Голодные игры

           Wedecidetosavethestrawberriesandbakerybreadforthisevening’smeal,tomakeitspecialwesay.InsteadwedrinkmilkfromPrim’sgoat,Lady,andeattheroughbreadmadefromthetesseragrain,althoughnoonehasmuchappetiteanyway.

           Atoneo’clock,weheadforthesquare.Attendanceismandatoryunlessyouareondeath’sdoor.Thisevening,officialswillcomearoundandchecktoseeifthisisthecase.Ifnot,you’llbeimprisoned.

           It’stoobad,really,thattheyholdthereapinginthesquare-oneofthefewplacesinDistrict12thatcanbepleasant.Thesquare’ssurroundedbyshops,andonpublicmarketdays,especiallyifthere’sgoodweather,ithasaholidayfeeltoit.Buttoday,despitethebrightbannershangingonthebuildings,there’sanairofgrimness.Thecameracrews,perchedlikebuzzardsonrooftops,onlyaddtotheeffect.

           Peoplefileinsilentlyandsignin.ThereapingisagoodopportunityfortheCapitoltokeeptabsonthepopulationaswell.Twelve-througheighteen-year-oldsareherdedintoropedareasmarkedoffbyages,theoldestinthefront,theyoungones,likePrim,towardtheback.Familymemberslineuparoundtheperimeter,holdingtightlytooneanother’shands.Butthereareothers,too,whohavenoonetheyloveatstake,orwhonolongercare,whoslipamongthecrowd,takingbetsonthetwokidswhosenameswillbedrawn.Oddsaregivenontheirages,whetherthey’reSeamormerchant,iftheywillbreakdownandweep.Mostrefusedealingwiththeracketeersbutcarefully,carefully.