I walked on the hard, dirt roads of the Seam, fresh game in my arms. I headed to the Hob, wondering who I'd sell the deer to. Perhaps Miss Greasy Sae, a young woman who makes plain soup, or Mellowng, the grumpy, old man who cooks meat rice. The minute I stepped into the Hob, Greasy grabbed the meat from me and left a pouch of coins in the palm of my hand. I shrugged and set off to home.
When I got home, my older sister, Jishy, immediately hugged me. "Lisa, you KNOW you shouldn't run off like."
"I was just out hunting." I replied, rolling my eyes.
"Illegally!"
"So what?"
I stormed off to mother's room. She wasn't home, she was always out selling dairy at the Hob, so I keyed in the code to her safe and poured all the coins in. We had just enough to survive, but our lives were below average. Soon the reaping would come and Jishy and I are going to apply for a tesserae. I just turned fourteen two weeks ago and Jishy sixteen tomorrow. Mother and I have been saving up for a present for her. Very early tomorrow morning I will sneak out with all the money we saved and I'm going to buy something wonderful for her.
The next morning I put on my frayed, ripped jacket and head off to the Hob. That's when I saw it. A golden pin with a mockingjay printed on it. "How much does this cost?" I asked the teen behind the counter.
"Seventy coins." He replied. I dumped the sack of coins on his desk, grabbed the pin and ran home as fast as I could. I put the pin in a purple box and wrapped it in plain paper. I tied it with yarn, wrote my name on it and left it on the table. I grabbed my bow and quiver and headed for the woods.
