Day 2

  At school I tell Miss Bell that I had started writing a diary last night.

  "That's great!" She beams at me. "If you like, you could share your entries with the class. But that's up to you, of course."

  "I don't think I want to share my diary with anyone. It's supposed to be private, isn't it?" I ask.

  Miss Bell pats my shoulder. "Of course. It's your choice." She reassures. "Now go sit down, your classmates are being way too loud!"

  I go over to my table and sit down. My friend, Calla, who sits next to me scoots closer. "Did you get in trouble?" A gleam is in her eyes, but it isn't the kind where she hopes I get in trouble, it's more of a mischievous kind, the kind where she'll laugh at me in a friendly way if I did.

  "No! I'm a good student, unlike you." I tease. She gives me a playful punch and a pretend scowl. We look up as Miss Bell starts speaking.

  "Hello class. Today we will be starting on the Dark Days and the Hunger Games. I'm sure you have all heard about this. After we finish, we will move on to talk about the Great Rebellion, which put an end to the Hunger Games. Right, so we are going to watch a video which will give a brief summary of the Dark Days, the Hunger Games and the Great Rebellion that follows." She flips a switch and the lights turn off. Then some music starts playing.

  I recognize it as the old national anthem of Panem from the documentaries I watch on TV when I'm bored. Sometimes I feel like Mom doesn't approve me of watching because of the frowns she puts on whenever she sees me. But when I ask her, she just tells me to keep watching. "It'll be good for you to know more."

  The video shows a map of some large country. The man speaking introduces this as the United States of America, which will soon become Panem. I know that Panem doesn't look like that. It is smaller. Then blue started crawling over the edges of the green land. "Floods came and parts of America were covered by water. Soon this became Panem. Damon Snow took over this new country, and formed a Capitol and the thirteen districts."

  Lines appear on the map, forming borders between each district and the Capitol. In each space a number, except for the letter C, pops up, labelling the map. "Each district specializes in something. District 1, luxury items such as jewellery." The District 1 symbol fades in. The video went on explaining what each District does.

  "The citizens were not happy with the way the Capitol rules, as the Districts work for the them, getting close to nothing in return. And so the Districts came together, and rebelled against the Capitol as one. It was a terrible war, and almost everything is destroyed. District 13 was destroyed, or so the people thought, and because of this, the rebels had less firepower against the Capitol, and they lost."

  The video ends after 10 minutes. Apparently, during the 75th Hunger Games, some tributes in the arena blew up the arena, and the rebels rescued as many surviving tributes as they can. One of the tributes became the symbol of the rebellion, nicknamed the Mockingjay. There were terrible bombings and multiple deaths. President Coin of 13 was assassinated during the attacks, but in the end the rebels won and President Snow was killed.

  Thats the only interesting that happened in school today. After school I pick Rye up and head over to Dad's bakery like we do everyday after school. Mom is sitting at the cashier and asks us about our day. I tell her we are learning about the Dark Days.

  Theres a pause before she says anything. "That's great, Willow." Suddenly her eyes got a little watery, but she stands up quickly, and I am left unsure. "I'm going to check on your dad. He's decorating a cake for a wedding. If there's anyone, yell." She plants a kiss on Rye's cheek and disappears into the back.

  Rye takes a chocolate eclair and I take a goat cheese and apple roll. We are allowed to do that, because we are the baker's children. The goat cheese and apple roll is my favorite, even cold. Rye just likes anything sweet.

  We go home for dinner after the bakery closes and Rye and I argue who is showering first like every night. He lost, as usual. Homework is just a few questions on our thoughts of the Hunger Games and district. There are still districts now, but unlike the past, we don't specialize in coal mining. Sure, there are coal miners, but it isn't what the majority does. There are a few farms and we export stuff to the other districts and we get some of their stuff in return.

  It is the middle of the night. I was sleeping nicely, but then Mom screamed, louder than ever. One of her nightmares again. I was, and still am, scared. She does scream or yell in her sleep sometimes, but never as loud or as bloodcurdling as this. There were a few smaller screams and loud breathing. I had tiptoed to their door and listened. I heard Dad soothing Mom.

  "It's okay, it's okay. It's in the past. It's over now.." Dad's gentle voice said.

  "Oh Peeta.. Don't leave me. I can't. I keep thinking that every second..." Mom sobbed. Dad hushed her.

  "They won't." He said firmly. "You're safe. Rye and Willow are safe. I'm here. We're all safe."


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Thanks for reading:) This may be a bit too long and not really like a diary entry but there are some things I want to talk more about... Please comment any suggestions.. :)