| From The Hunger Games | ||
| The moment the anthem ends, we are taken into custody | ||
| I don't mean we're handcuffed or anything, but a group of Peacekeepers marches us through the front door of the Justice Building | ||
| Maybe tributes have tried to escape in the past | ||
| I've never seen that happen though | ||
| Once inside, I'm conducted to a room and left alone | ||
| It's the richest place I've ever been in, with thick, deep carpets and a velvet couch and chairs | ||
| I know velvet because my mother has a dress with a collar made of the stuff | ||
| When I sit on the couch, I can't help running my fingers over the fabric repeatedly | ||
| It helps to calm me as I try to prepare for the next hour | ||
| The time allotted for the tributes to say good-bye to their loved ones | ||
| I cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with puffy eyes and a red nose | ||
| Crying is not an option | ||
| There will be more cameras at the train station | ||
| My sister and my mother come first | ||
| I reach out to Prim and she climbs on my lap, her arms around my neck, head on my shoulder, just like she did when she was a toddler | ||
| My mother sits beside me and wraps her arms around us | ||
| For a few minutes, we say nothing | ||
| Then I start telling them all the things they must remember to do, now that I will not be there to do them for them |