal,

to make it special, we say. Instead we drink milk from

Prim's goat, Lady, and eat the rough bread made from

the tessera grain, although no one has much appetite

anyway.

At one o'clock, we head for the square. Attendance

is mandatory unless you are on death's door. This

evening, officials will come around and check to see if

this is the case. If not, you'll be imprisoned.

It's too bad, really, that they hold the reaping in the

square – one of the few places in District 12 that can be

pleasant. The square's surrounded by shops, and on

public market days, especially if there's good weather, it

has a holiday feel to it. But today, despite the bright

banners hanging on the buildings, there's an air of

grimness. The camera crews, perched like buzzards on

rooftops, only add to the effect.

People file in silently and sign in. The reaping is a

good opportunity for the Capitol to keep tabs on the

population as well. Twelve- to eighteen-year-olds are

herded into roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest

in the front, the young ones, like Prim, towards the

back. Family members line up around the perimeter,

holding tightly to one another's hands. But there are

others, too, who have no one they love at stake, or

who no longer care, who slip among the crowd,

taking bets on the two kids whose names will be

drawn. Odds are given on their ages, whether they're

Seam or merchant, if they will break down and

weep. Most refuse dealing with the racketeers but

carefully, carefully. These same people tend to be

informers, and who hasn't broken the law? I could be

shot on a daily basis for hunting, but the appetites of

those in charge protect me. Not everyone can claim

the same.

Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose

between dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the

bullet would be much quicker.

The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic, as

people arrive. The square's quite large, but not enough

to hold District 12's population of about eight

thousand. Latecomers are directed to the adjacent

streets, where they can watch the event on screens as

it's televised live by the state.

I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from

the Seam. We all exchange terse nods, then focus our

attention on the temporary stage that is set up before

the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium

and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for

the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball.

others, too, who have no one they love at stake, or

who no longer care, who slip among the crowd,

taking bets on the two kids whose names will be

drawn. Odds are given on their ages, whether they're

Seam or merchant, if they will break down and

weep. Most refuse dealing with the racketeers but

carefully, carefully. These same people tend to be

informers, and who hasn't broken the law? I could be

shot on a daily basis for hunting, but the appetites of

those in charge protect me. Not everyone can claim

the same.

Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose

between dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the

bullet would be much quicker.

The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic, as

people arrive. The square's quite large, but not enough

to hold District 12's population of about eight

thousand. Latecomers are directed to the adjacent

streets, where they can watch the event on screens as

it's televised live by the state.

I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from

the Seam. We all exchange terse nods, then focus our

attention on the temporary stage that is set up before

the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium

and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for

the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball.

Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on

them in careful handwriting.

Two of the three chairs fill with Madge's father,

Mayor Undersee, who's a tall, balding man, and Effie

Trinket, District 12's escort, fresh from the Capitol with

her scary white grin, pinkish hair and spring green suit.

They murmur to each other and then look with concern

at the empty seat.

Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps

up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same

story every year. He tells of the history of Panem, the

country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was

once called North America. He lists the disasters, the

droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas

that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war

for what little sustenance remained. The result was

Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts,

which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens.

Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts

against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the

thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us

the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly

reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it

gave us the Hunger Games.

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In

punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts

must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to

participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned

in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a

burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of

several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death.

The last tribute standing wins.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to

kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol's

way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.

How little chance we would stand of surviving another

rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is

clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice

them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a

finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we

did in District Thirteen."

To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the

Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a

festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against

the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease

back home, and their district will be showered with

prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol

will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil

and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle

starvation.

"It is both a time for repentance and a time for

thanks," intones the mayor.

must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to

participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned

in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a

burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of

several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death.

The last tribute standing wins.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to

kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol's

way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.

How little chance we would stand of surviving another

rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is

clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice

them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a

finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we

did in District Thirteen."

To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the

Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a

festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against

the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease

back home, and their district will be showered with

prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol

will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil

and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle

starvation.

"It is both a time for repentance and a time for

thanks," intones the mayor.

Then he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In

seventy-four years, we have had exactly two. Only one

is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middle-

aged man, who at this moment appears hollering

something unintelligible, staggers on to the stage, and

falls into the third chair. He's drunk. Very. The crowd

responds with its token applause, but he's confused and

tries to give Effie Trinket a big hug, which she barely

manages to fend off.

The mayor looks distressed. Since all of this is

being televised, right now District 12 is the laughing

stock of Panem, and he knows it. He quickly tries to

pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing

Effie Trinket.

Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the

podium and gives her signature, "Happy Hunger

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

pink hair must be a wig because her curls have shifted

slightly off-centre since her encounter with Haymitch.

She goes on a bit about what an honour it is to be here,

although everyone knows she's just aching to get

bumped up to a better district where they have proper

victors, not drunks who molest you in front of the

entire nation.

Through the crowd, I spot Gale looking back at me

with a ghost of a smile. As reapings go, this one at least

has a slight entertainment factor. But suddenly I am

thinking of Gale and his forty-two names in that big

glass ball and how the odds are not in his favour. Not

compared to a lot of the boys. And maybe he's thinking

the same thing about me because his face darkens and

he turns away. "But there are still thousands of slips," I

wish I could whisper to him.

It's time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she

always does, "Ladies first!" and crosses to the glass ball

with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her hand

deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The

crowd draws in a collective breath and then you can

hear a pin drop, and I'm feeling nauseous and so

desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me, that

it's not me.

Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes

the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear

voice. And it's not me.

It's Primrose Everdeen.