The 130th Hunger Games

Chapter One

It was my grandfather's, the warrior of the family. They say he always loved battle.

The handle is ruby, and when you hold it up to the sun, it looks like it's changing colors, from a deep shade of red to light orange, to bright yellow, and to red again. That's why it is named Flame.

Mom says that Grandpa chose me to have the sword. He had said that woman warriors are always important, and that I am destined to be one.

As I grew up, I fell in love with the sword. Every day I would go outside and practice with it, slashing at trees, slashing at the air, and practicing moves against imaginary enemies. It has been like a best friend to me. When I need to clear my thoughts, I use it. And whatever mood I'm in, it is there for me.

The rest of my family even admits that I am gifted with the sword. Mom is always saying that Grandpa would be so proud of me. And whenever I use my sword, I hope that he is watching me from above with a smile on his face.

~ ~ ~

Today, I practice my sword moves. I use the willow tree beside my house as my enemy, and use all kinds of different methods to slash it, finding which one is the most effective, which is the least, and which I still need to master.

"Sandi! Breakfast!" my mother calls from the house.

"Okay!" I yell back. I slide Flame into its sheath and carry it back into the house, storing it away in my room.

I enter the kitchen to find my mom and my older brother, Luke, eating cereal at the table. My dad must have already left for work. He works full-time at this huge company, so I hardly get to see him, except some nights when work ends early.

I sit down at my place, shoving cereal into my mouth. Meanwhile, Luke and my mother are already finished eating and Luke is strapping his backpack over his shoulders.

My mom glances worriedly at her watch. "Hurry up, Sandi. It's eight fifty. School starts in ten minutes!"

Shoving one last mouthful of food into my mouth, I stand up and grab my backpack. I gulp down the cereal in my mouth without fully chewing it and follow Luke out the door. "Bye Mom, love you," I say quickly as I exit the house.

"Love you too, sweetie. You two have a great day!"

The door closes behind me and Luke and we begin our trek to school.

I find myself enjoying the walk to school. It's very peaceful. There's a nice view from the hill where our neighborhood is, and I can see the ocean waves crashing against the sandy beach of District 4, my home.

"Wow, Sandi, aren't you obsessed with that sword," Luke says to me, interrupting my thoughts.

I glance at him. He's a whole five years older than I am, so I have to tilt my head pretty high when I look him in the eye. "So what?" I ask innocently.

He laughs. "You're always making us late because you spend more time with it than you do getting ready and eating breakfast combined!"

I shrug. "Whatever. Might as well have some fun before we go to the 'place of learning,'" I grumble.

Luke laughs again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

And we walk the rest of the way in silence.

~ ~ ~

"School is so boring," my best friend Alyssa sighs, pushing her long, wavy blonde hair out of her face as we amble out of school. "They always treat us like such babies. I can't believe they're still making us line up in single file, and they won't stop monitoring everywhere we go! I mean, come on. We're almost thirteen!" She shakes her head. "Your brother is so lucky to be in secondary school."