The Hunger Games

 Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun.....

~Back of Hunger Games book.    

In fourth grade I read the Hunger Games, a fantastically written book by Susanne Collins. That year I had a bad habit of whenever I think a book is boring, I barely pay any attention to it so basically I sort of didn't read the book. I couldn't remember a thing (except for the end). So I decided to reread it this year.

The Hunger Games is about people who live in one big land blob called Panem. Panem is all the land and countries in the world together. The Capitol decides to split all the land up and name them all districts. There are twelve districts total. The first four districts are called "career districts" because they are favored the most by the Capitol. Each district has a specialty like agriculture or coal mining. Well enough about that for now.

The main character of the book is a sixteen year old girl named Katniss Everdeen who lives in district twelve. Her family is very poor and struggles to survive. She has a little sister named Primrose (Prim). Her Dad dies in an explosion in the mines, so they don't have any way to make much money. But they do make little money from Katniss illegally hunting in the woods with her friend Gale. They will shoot an animal with a bow and arrow or trap it with a snare, then go to the market to trade it for something edible or sell it to the butcher.

Every year the capitol holds the Hunger Games. The Reaping help decides who will represent their district in the Games. During the Reaping someone will choose two names out of a giant glass ball. One male. One female. Ages 12-18. They will be your districts tributes. Tributes represent are basically your representatives. You can enter your name more than one time in return for food.

The objective of the Hunger Games is to kill all the other tributes in the arena. In order to return home you have to win. Losing is certain death. All the tributes are left in an arena for a couple weeks and have to survive in the wild without being killed by other tributes. Only one person out of twenty four make it back home. The reason the Capitol does this is to remind everyone who lives in Panem that they have complete control over them. And to do so they take their children and send them away to be killed. Nice, right?

But little did they know that their lives would be changed forever because of the Hunger Games. When Prim's name gets called during the reaping, Katniss steps up and volunteers for tribute, thinking of this being her last goodbye to her family and friends. To Katniss'es disappointment, Peeta Melark, a local baker, was picked for male tribute. Katniss doesn't really like Peeta to much.

So that's my teaser about the Hunger Games. Hope you like it! Watch the movie on March 23, 2012!

My trip to the Dover Saddlery

"Mommmmmmmm, Can we go to the Dover Saddlery today???"     

5 minutes later.

 My sister and I are now making lists of what we need. My list included a a grooming kit, new breeches and treats for Star, my beloved pony. Yes. Of course there was more things on the list, I just don't feel like listing them all.

2 hours later, at Dover.

"Ahhhh, it's so warm in here" said Rachel, as we walked in the door. I agreed but didn't say anything. The warmth felt very inviting.

"Ohh. Lauren just look at those fuzzy jackets! They look so comfy!" Next thing I know, Rachel is just drooling all over them. Of course in the bag they go.  I would have gotten one, but I have other plans with my money.
Ok. Not exactly going to my plan ,Mom got to decide where to go first: to try on breeches. I tried on one pair of Equistar pants. They fit pretty well I thought, so I asked Mom to buy them for me. That was basically the only thing she bought for me, except for a five-dollar pair of gloves. I bought everything else with my own money.
After what seemed like one million years, Rachel was finally done trying on breeches.
Yay!! I thought. Now I get to go pick out my brushes. I decided that Star's new color was going to be purple!! I chose purple because it matched my saddle pad;and in my world everything has to match, except my clothes of course.
As I raced down the stairs I thought: "What's the rush? I have plenty of time to shop." So I slowed down a bit.
The second I saw it, the purple box, it went right in my bag. Next I picked out brushes. Of course they were all purple. I had a problem finding a hoof pick. It was either a hoof pick  that was black and red with a brush on one side and a pick on the other, or a purple hoof pick that only had a pick. I went with the purple one.
Then, it's treat time!!! (Star you better appreciate me buying you extra treats!)I picked out a small salt lik-it and a bag of peppermint treats.
Next we go to pick out a saddle pad for Rachel. Rachel being as impatient as she is she said this " Mom, I don't want a saddle pad with my name on it. It takes wayyy to long for the people to sew it on. Oh and I forgot then we have to drive all the way back up here in 5 weeks or so." Rachel ,Rachel Rachel, so impatient I thought.
Well, she ended up getting a bold blue saddle pad (not a very good color on Star. No offence or anything Rachel.)
After that we picked out some zocks (riding socks) and some riding gloves. Rachel picked out blue and purple gloves and I can't quite remember what zocks she got. I got two pairs of black gloves and green zebra zocks!
The bad thing about zocks is that they are bad to have on in the winter because they are so thin. My toes like almost froze off once . Lucy kept telling my to put my heels down but it was pretty darn hard because my toes were numb!
Then we checked out and went home, pretty satisfied .
~Lauren

Horse Slaughter Poem: I might send this to Declan!!

