A Twist in My Story

Chapter 1: The Morning of the Reaping Day

      I was in the woods as usual with my father and brother Paul. I was sitting on a fallen log of oak as I rest after a few hours of hunting. Hunting was illegal and a major violation to our laws which may lead to us being executed in the Town Square if caught. But I guess I don’t have to worry about that. A lot of people before have been going in the woods to hunt and collect fruits and berries. But, since a lot of them aren’t actually skillful in hunting or snares, they don’t dare pursue, which makes us the only people who are daring and stupid enough to be doing these things. And I don’t blame them, since everyone is starving here in District Twelve that even Peacekeepers come to buy some of the animal meat that we sell and trade in the Hob.

      I like it in the woods. It's calming and peaceful, if you disregard the fact that a lot of wild animals are lurking about. Well, wild animals that will soon be our meal for the rest of the day. The woods was a place where I can breathe. Where I was far away from everybody else and free to think about anything other than the thought of my family starving to death. I was free in the woods. Free like those mockingjays that I’d commonly see in the trees early in the morning and late in the evening. Yes, as free as those magnificent creatures.

      Well, I guess they weren’t that magnificent since they were the symbol of The Flame Days. Those were the days of our second revolution against the Capitol. The one that happened 25 years ago. The one where the victors of the 74th Hunger Games were from our own district, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. This was due to the twist in the 75th Hunger Games which was the 3rd Quarter Quell where victors of the previous games would be brought back to the arena as tributes. The thought of that happening was quite painful and horrifying considering the fact that they’d have to relive those nightmares all over again. The thought of that made me shiver. I suddenly remembered what I was trying to forget all morning. Today was the reaping day. I wondered what the twist in this year’s Quarter Quell was going to be.

- End of Chapter 1 -