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PART I "THE TRIBUTES"
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When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold My fingers stretch out, seeking Prih canvas cover of the mattress She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our
I prop ht in the bedroom to see them My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in ether In sleep, er, still worn but not so beaten-down Prim's face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named My mother was very beautiful once, too Or so they tell me
Sitting at Priliest cat Mashed-in nose, half of one earsquash Pri that his ht flower He hates o, I think he still reht hi with fleas The last thing I needed was another ed so hard, cried even, I had to let hiot rid of the vermin and he's a born mouser Even catches the occasional rat Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails He has stopped hissing at me
Entrails No hissing This is the closest ill ever come to love
I swingboots Supple leather that hasdark braid up into a cap, and grabOn the table, under a wooden bowl to protect it frooat cheese wrapped in basil leaves Pri day I put the cheese carefully in my pocket as I slip outside
Our part of District 12, nickna out to theshift at this hour Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles,to scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces But today the black cinder streets are eray houses are closed The reaping isn't until two May as well sleep in If you can
Our house is alates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow Separating the Meadow froh chain-link fence topped with barbed-wire loops In theory, it's supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day as a deterrent to the predators that live in the woods-packs of wild dogs, lone cougars, bears-that used to threaten our streets But since we're lucky to get two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it's usually safe to touch Even so, I always take a moment to listen carefully for the huht now, it's silent as a stone Concealed by a clump of bushes, I flatten out on my belly and slide under a two-foot stretch that's been loose for years There are several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so close to home I almost always enter the woods here
As soon as I'm in the trees, I retrieve a bow and sheath of arrows fro Electrified or not, the fence has been successful at keeping the flesh-eaters out of District 12 Inside the woods they roam freely, and there are added concerns like venomous snakes, rabid animals, and no real paths to follow But there's also food if you kno to find it My father knew and he taught me some before he was blown to bits in aeven to bury I was eleven then Five years later, I still wake up screa for him to run
Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons But h to venture out with just a knife My bow is a rarity, crafted bywith a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers My father could havethem, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for inciting a rebellion Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they're as hungry for freshour best custo the Seam would never have been allowed
In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples But always in sight of the Meadoays close enough to run back to the safety of District 12 if trouble arises "District Twelve Where you can starve to death in safety," I lance quickly over my shoulder Even here, even in the ht overhear you
When I was younger, I scared s I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol Eventually I understood this would only lead us to ue and to turn my features into an indifferent hts Do my work quietly in school Make only polite small talk in the public market Discuss little more than trades in the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money Even at ho tricky topics Like the reaping, or food shortages, or the Hunger Gain to repeat my words and then where would we be?
In the woods waits the only person hom I can be ,as I cli a valley A thicket of berry bushes protects it fros on a smile Gale says I never smile except in the woods
"Hey, Catnip," says Gale My real name is Katniss, but when I first told hiht I'd said Catnip Then when this crazy lynx started followingfor handouts, it became his official nickname for aretted it because he wasn't bad coot a decent price for his pelt
"Look what I shot," Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it, and I laugh It's real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaves we rain rations I take it in my hands, pull out the arrow, and hold the puncture in the crust to rance that makes my mouth flood with saliva Fine bread like this is for special occasions
"Mm, still warm," I say He must have been at the bakery at the crack of dawn to trade for it "What did it cost you?"