‘’ Hello Panem and welcome back to the third instalment of interviews! Please give a round of applause to our next six tributes, the tributes of District’s Seven, Eight and Nine!’’ I scream as Cricket, Min, Stitch, Phox, Ike and Bliss walk across the stage and take their seats.

As the tributes sit down on stage beside me, the crowd goes crazy, screaming their names and tossing flowers at the tributes. I still however notice a few people in the crowd using their phones – obviously to send in special attraction suggestions for the Games.

‘’ We will commence with Cricket, I have a question for you here, do you want to win the Games? I mean, who would you go back to?’’ I ask – probably the most common question send in for Cricket.

‘’ Ehm...’’ He begins, taken aback perhaps?

‘’ Don’t worry Cricket! No need to be shy.’’ I smile encouragingly.

‘’ Well of course.’’ He answers. ‘’ Why would I want to die? I have friends to go back to.’’

‘’ I don’t know. After what happened with your parents, I’m surprised you don’t want to join them.’’ I explain.

He glares at me angrily so I move on.

‘’ Next question I have here is for Miss Min Yan. Tell us, what is your weapon of choice?’’ I question.

‘’ The sword.’’ She smiles. ‘’ I like to think I’m a natural with it.’’

‘’ Ooh, interesting! Where did you learn to use a sword?’’ I ask.

‘’ Well my father is Japanese, and from a young age he taught me how to use a bokken – which is a wooden sword – it’s an ancient Japanese weapon.’’ She explains.

‘’ That’s simply fascinating!’’ I exclaim honestly. ‘’ I can’t wait to see you in action in the arena!’’

‘’ Thanks Piper.’’ She replies with an innocent giggle.

‘’ Oh no problem. Answer me this Min, what would be your ideal arena, if you could choose?’’ I ask.

‘’ I don’t really know, maybe just a forest and a lake. Not too many hiding places, then it would be boring for you lot watching it!’’ She explains and the crowd cheers admiringly.

From the crowd, a fan shouts ‘’ We love you Min!’’ and holds a sign with her name painted onto it.

‘’ How cute.’’ Smiles Min. ‘’ Thanks.’’

‘’ While we’re with you, I’ll just ask another question. In the interview, you described yourself using two words, beautiful and clever. You then explained that this is what your name translates to in English. However, if you could only use one of these words to describe yourself, which one would it be?’’

‘’ Definitely clever. My brains can get me places in life, I’m not pretty enough to get what I want by manipulating others with my appearance, and even if I was pretty, I wouldn’t do it. Girls like that make me sick.’’ She explains and the crowd cheers.

‘’ Don’t say that Min, you’re gorgeous!’’ I say to her, then I turn to the crowd. ‘’ Am I right?’’

The crowd’s response causes Min to blush up and giggle, they scream her name in admiration, cheering and shouting compliments at her from where they sit, along with tossing flowers onto the stage at her.

‘’ Thank you all very much.’’ She laughs.

‘’ I’ll come back to you later, next question is for Stitch. You seemed to be a bit off at the Reaping, why was that?’’ I ask.

‘’ Off?’’ He repeats in confusion.

‘’ Yeah, I dunno. You seemed distracted. What was that about?’’ I clarify.

‘’ Oh.’’ He says, then glances over his shoulder and mutters something.

‘’ Just like that!’’ I laugh. ‘’ That’s what I mean.’’

Stitch doesn’t respond to me. He continues to mutter under his breath to the wall beside him.

‘’ Are you OK?’’ I ask.

‘’ What? Yeah! Oh yeah. Of course I am. Sorry.’’ He apologizes after a few moments of awkward silence.

‘’ Who are you taking to?’’ I question.

‘’ Tell me Piper, do you remember Iris Maxwell, from the Ultimate Games twenty five years ago?’’ He asks, answering my question with one of his own.

‘’ Of course! How can I forget a girl that can...no way!’’ I begin, then realise what he is implying and a grin spreads across my face.

‘’ Well I’m sort of like Iris only I can’t talk to all dead people. Just the one.’’ He begins.

‘’ Who!?’’ I question immediately, as eager as anyone to know more.

‘’ My twin brother, he died at birth. I only found out he was my brother on the day of the Reaping.’’ He continues.

‘’ Oh wow. That’s deep. How long have you seen him for?’’ I ask. ‘’ What’s his name? Is he still here?’’

‘’ Calm down with all the questions.’’ He laughs. ‘’ I’ve seen him for as long as I can remember. Max. And yeah, he’s here with us now.’’

As he explains this, the crowd erupts into cheering and excited chatter.

‘’ Fascinating! Tell him I say hi.’’ I reply smiling.

‘’ He can hear you. You just can’t hear him. Or see him. Nobody can.’’ Explains Stitch. ‘’ He says hi though.’’

‘’ Do your parent’s know about him? Surely they’d be interested to know about their son they thought to be dead?’’ I ask.

‘’ Well they know now.’’ He laughs. ‘’ No, they told me about it yesterday. We haven’t talked about it properly though, we were supposed to after the Reaping, but you know.’’

‘’ Aw, that’s unfortunate. It would’ve made for a better story. Ah well.’’ I say. ‘’ Next question is for Phox Halebrooks. In the Reaping, you used the word fast to describe yourself. Just how fast are you?’’

‘’ Really fast.’’ She smiles. ‘’ The fastest in my class.’’

As she says this, the crowd makes awing noises at the young twelve year old.

‘’ Are you able to fight?’’ I ask. ‘’ No point being fast if you can’t fight. Can’t run forever.’’

