As the platform lifted up into the arena, my life began to flash before my eyes...

I saw myself standing with all the girls at the reaping. Everyone was shaking with fear when Effie reached her hand into the great glass bowl. She pulled out a slip and unfolded it. She cleared her throat then announced, "Finch Crossley."

While everyone around me let out a sigh of relief, my jaw clenched. I began the long walk to the front. Once I made it up to the front, Effie pulled out the boy tributes name. My ears were ringing so much, I didn't hear who it was at first...

I saw myself waiting to say my final goodbyes to my dad. He burst in through the door and hugged me tightly around the neck, our tears merging on our cheeks. "I only have a minute," he whispered. "I know you can win, Finch. You're smart. You can learn anything." He pulled me back and looked into my eyes. "I'll see you soon."

I choked out a laugh. "You know I probably won't last. Compared to everyone else, I'm probably the youngest one."

"Don't think like that. Remember that Mom always told us to think positively? How it would help us succeed? You can do this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plain ring that had five-minute stones on it. He placed it in my palm and closed my fingers around it. "It's for good luck," he whispered.

The door swung open and a man came in a grabbed my dad. "Time's up," he said gruffly. With silent tears running down his face, my dad was led out of the room...

Now I was training. I memorized all the types of plants I might encounter, I studied with a knife and kept to myself. When we had to show what we could in front of the game makers. I made a simple trap. It was my goal to set everyone's expectations low. And it worked. I scored a five...

The platform raised into the arena. I squinted and looked around, taking in the layout. It was open out here but it turned into woods several yards away.

5, 4, 3...

I saw the cornucopia then made my decision. In the first five minutes, more kids were killed battling for supplies. I wouldn't make that mistake. There was a siren of sorts and everyone ran. I turned completely around and ran as fast as I could to the line of trees. I looked back and saw another boy running into the trees. He must have had the same idea as me. I turned a little so I wouldn't run into him in the trees.

I didn't know where to go but I wanted to get far away from the bloodbath behind me. I changed my course a little and suddenly I ran smack into someone else. My heart dropped as I saw who it was. The girl from district 12 who scored a 12. She could kill me.

My fear was mirrored on her face and she turned and ran in the opposite direction. I didn't want to run into her again so dashed in the other way.

I knew I was going to need food and water. As I wandered throughout that first day, my tongue grew dry and my stomach hollow. I had to think of something. Maybe this arena doesn't have easily accessible water. The Game Makers might do that. Maybe I needed to dig somewhere:

Frustration with myself built. I was from District 5! We weren't exactly living on the edge like the people in 11 and 12. That when I got an idea.

***

I had been following the Careers for who knows how long now. They had led me to water but all the food from the Cornucopia was being guarded. I stayed in the trees, hoping they couldn't see me. My red hair wasn't exactly helping with camouflage.

"Hey!" I whirled around and saw a boy who was with the Careers. He had a long knife in his hand. I lifted up my hands and backed away. He laughed and lunges at me. I curled into a ball as I went down. He lifted up his knife to stab me but I kicked his wrist. He growled and pushed me into the ground. I rolled and slid out of his grip. The boy wasn't very big. Maybe my age or a little older.

I turned to run but he caught my shirt and pulled them wrapped his other arm around my neck, choking me. I gasped as I tried to escape. He waved the knife in front of me. "Finally met your match, sneaky girl?"

I pried his arm away from my neck then dropped. He bent forward, still holding tight. I turned my body to the side then hooked his right leg with mine. I pulled forward. The boy yelped as he lost his balance and hit the ground. I was free. As I ran, I grabbed his knife from the ground.

There's no way he would just let me go so I had to think of something. I had to think quick. My legs were weak from so little food. I stumbled once but kept going. I could hear the boy thundering behind me. Suddenly, I knew where I was. A little ways ahead was a small drop off. If I could get far enough ahead, I could run behind the tree while hopefully, the boy would fall down off the ledge.

I held my breath and ran to the ledge. A huge tree was on top of the ledge, disguising it from view. I jumped past the tree then gripped a low branch. I swung over the dip and then landed against the tree. I hugged it as the boy ran past the tree.

