Everything is about them, not the dying boys and girls in the arena.

Even in war there should be lines you didn't cross.

In my mind, President Snow should be viewed in front of marble pillars hung with oversized flags. It's jarring to see him surrounded by the ordinary objects in the room. Like taking the lid off a pot and finding a fanged viper instead of stew.

The realization that I’d have nothing to take home had finally sunk in. My knees buckled and I slid down the tree trunk to its roots. It was too much. I was too sick and weak and tired, oh, so tired. Let them call the Peacekeepers and take us to the community home, I thought. Or better yet, let me die right here in the rain.

I miss home badly sometimes. But then I remember there's nothing left to miss anymore. I feel safer here.

Why am I hopping around like some trained dog trying to please people I hate?

And then, if you make it to bedtime, you feel the joy of cheating death out of one more day," she said. "Do you see?