It was a gloomy, misty day in July and all the people of District 7 were huddled up at the town square waiting for the annual Hunger Games to start. There was much nervousness in the air and a vile wind swept across the treetops down onto the stage of the square. “Welcome!” said a voice joyously and cheerfully. It was the presenter of this year’s Hunger Games, “Welcome back to another year of the Hunger Games!” “This year is the 111th annual!” “This year we are going to select 2 young boys and girls to represent our district!” “The selection will now begin!” The presenter dipped her hand into a small tub and took out, by random, a name. “Archie Smith.” A 12-year-old boy clambered up to the stage clearly unable to utter a word at all. “Hannah Well” A 15-year-old girl crawled up onto the stage, clearly just devastated that she had just been chosen as a participant in The Hunger Games. Max did not want to hear the end of it. He kept uttering in his head, “Please don’t let it be me…please!!!!” “Max Cresswell” “Nooooo” Max groaned, this can’t be true, I haven’t been picked. But it was true, Max had been picked to represent the Hunger Games.
#Simon
Eyes shifted to look at Max. An eerie silence hung over the crowd. No one dared make a sound. They moved out the way to let Max come through. Stunned, Max did not move. “Come on, dear,” said the presenter, “Well, come on up.”
Slowly, Max edged towards the stage. His sister Katniss emerged from the crowd. “No! No!” As she ran towards Max, two white men blocked her path. “I volunteer! I volunteer!” she cried. She pushed through. “I volunteer as tribute!” she shouted. The crowd gasped and looked at each other. Everyone looked at the presenter.
“I, I believe that we have a volunteer, Mr. Mayor.” said the presenter.
Running up to Max, Katniss cried, “Max, you need to get out of here! Max, you need to get out of here!”
“No! No!” cried Max.
“Go find Mom!” shouted her sister, “Max, go find Mom right now. I’m so sorry.”
“No! No!” sobbed Max.
“Go find Mom. Max, leave! Go find Mom!
“Noo, I can’t! Nooooo!” bawled Max, as he was carried away.
“Well, a dramatic turn of events here in District 7. Yes, well. District 7’s very first volunteer. Bring her up.”
The men dressed in white pushed Katniss up the stairs to the stairs. “Come on dear,” she said, motioning for her to come up.
“What’s your name?” asked the presenter.
“Katniss, Katniss Everdeen,” replied Katniss quietly.
“Well, I bet my hat that was your sister, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” mumbled Katniss with tears in her eyes.
“Well, let’s have a big hand for our very first volunteer, Katniss Everdeen!” said the presenter, clapping. There was a moment of silence. Then everyone raised three fingers on their left hand.
#Bill
Three-finger salute to Katniss Everdeen. It was Katniss who kept me hooked. Complex, flawed Katniss , with her bow and her braid and her tempered fury. She’s skilled at hunting but she second-guesses herself constantly. Her strength keeps her alive, but her decisions are often questionable. Her struggles made her real and vulnerable- enough that I could imagine myself in her shoes.
I wasn’t alone. Katniss Everdeen’s name always booms through me like a firework.
To survive all this, Katniss adapts. Her enemies do not expect her to. Again, they underestimate her.
And they should never, ever be underestimated.
That is a hard truth, and it made me wonder: If Katniss knew what she would endure, would she still have fought? To me shooting perfect middle -it will be catching the eye.
After Katniss shoots the apple, she then says, “thank you for your consideration.” Towards the presenter, she is frustrated and stormed off.
Benjamin
Many years before, it was derelict and the primeval vermillion moon had leered over roofs of houses, there was tranquility in the moonlit plains when a sudden sound, the contestants were practicing their moves for the first-ever Hunger Games 60 years ago, the year was 1961, and the contestants that year were forced to represent their community District VII. It came as quite a surprise as the lord mayor Shaftsbury Chrome had demanded, ” Children of all ages must learn how to self-defend themselves. We can not risk a World War III” Of course the possibilities of this were very slim however nobody ever disagreed with the lord mayor, hence this was how the Hunger Games was founded, way back in ’61.
Ernest Smith, 13, and Jacqueline Well, 12, and of course Ajax Everdeen, 13, were practicing with bow and arrows,
“Looks like life really is desolate at times,” Ajax called.
Everyone else agreed and equally agreed that it was time to go up to bed.
“Let’s have a look at the daily news” demanded Ernest.
“DAILY NEWS” he read, “Citizens of District VII are all waiting eagerly for the first games to start, Prime Minister Approval, US has a new president, and. . .” When Ernest had finished reading, the others mumbled and Ajax muttered under his breath, “I wonder what the Hunger Games will be like in 60 years…”
60 years, 5 months, and 2 days later, Katniss Everdeen, Archie smith, and Hannah Well woke up.
#Simon
The first thought that hit them was they were going to the Hunger Games. Men dressed in white came in, and took all three of them to a black van. The presenter was at the front, smiling. “Come on in, dears.” All three of them got on. “You three are in for a treat!” she squealed, as they started travelling.
“Hardly a treat if we are going to get killed,” thought Katniss.
“There’ll be crystal chandeliers, platinum doorknobs, the whole thing flies too!” said the presenter.
The three of them were too busy thinking about the moment when they would be lying still on the ground, blood gushing out of them. Soon, the car stopped, and they were all escorted by more white men to a platform. The presenter ushered them in a carriage. As soon as they stepped in, their eyes gleamed like gold at the beautifully ornate room. There were crystal chandeliers, a tables with smooth velvet chairs. Scattered around the carriage were flowers on black marble tables. In the middle of each table was a fruit basket, and every type of cake you could imagine was in the food store. There were jellies, and biscuits, and tarts, and buns. The whole place was like a palace. All the three of them could do was look.
“We’re travelling at 200 miles per hour, and you can barely feel a thing. I think it’s one of the wonderful things about this opportunity, that even though you’re here and even though it’s just for a little while, you get to enjoy this.” chattered the presenter. The three just simply looked glum.
Benjamin
After looking around, Archie Smith announced, “This… is… amazing!” He lunged at the cakes and started to gobble them up rapidly, Hannah saw him and sighed, she and Katniss decided to relax for a while and watched the dazzling, radiant sunrise. The train was tranquil unless you ignored Archie still devouring the cakes one by one. Many hours later, 1 hour after nightfall, the trio had reached their destination: the Capitol after crossing district VI, V, IV, XII, XI, VIII, and even the archaic remains of the ill-fated district 13.
60 years, 5 months, and 3 days earlier: The trio, Ajax, Ernest and Jacky had just woken up at the crack of dawn.
The first challenge ever was about to start.
In 1961.
#Bill
Betrayal.
That’s the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous. For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first. And trust has not been part of the agreement. We’re tributes. But the boy who risked a beating to give me bread, the one who steadied me in the chariot, who covered for me with the red-headed Avox girl, who insisted H know my hunting sikills… was there some part of me that couldn’t help trusting him?
On the other hand, I’m relieved that we can stop the presence of being friends. Obviously, whatever thin connection we’d foolishly formed has been severed.
And high time, too.
The Games begin in two days, and trust will only be a weakness. I should be nothing but grateful for it.