Garden of Eden

Chapter 1

It is to the sound of my canary, Melody, that I wake up to as the sun makes its ascent in the east. Dragging my legs over the bed, I rush towards the birdcage by the window to quieten her down.

Once she is silent, I turn to the bed directly across the one I had just occupied to see Meredith my sister still sleeping. Breathing a sigh of relief, my attention is then reverted back on the canary.

"Melody, you know you're not supposed to do that today. We hardly ever get any sleep the night before the reaping as it is."

The damn reaping.

My stomach tightens at the thought of it; the thought of what all twelve districts in the country of Panem are forced to do on an annual basis by those who rule this country in a far off city known as the Capitol.

I dismiss the thought and glance out the window. It's still very early in the morning. The reaping doesn't begin until two in the afternoon. The logical thing would be to try and sleep some more. Despite this knowledge, I'm so full of anticipation that simply just trying to sleep would be pointless. Unbidden, my mind circles back to what the twelve districts are forced to do each year.

Every year, one boy and girl from every district are chosen to compete in a tournament known as the Hunger Games. Where they fight to the death until there is one survivor.

The way to determine who competes and become what are known as tributes is through the reaping, in which anyone from the eligible age of twelve to eighteen has a chance of getting their name drawn from a glass bowl. Those unfortunate enough to be picked are then forced to compete.

This year, being the second Quarter Quell, the Hunger Games have been modified.

I can still remember hearing about this year's game alteration through the reading of the card.

My family and I were gathered around the television in our home above the sweetshop which we own. We were informed at school that that night there would be a programme on television which we were all required to watch. After the news the entire school became anxious as we already knew it could only be related to one thing; the Hunger Games.

So there we were; Meredith, our mother and father, and I crowded around our only television. It's a tiny little thing but I'm not complaining. Many people in the poorer part of where we live in District 12 are worse off than us.

The sound of Panem's national anthem being played blasted through the television. I focused on the screen as President Coriolanus Snow walked on stage.

He looked as he usually did year after year with his small, thin build, snakelike eyes, greying hair, and peculiar white rose pinned on his black suit.

Following behind him was a young girl in a white dress. In her hands was a plain wooden box. The anthem ended shortly afterwards and President Snow began to speak about the Dark Days in which the districts started an uprising against the Capitol. Twelve districts were defeated and the thirteenth entirely destroyed. In order to maintain peace, the Treaty of Treason was created along with new laws. As a result, the Hunger Games was born to be a constant reminder that the Dark Days are never to be repeated. When the laws were first made, they stated that every twenty-five years an anniversary would be marked by what would be known as a Quarter Quell. During which the games would acknowledge the anniversary by implementing a onetime change.

"On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it," President Snow spoke of the previous Quarter Quell.