A horse slaughter poem from the Horse's point of view:
 
We would always ride
You would constantly be by my side
Taking care of me
Grooming, Bathing, and hugging me
We made a great team
With you riding and me moving
We would always win
Even if we get last place to the judges
You will never not  be #1 to me
Or so I thought


At the show:
Ok. This is it I thought
The last jump
1,2,3 oops!
 We had crashed down to the ground
This could not be good
Where did you go?
I can't see you anywhere
Oh well. I'll see you tomorrow I guess
Tomorrow:
 I was waiting
Waiting for hours and hours, for you
But you never came
Finally, I saw a truck with a big trailer attached to the back.
I simply assumed that I would soon have a new friend
A new stable-mate
But I was far off
I never suspected I would be in that trailer
In the trailer:
In the trailer,I saw other horses
They look sick, horrible, skinny and weak.
Some are even falling to their knees
I just hope I don't end up like that
The ride up there took a really long time
We had to live in each-others poop
We got no food or water
Nothing at all
I still wonder where we are going
I also still miss you
Finally the truck parks and we are all unloaded
Slaughter house:
Next thing I know we were led into a skinny path of cement
Where does it lead to?
Boom! Whoa! Where did that come from?
Now we are moving the line up slowly
I am third in line
My friend Winnie and I are talking about why we are here.
Boom! Again, what is that noise?
Winnie murmured something about "pain" under his breath and went into the ring
What will they do to him?
The human holds him firmly in place
Then my other friend Lily distracts me by asking me what is going on
I tell her that I am trying to figure that out
Boom! Winnie? Winnie? Where did you go?
Next thing I see is Winnie's body sprawled across the ground, blood dripping out of his head
This could not be happening
Winnie was dead
Now they start cutting him up into pieces
When they are done, they lift him up and take his carcass away
Great. It's my turn to be skinned alive now
I try to get away by bucking and rearing, but it simply wouldn't work
After a few more tries I gave up and stayed still
The human aims his gun at my forehead
"Get ready" I told myself silently
Boom! All the pain just soars through my body
Aching pain
So I collapsed onto the dirt, pain all gone
I can't feel a thing
At least I don't have to suffer anymore
I just hope that I don't end up on someone's dinner plate

But now I am mad, at you
Why did you send me through this horrible process
Was it because of my little mistake?
When I tripped over that jump?
Well I don't care about you anymore
I shouldn't
Did you really have to send me here?
I mean I knew you were mad but seriously?
I thought I was a marvelous horse
But clearly I was wrong

Stop the Slaughter, Stop the Abuse, Horses are our friends.

~Lauren

Teaser for my book

Jenna is a 13 year old girl who is loves horses. She has been riding for almost 3 years now. She has placed in every show she has entered. All she needs is her own horse. When her parents finally agree to buy her one, she freaks out in happiness. It takes a while but they finally find the right match:Shadow. Shadow’s previous owner was a little shady and didn’t give much information about Shadow’s past. After a little training and getting to know Shadow a little Jenna (without thinking very much) decides to enter a show.
Getting ready for the last jump on the cross country course. It was pretty big Jenna thought.”One,two,…” She never got to three.
The crowd showed mixed emotions as Jenna hit hard solid ground.
Jenna had no clue what was happening. “Get her on the stretcher!” someone had screamed.”Take her to the ER!” shouted another.
Her parents were burying their face into their hands. Sobbing as loud as they could. Crying their hearts out. Screaming”Why? Why?”But finally her Dad went to check on her. She didn’t look so good.
Everyone was afraid she was dead. That people hadn’t reacted as quick as they should have.
Comment on what you think. Should I write the whole book?
~Lauren