I lay in bed awake, my heart pounding. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.

Buttercup curled up in the

crook of my arm as we snuggled up in Mother’s bed. It was peaceful. Or it would’ve been if it was
any other day. I heard the bed creak as Katniss woke, but there was silence again soon after as she
left to go hunting. I felt my Mother stir, and I knew there was no point in trying to sleep. I scooped
up Buttercup and crept down the stairs into the kitchen. A bundle of strawberries lay on the counter-
popping one into my mouth I set Buttercup on the ground, walking to the garden.

“Good Morning, Lady.” I stroked her fur gently. How Katniss managed to hunt animals I would never
be able to understand. I set to milking her, desperate to distract myself from the day to come.

Reaping day. Katniss had ensured the odds were in my favour, having signed up for tesserae herself,
my name would be on one slip in thousands. But it was still a slip, nonetheless. And I worried for
Katniss and Gale too; Gale’s name would be in the bowl 42 times this year. I forced myself to stop.
Think about milking Lady I told myself. Soon after I was done, Mother was boiling the kettle. I placed
the milk on the counter, and she placed her arms around me. We stood like that for a minute before
she poured us each a cup of tea. We drank in silence, staring out of the grimy kitchen window at the
Seam. Mother squeezed my hand gently and we headed upstairs to the bedroom, where Katniss’
first Reaping outfit lay on the bed: a simple blouse and skirt, at least 2 sizes too big. I slipped into
them, and mother pinned the skirt at my waist. The blouse didn’t sit right, and the skirt was far too
loose still, but I thanked her anyways. Mother plaited my hair before we headed downstairs once
again to where Katniss had just arrived. Mother started on skinning the rabbit Katniss had deposited
on the table and I turned away. I hated seeing dead animals like that. Katniss would poke fun at me,
saying how it’s the same thing that we eat, except it’s different, because the animal still looks like an
animal, there could still be hope of letting it live. Katniss grinned at me, hugging me tight.

“We’ll have rabbit stew tonight; I found a few Katniss roots by the lake again too. And I see
somebody’s already started nibbling on the strawberries.” I laughed despite the situation. “Give us a
twirl then!” I span, the skirt feeling very loose around my hips. Katniss grinned, tucking in the back of
my blouse that had escaped. “Tuck in that tail little duck.” I gave a small quack before pinching yet
another strawberry. Mother and Katniss headed upstairs to get ready, and I sat on the floor by the
fire with Buttercup, pulling on a pair of white ankle socks and my plain black school shoes. They’d
have to do. Katniss and Mother appeared, and I glanced at the clock. Forty- five minutes to go.

“We’d better get going.” Mother tried to smile, and Katniss pulled me up onto my feet. I cradled
Buttercup, giving him many kisses.
“I’ll be back soon, baby, I promise. Don’t eat my strawberries!” I ruffled his yellow fur and he
mewed, purring as I scratched behind his ears. I set him on the ground and together, Mother, Katniss
and I left home and headed for the square.

We reached check-in in no time. Mother had to leave us, and I felt myself beginning to shake. What
if it was Katniss? Or Gale? Or one of my friends from school? I tried to push the thought to the back
of my mind. We reached the front of the line and they pricked my finger with a weird needle thing
before sending me to my spot. Katniss had to stand closer to the front with the girls her age, whilst I
stood at the back with the other twelve-year-old girls. My friend Melody stood beside me, and we
chatted nervously about school and Lady and the strawberries. Chatting about anything other than
what was to come.

Effie Trinket took to the stage and babbled on in her squeaky Capitol accent about how wonderful
this time of year was. Then she played the video from the Capitol. It showed images of District 13,
smoke rising from the explosions. It was the same video yearly, and so I doubted that 13 would still
be that dirty. I tried to zone out and ignore the ceremony but I couldn’t for long because it was time
to draw the names.

“As always, ladies first.” Effie ran her fingers through the thousands of slips in the bowl. Melody
squeezed my hand and I squeezed hers back.

“I’ll get you some strawberries later.” I whispered, and Effie plucked a name from the bowl.

“And the lucky lady is… Primrose Everdeen.”

The world around me seemed to stop. One slip in thousands. My head was spinning, and I felt myself
being pushed forward to the aisle. Peacekeepers stood either side of me as we walked towards the
stage. I searched the rows of sixteen-year olds for Katniss, but I couldn’t see her. Tears rolled down
my cheeks as I moved silently up the stairs to the stage.

“Look at you! Oh you look gorgeous, darling. Now, I must ask, do we have any volunteers?” Effie
piped. I stared into my hands letting tears drip down my cheeks. My sniffs were the only sound, tears
dribbling freely onto my blouse. “Alright then. On to the boys.” I heard Effie’s heels clicking as we
walked over to the other side of the stage to draw a name for the boys. “Peeta Mellark.” I glanced
up to see the Baker’s youngest son ascending the stairs. He looked simply shocked as he stood next
to me, staring out at the people of 12. Effie asked again for volunteers, and when nobody moved,
she turned to us. “Shake hands.” Peeta and I turned to one another and I shakily offered my hand
out. He shook it gently, both of us trembling. And just like that, we were whisked away.