Little Flower-The Hunger Games from Rue's Point of View

Chapter 3

I wake up to the smell of food cooking.  It's an unfamiliar scent. Back at home, breakfast is usually a stale roll eaten in the early hours of the morning on the way to the orchards. Not even that sometimes. But obviously things are different here.

After I change into a long blue dress, I pad down to the dining car, trying to be quiet so I don't wake anyone. When I reach the car, though, it's extremely difficult not to let out a gasp. Laid out on a table is every type of breakfast food that I ever imagined, and even some that I hadn't. I almost fill my plate up with everything the buffet has to offer, but I realize that it will be neccessary to have the ability to walk if I want to even have the slightest chance of winning the hunger games, so instead I just fill my plate with various pieces of fruit. The fruit reminds me of home, and I hold back a sniffle, remembering that Aurelia, Arcto or Thresh could walk in any second.

As if cued by my thoughts, they all walk in to the dining car at the same time.

"Well, well, well!" Aurelia exclaims, "Aren't we an early riser?" No! I want to scream at her We are not an early riser! I am an early riser. You are a psycho lady who takes pleasure in preparing children to be killed! I don't say this of course. Instead I force a smile that probably looks more like a grimace. As for Arcto and Thresh, they just sit down immediately, without bothering to get any food, and start talking strategy. I feel like shrinking down into my seat. I don't think that Arcto has said a single word to me this entire train ride, and aside from being disheartening, it's incredibly embarrassing. I begin to wonder how he's going to train me for the interview porition of the games if he won't even talk to me.

I nibble at my fruit for awhile, until I decide that I can't take the awkward silence between Arcto and I any longer. I silently excuse myself and walk to my room. When I get there I just sit and think. Everything in my life has been moving so quickly, I barely got a chance to sit and and actually think about my situation. I try to imagine what it will be like to actually have to survive in the arena. I mean, I've seen it on television before, but now that it's me who's actually going to be competing in them I can't fathom what kind of an experience my (probably short) time in the arena will be. I guess it's hard to imagine what being killed on live television will be like. Suddenly, I realize the real meaning of what I just thought. Live television. That means my entire family will be watching me die. I try not to cry, but it's no use. No one's watching me anyway. I wonder how the little ones will handle it. Daisy's only three, and Ella just turned five. Will they realize that this isn't just a game, and that their sister isn't coming back? Ever? I wonder how my mother will manage without me. Joeille and I are really the only people who work in the orchards. With my father dead, my other siblings too young to help out, and with herself being crippled, the only person who will be able to make money will be Joeille, and she's not even that experienced of a worker. Will my family be able to manage on the little income that they'll make? I may be worried about that issue, but I'm even more worried about how my family will react to my death. Joeille and Isa are definitely old enough to understand what will have happened to me. And I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to them. I find myself wondering if I would be allowed to send a letter. I'm on my way to find a train attendant to ask for some stationary and a pen, when the train lurches to a stop. Which can only mean one thing: We've arrived at the Capital.