‘’ Fight? No. I’m twelve. I can just run. I’ll be OK.’’ She explains however I can’t quite understand her.

‘’ What do you mean? You can’t keep running. You’ll eventually have to fight someone if you hope to win and go home.’’ I say, rephrasing for her.

‘’ I can’t fight anyone...I-‘’ She begins but I cut her off.

‘’ You have to, or else they’ll kill you.’’ I explain.

As I say this, her face drops.

‘’ Kill me?’’ She gasps. ‘’ Why would they do that?’’

‘’ It’s the Hunger Games! Haven’t you ever watched it?’’ I ask.

‘’ No, my parents say it’s too violent for me. They-‘’ She begins but I cut her off again.

‘’ It’s against the law not to watch it. You do realise that, don’t you?’’ I ask.

‘’ Of course.’’ She begins. ‘’ My parents do, but they think I’m too young.’’

‘’ Too young to watch it, but not too young to compete. That’s ironic.’’ I smile and the girl begins to cry.

She is escorted off stage by a peacekeeper and I continue with the interviews.

‘’ This next question is for little Bliss. Like I asked Cricket, do you want to win the Games? You don’t have anyone to go back to after the events of a few nights ago.’’ I ask.

‘’ I don’t know. What would happen to me if I did go back? An orphanage like Cricket?’’ She asks.

‘’ Oh no! You’d live in the Victor Village.’’ I explain.

‘’ I don’t know. I guess it will depend on my partner and how much they want to win, how much they have to lose.’’ She says. ‘’ And how strong they are.’’

‘’ Is there anyone you really want to be paired with?’’ I question.

‘’ Someone big that can protect me and won’t ever get mad at me.’’ She says very simply causing the crowd to awe and toss flowers.

‘’ You really are a sweet little girl Bliss, do you think you belong here? Was your punishment fair?’’ I ask.

‘’ The Capitol’s word is final, I shouldn’t argue with their decisions.’’ She says almost robotically, she’s obviously been drilled with what to say by the President or his officials to prevent an uprising against the Capitol. However I can tell how interested the audience are, so I stick to the topic.

‘’ What exactly happened that night?’’ I question.

‘’ I caused District wide panic over nothing. I screamed about a fire when there was none. That was an act of terrorism on my District and I am lucky to be alive.’’ She explains again almost in a trance as she tries to remember the words that have been shoved down her throat. Quite saddening really.

‘’ OK then, we’ll move on to Ike. Tell us Ike, what is your weapon of choice?’’ I ask.

‘’ I don’t have one.’’ He replies. ‘’ But I guess I will try learn to use a dagger during training.’’

‘’ Do you think three days is enough to master a weapon?’’ I ask.

‘’ Well no.’’ He says honest with a laugh and the audience join in. ‘’ But it’s enough to get me to a standard that I will feel happy with. Plus, not many of the other tributes are experts with their weapons, so it shouldn’t be too hard.’’

‘’ Good point. Who do you want to be paired with?’’ I ask.

‘’ I don’t really know, someone that is equal to me so I don’t have to take care of someone else as well as myself, that would be tough.’’ He replies honestly.

‘’ What would your reaction be if you were paired with Margo, or Brutis, or another of the careers.’’ I question.

‘’ Well I’d be happy. I’d have someone that can fight, and someone that is prepared to kill, that way, I won’t have to.’’ He explains.

‘’ You’re not prepared to kill?’’ I ask.

‘’ Well I’ve never been faced with something like that, so I don’t know. I suppose if it was a matter of life and death I’d have to, to save myself. But I wouldn’t be hunting other tributes down. I want to go home alive, but I want to be the same person as before.’’

‘’ Very wise words. Min, are you willing to kill?’’ I question.

‘’ Of course I am. I have to get back to my family. My father and sister need me.’’ She replies. ‘’ And I will do anything to get back to them. However harsh it may seem.’’

‘’ That’s very noble of you. A family woman are you?’’ I ask.

‘’ Well I’ve been forced to take my mother’s shoes since she died. I’ve grown up fast, I may look like a child, but I can certainly make my own decisions and I certainly will be walking from the Games alive.’’ She explains and the crowd cheers for her.

‘’ That’s the spirit we love here in the Capitol! What about your father? Would he not support you all?’’ I ask.

‘’ Well he’s disabled. I take care of him, winning the Hunger Games would give him the life he deserves.’’ She continues.

‘’ Very true Min, very true. For the next question, we will head back to Cricket. Do you think your parents were treated fairly at the Reaping? Was their punishment fair?’’ I question.

‘’ What the hell do you think? They were murdered for reacting the way that’s expected for their son’s name being called to indicate he’s being sent for slaughter!’’ He replies furiously, blowing his lid completely.

‘’ You don’t know that, you could very well walk out of here alive.’’ I say, trying to calm him down before he does anything that could risk my life.

‘’ I do know it, I won’t be walking from here, there are others that deserve to go back to their families. I have nothing! The Capitol took everything I had from me.’’ He roars and begins to cry, then he runs from the stage.

‘’ Well then.’’ I say and laugh fakely, however nobody decides to join in.

Suddenly, the alarm sounds to indicate our time is up.

‘’ I’m afraid that’s all we have time for with this lot! Please give another round of applause to the four remaining tributes on stage and the other two wherever they’ve gone!’’ I laugh and the crowd screams crazily, tossing flowers and chanting the names of their favourite tributes. ‘’ I’ll be back soon with our final six tributes for the interview!’’