He hollered as he lost his footing and slid down the steep dirt wall. It wasn't incredibly deep but it would buy me time. I ran away from the boy's heavy breathing. I needed to get somewhere fast. I needed a hiding place. I suddenly remembered some of the Careers saying a girl had hidden in a tree. I knew where to go now.

***

I had no idea how many days it had been. I leaned my head against the rough bark of the tree, trying to ignore the clawing hunger in my stomach. I had been taking food from the other tributes while they weren't looking, only taking enough that they wouldn't notice. But it wasn't enough to stem my hunger.

The boy who I had led to the drop off was dead. From my watch tower in the tree, I saw the whole thing by the lake.

I was like a spy. No one saw me but I always saw them. I knew I wasn't good enough to hunt my own food. Several failed attempts had shown me this. So I relied on my scavenging skills. I didn't want to risk any confrontation with the other tributes so I stayed hidden. And quite well because after the scuffle with that boy, I had gone undetected.

A growl from my stomach brought me out of my stupor. I needed food soon. I looked to the lake, by the Cornucopia. The Careers had piled the food and supplies up in a pyramid. That's where I would get the food I needed. I watched them set it up. The boy from District 3 had dug up the mines around our platforms and turned them into a booby trap. I watched them enough I was sure I could make it to the pyramid.

I climbed down the tree silently. I looked out and saw that something in the distance had caught their attention. Smoke. All of them but the District 3 boy left to find the person who was stupid enough to make a fire. This was my chance.

I crept out of the trees. I would only run if I knew it was safe. When I saw the boy plop down in the grass, I knew it was my chance. I took a deep breath and ran. As I got closer to the pile, I could see the places where they had marked and deemed safe to walk on. I stopped quickly before the first one. I jumped onto it. Then the next one. When I landed on the third one, I overestimated fell forward. I squealed quietly as I hands made contact with the ground. Nothing happened. My heart hammered on but I stood up. The next one was closer. Just need to step and...

I was there. I grabbed two apples, a bottle of water and some packaged granola bars. Then I walked around the pyramid. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone in the trees. I instinctively tensed up. I looked closer and saw it was the girl from District 12. She was watching me.

Instead of running back the way I came, I decided to run on the other side of the pile. Where the boy was on guard. He was looking away but the girl in the trees couldn't do anything with where he was looking. I licked my lips and ran. I didn't look back until I made it into the trees. The boy had heard something and had followed the direction. But he didn't see me.

I ran into the trees back to my tree. About halfway there, a loud boom rocked the ground. I whirled around and through the dense wood, I could see a huge fireball where the pyramid was. My first reaction was disappointment. There goes my food supply. Then I realized something. Now I had a chance of winning. I walked out closer to see the ruin. My foot nudged something and I saw it was a metal pot. I picked it up. Something reflected the sun into my eyes and when I got closer to it, I saw it was a knife blade.

I picked up and a laugh bubbled up inside me. I laughed quietly to myself. Now the Careers wouldn't have a chance. Their food was gone! I heard someone running through the trees to the burning mass. I quickly ducked and ran back to my tree. I scurried up it to see what the Careers thought of their situation. When I was able to get up and see, the District 3 boy's body was laying in the grass, head twisted in a sickening way.

I looked into the trees to see if the District 12 girl had made it out. If she did, I couldn't see her. There was a blast of a Cannon for the boy. I was expecting it but still flinched. I settled back into my tree and began to eat my foraged food.

***

It had been several days since the explosion. I had never seen the District 12 girl's face in the sky but I did see a boy and the District 11 girl that night.

My food was gone. And now I had no way of getting food from the Careers. They had begun to disperse from the lake. I knew that everyone was hiding in the trees. The only good thing was that I could fill my water bottle up at the lake without too much worry. I was still cautious though.

I climbed down the tree and began my trek to where I had seen movement last. Hopefully, it wasn't the Careers. I carefully ducked through the trees. I walked past the ledge where I had led the one boy off of. I smiled at the memory. Since that moment, I was lucky enough to have never had any trouble with anyone.

