The wood of my desk was cool against my cheek. I stared at the clock as the tedious minutes passed by. Five minutes left, four minutes left, three minutes left. I looked out the window at the ominous clouds blanketing the sky and hiding the sun. Something was nagging in the back of my mind as though warning me. Was it just the weather? Or was there something else clouding my thought process as my teacher rambled on about the importance of the Hunger Games? He was some capitol idiot no doubt. I wished he would see the world for what it really was now, a desolate, sad place. Sometimes I thought the world was made so that someone above could watch us fail over and over again. We were ignorant and small in a large world. We thought we knew everything, but really every day we discovered something new. Finally the loud bell rang. It was like a cool drink of water on a hot day. I grabbed my books and was the first one out of the classroom. The day was humid and I could feel a raindrop every now and then as I crept along the road. It was the kind of day that could stay gloomy all day or start pouring at any second.

My house wasn't far from the school. I paced my footsteps, not ready to go back to the chaos of my own home. These days my mom had trouble taking care of our little family.

The sky opened up halfway home and, as the rain poured down on me relentlessly, I raced for the small wooden cabin I called home. As I neared, the door to the dry house was a welcoming sight despite the craziness I associated with it. I raced in and shook off the drops of water from my jacket.

Outside the rain was already letting up. I sighed and curled up in a ball on the sofa. The soft cloth of the couch was too hot against my skin, so I sat up again and stared out the window at the diminishing raindrops, catching sight of my siblings trotting absently through the puddles.

I padded softly into the kitchen to do my homework. The cold kitchen tiles comforted me in a way our old sofa couldn't and I began to go through my bag in search of a pencil.

The door swung open groaning loudly.

"Luke!" Sophie squealed in a whiny voice, her cheeks flushed with annoyance. "Lilly tell him to leave me alone!"

Luke was practically on top of my sister pulling on her perfectly pleated braids. I sighed watching the two shove each other. It seemed like such a silly thing to be fighting over with the Quarter Quell coming up. There was always something they could fight about though.

This year was going to be the very first Quarter Quell; an event that marks the anniversary of the Hunger Games every twenty-five years. Quarter Quells are different than the regular version of the Games that we'd been seeing up until now, because the Gamemakers added a twist to the arena to make it seem more "interesting". There was a special ceremony in the Capitol for it and everything. In it a little boy dressed in a gold suit, walked up onto a stage to thunderous applause and handed the president a card in a simple white envelope.

"To remind the districts that the Capitol isn't without mercy, citizens are allowed to vote for their representatives in this year's Hunger Games."

The evil smile he had given the camera after the announcement still made me shiver.

Mom walked into the family room and sat down by the fire ignoring my two quarrelling siblings. Her eyebrows were set low over her eyes as she stared into the dancing flames. I wondered what had her so stressed. The wrinkles in her stern face seemed more obvious in the dull firelight, and her grey eyes seemed somber with the absence of her bright smile. I sighed again and went back to pretending to do homework. I doodled on my page absently, hoping that I could calm my mother before dinner. It was always unpleasant when my mom was unhappy. I let my mind wander for a while.

My day had been dull like always after my siblings arrived, we sat around doing homework, and arguing then laughing about it until my mom got home and we quieted down.

A loud knock at the door snapped me from my daze and silenced my arguing siblings. The door burst open revealing a cloud of peacekeepers who invited themselves in, their white uniforms unusually bright in our dingy home. I always thought it was strange that they wore white uniforms, suggesting that they were the good guys but in reality they were the opposite.

I watched as the three of them invaded our home. They looked so wrong in this setting as they filled the small living room. My mother didn't seem surprised. Instead there was a sad look on her face like she knew what was coming.

"Mary Carson?" The tall peacekeeper's voice was low and dull.

"That's me," My mother stood, looking petite next to the tall man.

"Your daughter Sophie has been selected for the honor of being a contestant to go into this year's annual Hunger Games."

I blinked not believing what I was hearing. I loved my little siblings more than anything in the world. I bit my lip not wanting to think about little Sophie in the games.

"What?" I demanded, standing swiftly and knocking back my chair, which clattered to the ground.

"Lily, sit back down," my mother said sternly. I frowned.

"That's not fair, why her?"

My mom shot me a death look, but I ignored it. I tried to keep my breathing even as I talked to the tall uniformed man.

"She didn't do anything wrong." He gave me a condescending look.

"We selected the contestants randomly miss," the man said in his dull voice. The room seemed closer than before. It wasn't warm and busy anymore, but instead hot, sticky, and crowded. I knew I had to get out of there.

"Miss Sophie will be one of ten children from district five who will be voted on to go into the arena. Five girls and five boys will stand on the stage in the center of town next week and the people from the district will vote on who is most," he hesitated for a word, "qualified, to go into the Hunger Games. In the mean time the contestants will be living in the justice building to await the votings."

My stomach churned remembering the twist for this years quarter quell; children from the district would be voted on instead of reaped this year and volunteering was not allowed.

I turned away from the peacekeeper. I couldn't look at him anymore. Instead I looked back at my little sister. Her blond hair was sticking to her forehead with sweat. She looked very pale, making her freckles stand out more than usual. She was small for thirteen and would never make it if she went into the Hunger Games.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took off out the back door. I didn't want to see the look on my sister's face as they took her away. I couldn't stand to be in there any longer. My mother called to me but I kept running. Tears began to fall down my face as I took off for the woods. I curled up at the base of a pine tree near the tall fence separating the woods from the rest of District Five.

