$1 Child VS $1,000,000 Child
by Odessa Von Ruden
 

j / lh

jimmy donaldson's pov: 
 

"Today I FORCED 24 children from IMPOVERISHED districts to fight to the DEATH and whoEVER wins gets a MILLION dollars!" Jimmy Donaldson shrieked from the District 12 podium. He paused, expecting applause, but got nothing. He hesitated, looking back to the MCs hosting the event, but they only shrugged, so he turned back. 
 

          "Cut this out of the video, please," he muttered to his friend and cameraman Karl Jacobs, whilst turning back to the crowd of children. "So, let's get right into it! Rules are pretty simple: You have to be the last person alive and you win a MILLION dollars!" 
 

          "What's a dollar? There isn't any currency in Panem," a boy in the audience cried. 

"It's a—nevermind. How about this: you have to be the last person alive and you get to survive!" Jimmy amended. 
 

          Dead silence from the audience. 
 

          "Alrighty, let's get this show on the road!" Jimmy crossed to the clear glass ball on the side and sifted through the hundreds of slips of paper, each with a name of a different girl from District 12. He finally chose one, crossing back to the microphone and reading out in a clear voice: "Our female contestant from District 12 is…Primrose Everdeen!" 

 

katniss everdeen's pov:
 

          No. This couldn't be. Prim was just one name out of hundreds, thousands of slips of paper. Katniss had made sure that Prim wouldn't be selected, done everything she could. Refusing to let her sister place her name in more times for food, putting that burden on herself instead. Katniss's name had been written in neat font on twenty different slips of paper, and Prim only one. 
 

          "I volunteer!" Katniss cried, flinging herself in front of Prim. She avoided looking at her younger sister's face; she didn't need to burst into tears and look even more pitiable in front of the Capitol audience.

          "I volunteer as tribute!" she repeated. 

 

jimmy donaldson's pov:
 

          He grinned. The more drama, the more sacrifice, the more entertainment, the better. He could practically picture the view count of this video skyrocketing. 
 

          "Zoom in on her face," he instructed Karl. "Make sure the audience gets a clear image of how impoverished she is."
 

          Karl nodded, adjusting his camera settings. 
 

          Meanwhile, as Katniss walked up the stage, Jimmy crossed to the other glass bowl to retrieve the male name. He pulled out a second slip of paper and read: "Peeta Mellark!" 
 

          A less noteworthy and less important blond boy mounted the stage. Jimmy impatiently gestured Karl to turn the camera back towards himself. 
 

          "Well, this certainly was a twist of events," he grinned. "A victor is yet to be predicted, but one thing is for sure: The 74th Annual Hunger Games are bound to be full of betrayal, murder, drama, but most importantly, fun. May the odds be ever in your favor!
 

I'm a Decatur High School senior who loves writing in all forms. I encourage you to create art, regardless of whether you think it's bad, because expressing yourself is one of the greatest things you can do.