As I walked, my stomach began to hurt. I knew it was from lack of food. I could tell by looking at my arms that I had lost weight. I honestly didn't know how long I could last like this. My body seemed angry with the constant teasing of a little food then none for a while. I had a constant headache on the top part of my head and my back hurt. My hands were scuffed were rubbed raw from the constant climb of the tree. I might have to find a new place hide.

Suddenly there was a loud voice. I ducked and drew my knife. I felt foolish when I listened to the voice. It said that there would be a feast at the cornucopia. Something would be there that we desperately needed. We should meet there soon. And I knew what I had to do.

Running through the trees, I came up with an easy and quick plan. Wait in the cornucopia for when the feast starts, then grab my supplies. I already knew it must be food.

I could see the silver horn in the field. I stopped quickly and cautiously looked around. I hadn't come this far just to lose last minute. I took a deep breath then ran. The horn got closer and soon, I was in it.

The metal was hot from the sun and burned my already hurting hands. I sucked in sharply and pulled my hand off of it. I slid back into the cornucopia, waiting for the feast to start.

I was so close! I could maybe win this thing! But a dark thought crept to the front of my brain. There was no way I could last against these few tributes left. There was no way. Yes, I could ride out the rest of the games hiding but the likelihood of that was slim. The Game Makers must be getting bored. They would want to put on a show for the people watching.

The day waned and soon it was dark. I didn't trust myself to try and sleep. So I waited out the long night.

In the morning, I poked my head out from horn. There was a table with four backpacks. I was confused. Wasn't there five tributes, including myself, left? I shook away the confusing thought and scanned the tree line. I could make out a girl named Clove and the District 12 girl. They were both examining the situation. I knew I had to act now. I ran from the cornucopia to the table. I grabbed the pack that had a white 5 on it. Then I ran into the trees, far away from the other tributes I could see.

Trees flew past me as I ran to the tree where I had watched the Careers from. I climbed up it, pack hanging from my shoulder. I wanted to see what would go down at the feast. I was so relieved no one had followed me or tried to catch me.

Once at the top, I opened the bag greedily. I pulled out an apple, some jerky and... the supplies to build a trap. I groaned. They hadn't given me food. They gave me things to catch my own food. I stuffed the twine and different kinds of sticks back in the bag. I grabbed the apple and took a big bite from it, leaned back against the tree, and watched the show.

***

The apple and small pieces of jerky hadn't held me past that day. I became worried. There was no way I would last longer. I knew I needed more food. So had to steal. I tracked the District 12 tributes. I was reminded that their names were Katniss and Peeta by their conversation I would occasionally hear. An announcement came one day that two tributes from the same district could both win. I could guess they were excited.

I stayed a ways away while they gathered food. My stomach stopped making noises but now there was a deep ache. My hands wouldn't stop shaking and my knees wobbled. I watched Katniss catch and cook animals. When they would sometimes leave their supplies and walked off a little ways away, I could grab some of their food.

I was hiding close enough where I could see and hear Peeta gathering roots and berries. He must've hurt himself because he moved around gingerly. He had a handful of berries then wrapped them in a cloth. He turned around to pick some more and I saw my chance. I avoided the sticks that would give me away. I grabbed a handful of the berries then ran.

A ways away, I gazed hungrily at the berries. One had burst and bled purple juice on my hands. I heart dropped suddenly. I knew this berry. I studied it in training! I threw them on the ground. They were poisonous.

I sat on the ground numbly. I was starving and I wanted to shut down. I don't know if it was the hunger that was making me crazy but I had started to like Katniss and Peeta. They were kind and both seemed like a win would be good for them. But I knew they were deadly. I heard the Careers talking about Katniss. She could kill. I knew I wouldn't last a minute with her left in the arena. And there was no way she was going down any time soon.

I picked up the handful of berries again. Maybe this is it. I was over these games. I whispered a quiet, "I'm sorry." I looked around me then flicked a berry up in the air. I tilted back my head and caught it in my mouth. There was a second where I thought about spitting it out. But not a second long enough. I bit into the berry, juice filling my mouth. I swallowed. Darkness almost immediately rolled over me and my knees finally gave out.

Author's Notes

I apologize for the... horribleness (?) of this story :) I DO NOT write fan-fiction or spin offs. This felt completely foreign to me! So, sorry if you made it all the way through the story XD