I woke up to the sound of Buttercup scratching at my door. I was about to shout at him to go away but then I remembered that my sister was sleeping with me. She always did the night before the reaping. Our mother had been out all night at a miner's house who had been involved in a minor accident yesterday. He had burnt his face and hands and my mother couldn't find the man power to move him so she was forced to stay at his house for the night to administer her remedies.

I rose leaving my sister in her restless sleep and moved through my house in the victor's village. I still hadn't adjusted to the size of the house. As I walk through the empty corridor I reach the door of the bathroom and closed the door soundlessly behind me. I go to the large bath tub and start to run a bath for myself and my sister. Today is the reaping. The day where every child in all 12 districts of Panem is expected to dress up and stand in their respective district square and wait for one boy and one girl to be called to participate in the hunger games.

Last year was the 73rd hunger games. My sister was chosen last year. I volunteered for her. I won. However the twist for the Capitol was that my male counterpart, Peeta Mellark, also won. For the first time in the history of the games two tributes were crowned victors. However this came at a price. The price of President Snow hating me and everyone I love. I should have died. Peeta should have returned home as the victor. But he would never let that happen. Peeta declared his love for me at the interview for the games and it became a key strategy for me and him in the games and this love is the only reason we are both still alive.

So today is the reaping for the 74th hunger games. I am exempt. Not only do victors get a house and no more hardship, they are also no longer placed in the reaping bowl. However this does not protect my sister. My sister who is the one person on this planet who I would and have risked my life for. She has such a slight chance of being picked; her name is only in twice. But that didn't stop it last year. I am worried for her, because this year there is nothing I can do to help her. I don't tell her how scared I am because I don't like to worry her.

I run the bath and slip in and clean myself. Letting the water rush over my head I go underwater and try to detach myself from today and take myself back to a time before this, when my father was still alive and we were swimming in the lake. It was the one time I remember feeling completely at peace. I come out from the water, dry myself and find a dress to wear.

I walk back down the corridor and into my room to wake my sister. She is awake and looking out the window onto the meadow that makes the centre of the victor's village. I tell her I have left the bath for her and she departs to clean herself. I go downstairs to make us breakfast.