I thought I was far enough from my house but in my small district you could hear everything that was going on. I could hear my Sophie's screams and the clamor of bodies as they scrambled to kidnap my little sister. I clenched my fists over my ears desperately.

The night was hot and sticky, the rain from earlier making the air feel clouded and thick. The grass was damp from the showers and it made the legs of my pants wet too. There was a slight breeze that rustled my brown hair from where I sat. I wanted the capitol to leave us alone. Why did they have to pick on the districts? My father used to compare them to bullies. They picked on the people in the districts to feel more powerful but it never got them anywhere.

I squeezed my eyes shut trying to grasp a memory of my father. All I could remember when I closed my eyes was the loud gunshot that rang through the house and my father falling onto our wooden floor. I had been in his room when it happened and I had hurried to his aid. I remembered not understanding what was going on and being scared and uncertain. I had been only ten and Luke had just been born. I had sat there, my father's blood pooling around me and it took me a while to realize. Then I screamed and my mother rushed in. She told me to leave the room. Sophie wanted to know what was going on and why my knees were caked in blood. I told her it was grown up stuff and locked myself in my room. Greif took over the whole family after that. Luke grew up in a burdened family, alert at the crack of a stick. We protected him like he was our king. Him and Sophie both really, but we had failed Sophie. I shook my head and thought back to my father again. The image of him drowning in his own blood flashed through my memories.

That was all I could think about, not the smell of toffee and pipe smoke that followed him around, not my father's scruffy beard that he never shaved, not my father's kind green eyes my sister had inherited. My sister who was a contestant to go into the Hunger Games, my sister who could be dead in a month, my sister who I had just ran out on in her time of need.

I began to cry again, I couldn't stop. When I finally pulled myself together it was dark out. The crickets chirped in the grass and the stars shone like beacons while drops of rain adorned the plants. My father would have pointed out that it was a magical night, but I hardly noticed any of the little miracles. What I did notice was the blood on my wrists where I had dug my nails into my arms and the tears that stung my eyes and cheeks.

I choked back another sob and stood up, brushing off my pants. I knew I should head back to my house to help my family in their time of need, but instead I strayed farther away. I passed by the houses of my district. They were mostly five room houses two stories; a family room, a kitchen, and three bedrooms plus each had a small bathroom. They were simple, but larger than most of the other district's houses. I weaved in-between the houses and down the winding road.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air as I passed the bakery. Outside I could hear the squealing of the eight o'clock train that usually passed through our district. The dirt was soft beneath my feet and I kicked at it wearily. I had been so busy being relieved about the twist to the quarter quell I had never imagined one of my precious siblings could go into the games. I thought for sure we wouldn't be one of the ten kids to be voted on and even if we were we wouldn't be chosen. It was harder to be optimistic when Sophie was a contestant.

I eventually made my way home. All the lights had been switched off, and the only light there was the red coals; the remains of the fire. My mom and brother sat by the fire holding hands with their eyes closed. My mom looked up when she heard me enter. "Oh Lily," she sighed.

"I'm sorry mo-." She cut me off,

"It's okay honey, it wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't yours either," I said gently. She glanced at Luke then stood, and walked towards me. She took my hands in hers, and pulled me into the dark kitchen.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I need you to help me out around here now okay? If Sophie goes into the Hunger Games things are going to get really tough. I don't want you to talk about it around Luke. He's going to have a hard time with it as it is."

I nodded. I wanted to take care of Luke too. If keeping Luke as little exposed to the games as possible was what was best for him then that was what I was going to do.

"I know you won't let me down Silly Lily," I nodded again ignoring the nickname she used. It was the one my dad had called me by and I didn't like when she used it.

"I'm going to go put Luke to bed," I sighed.

"That's my girl," she beamed at me, making me uncomfortable. Really, I was just going to put him to bed to get out of this odd conversation.

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, honey." I hesitated. She never called me honey. She was acting weird. I wondered if this weird behavior was because of Sophie. I assumed it was.

I took off into the family room no longer feeling guilty about my little outburst earlier. My mom didn't follow me. She probably wanted to be alone. I left her in her dark solitude and went to be with my brother. I went to Luke and gently lifted his small body into my arms. I carried him to his bed and lay down next to him. His breathing was soft and even. His blond curls framed his perfect face, and in the moonlight he looked like a little angel.

"Lily?" his voice was soft and groggy.

"I'm right here," I said taking his tiny hand in mine. He snuggled up against me.

"Is mom okay?" He asked. I sighed remembering our odd conversation and leaving her in the pitch-black kitchen. Sophie was her daughter she must be devastated. I sighed and brushed away Luke's curls from his forehead.

"She's fine," I wondered if I was telling the truth. Probably not; no one was all right when their children went into the Hunger Games.

I pulled Luke against my chest. I would take care of him in the way I had failed Sophie.

"Go to sleep, Luke." He closed his eyes and was asleep in a few seconds. I envied him. I closed my eyes and tried to follow in his footsteps, but Sophie's horrified little face kept popping back into my mind. I thought of what my dad would do in this kind of situation. I missed my dad. I missed him more each day. He had never yelled like my mother did. He would have protected us. I couldn't stand to loose Sophie too.

With sudden determination I decided I would save my sister. If I could convince enough people to vote for someone else then I could prevent her from going into the games. I wouldn't give up on her. Not now. I couldn't lose her. My mother was counting on her going into the Games and her losing, but I wouldn't follow her lead. This was something I had to do. I would save my sister.

This is a SOYT story so you can just PM me if you want to submit a tribute and I'll send you the form. I'm not accepting tributes through reviews so if you send one I will ignore it! I'll try to update soon, thanks!

: )