100th Hunger Games

The Reaping

As we walk towards the square hand in hand with Rose and Finn we can see the hustle and bustle of the entire population of District 12 gathering together in the tight space of the square. All you can hear is the footsteps of the innocent people of 12 terrified for the upcoming hours as this year everyone is at risk. We walk over to the sign in desk and helped Rose and Finn sign in.

"Okay" I say to the kids pulling them in and comforting them. "Mommy and Daddy need to go back stage now to help with the reaping so we need you to go line up with the little kids and we'll find you later, ok?" Pulling them in for a hug.

"OK mom, dad bye love" They say in unison and walking off to the front row where the 5 - 11s will be.

I take Peeta's hand and we both walk back stage where we wait for the reaping to begin. At the last minute we get dragged in for a stupid finishing touches meeting.

"Oh, Katniss, Peeta you made it. You too will be sitting at back of the stage with the mayor and Haymitch, OK? You will also just say a few quick words when we introduce you, I trust you already know what your saying?" Effie greets with her bright, bubbly smile as per usual.

"Yes Effie, me and Peeta are all set and ready to go" I say happily trying to keep the lively atmosphere alive, even-though what was there to be happy about on a day like this?. We all then get the signal to take a seat on the stage. So the Mayor leads onto the stage with me, Peeta and Haymitch closely behind. We can see thousands of mixed emotions faces glaring up at us and then from the corner of my eye I see Rose looking up at me with worry all over her face. I give her a little smile to try comfort her and she seemed a little better. I then scan through the crowd for Finn but before I can do so Effie walks onto the stage and towards the microphone totally blocked my view. At that moment I feel Peeta's hand clutch tightly onto mine and turn my head sharply towards him.

"You ok?" He whispers to me. I nod and turn back to the crowd not daring to let go of my hand.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome to the 100th annual hunger games our 4th ever quarter quell." Effie says still bubbly as anything. It's very hard to work with district 12 because of the lack of excitement and enthusiasm within the crowd and what could Effie expect she's only just finished with two of the most excitable tributes alive today (cough, cough, mentioning no names :p). "As most of you know we had the most amazing quell for the 75th Hunger Games with our very own Katniss and Peeta Mellark. I now introduce you to all our three victors, Katniss Mellark, Peeta Mellark and Haymitch Abernathy!" Effie swings her hand towards us and we all get up and walk over the microphone.

"Good Afternoon District 12, and can I just say what an honour it is to be stood in front of you all today. As you know 8 of you will become tributes today and we are extremely proud as Victors to be your mentors. So on the behalf of all the district 12 victors, good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour." I say proudly into the microphone and I see a couple of smiles but as the ever-lasting tradition of 12 there was no claps. I take my seat along with Peeta and Haymitch and grab Peeta's hand again.

"Thank you Victors for that inspiring speech. Now the time has come to select the 8 courageous men and women to have the honour of representing district 12 in the 100th Hunger Games. Lets start with the 50 - 85 women and make our way down shall we. Effie walks over to the first bowl and rummages her hand around before picking one of the names. She then walks back over to the microphone and calls out the first name "Madge Hopesure". The crowd gasps as the district 12's oldest resident hobbled out of the 50 - 85 year old pen and made her way extremely slowly up to the stage. Surprisingly there was no volunteers. Madge takes her place on the stage and Effie walks over to the next glass bowl to reap the 50 - 85 male. "Dale Jouster" she says and he also makes his way up to the stage. I've never met him before but he looks around 60 years old to me. There's a sigh of relief within the crowd from all the elderly people who have been spared for this once. Next Effie walks over to the 19 - 49 bowls. This is an ginormous category and they have had to add an extra couple of pens to fit everyone in. Effie draw the two names before calling the tributes out to add to the suspense. "Selina Marigold and Harper-Lee Johnstead" There are a couple of weeps from children in the closer pens, most likely children of Selina as she has about 5-7 children know, I think. Anyway the two tributes made their way up to the stage and Effie walks up to the 12 - 18 glass bowls. Now things are getting serious. There is a piercing silence splitting through District 12 as Effie walks back over the microphone to pronounce the names. "Kat Hawthorne and Charlie Iller". The sudden realisation hits me. I'd totally forgotten that Gale's daughter from the Children's home was 12 years old and in the Reaping. Gale had left Kat in the children's home while he worked in District 2 during the summer then came home for Christmas and Kat's Birthday until he went back in May. I don't think Gale had any idea about Kat and the 100th Hunger Games, I had to make sure she was safe, she couldn't die not now. Kat and Charlie made their way to the stage. Effie gave me a worrying look and walked towards the 5 - 11 glass bowls. Somewhere in them bowls were may precious Rose and Finn's names mixed in with many more innocent children. There names float out of the bowl and grip to Effie's hand she walks to the microphone, takes a look back at us then reads out the names

"Harmony Charmy and...Finnick Mellark"

My worse nightmares all come true at once. After my experience the one thing I didn't want was for my children to be in the games but all that has gone now. I see Finn walk out of the 5 - 11 male pen and walk up to the stage with a tear in his eye. I look over at Rose who is crouched on the floor in a huddle tear her eyes out. Peeta buried his head in his hands and ran off stage into the Justice building. These games are going to be the worst year of our lives and everything we do could be the difference between life and death.

The tributes line up in order of age and head into the Justice Building followed by me and Haymitch and the Peacekeepers close the door behind us. I now had a big job to do that could effect the outcomes of the next few days for the tributes.