PROLOGUE
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Since the time Alice Stone could open her eyes, water had surrounded her. She learnt to swim before learning to walk; the deep open ocean was a part of her.
She always considered herself lucky, being so far away from the mainland and the broken society she was born into. She had been raised away from the oppression, depression and totalitarian government that Panem had been plagued with for the last several decades.
She had been born into a small group of people who could leave the constraints of the land and venture out into the deep waters off the western coast of Panem. They could escape the confining rules that dictated the lives of the Districts and live a life where they were able to taste freedom once outside of the ocean borders. Her little group of deep-sea trawlers ventured out into the endless blue for weeks on end just to satisfy the Capitol's insatiable gluttony and endless demand for exotic seafood. As long as they kept the Capitol's bellies filled, the government turned a blind eye on the deep-sea trawlers and their taste of a life lived outside the constraints of Panem.
Alice Stone came from District 4, the strip of land on the western coast that was filled with fisheries both along the shoreline and throughout the freshwater rivers that ran down from the mountain range, along the eastern side. It's a highly-populated District with over 100,000 residents; all spread along the coast from the vast desert along the border of District 5 all the way up to the mountainous forests that flow into District 7. Although the residents may be spread across the coast, it was an easy task to bring them all together for exclusive events. If there was a child of age in a family, they were most likely to be taken to the main town either by will or by force; the Peacekeepers didn't mind either option. Although not many exclusive events happen across Panem during the year that required such attendance – especially within the districts – but when they do, the people of Panem dread them and the number one even on the list of dreaded events is the stomach turning, heart-stopping, event to top them all; The Hunger Games.
And that is where Alice Stone's story begins.