Waking up, I can already feel the dread settling at the bottom of my stomach. Today was the reaping. A day I've always dreaded since the day my older brother turned 12, since I've always been afraid that one of us will be reaped. Or my sister. I know they had these fears too, even if we never openly discussed them.

I no longer worry about my brother. He's 19 now, his name removed from the bowls. My sister is 17; she only has two more years. And then there's me. At 15, my name is in the bowl four times, since no one in our family dared take the tessarae. Even though we don't make much on our farm in district 10, my mother has strictly forbidden it. We've managed to scrape by without it.

I had woken up first. Feeling restless, I went out and fed the animals. I then collected the chicken's eggs. I was still restless, so I attempted to milk the cows. However, they always get skittish around me so I gave up, knowing my mom would do it when she woke.

I went back inside and began to make breakfast for everybody. Right when I had finished setting the table, Bryanna, my sister, walked into the kitchen. She noticed that I'd already finished cooking, so she turned around to wake the rest of the family. I sat at my spot, waiting for everyone else.

Finally, my mom, brother, and sister all walked in and took their own seats. We all began eating, only out of necessity rather than actually wanting to. All the food seemed to stick in my throat.

"Don't forget to do your chores before we go to the town square, in case…," my mom trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"It's okay mom. The only thing that needs to be done is milking the cows. I would've done it, but you know how they get around me," I answered, trying to snap her from her solemn thoughts.

She blinked at me. "You fed the animals, collected the eggs, and made breakfast, sweetie?"

"I was a little restless when I got up."

By then, we'd all finished. My brother dropped his silverware on his plate with a clatter. "I'll take care of the cows, mom," he said, standing up. "You two should get ready," he finished, nodding at Bryanna and I.

We too stood and started walking back to our shared room. When we got there, I closed the door, while my sister opened the clothes chest to pick both our outfits. It's been like this since I turned 12.

Bryanna laid out a soft pink dress for herself and handed me a dark green one. We silently changed and put on our shoes. Then we both walked out to the kitchen, where my mom had already finished doing the dishes.

"You two look more and more beautiful every day," she said taking in our appearances.

"Thanks mom," we both replied, used to this sort of comment. She then picked up a hair brush and sat down in her favorite chair. I immediately sat on the ground in front of it, holding another brush, while Bryanna sat in front of me. This was another one of our traditions. My mom gently pulled the brush through my stubborn curls while I pulled my own through my sister's straight locks.

When we had finished, I had put my sister's hair in a loose braid. My hair was kept down, as usual. Suddenly, I felt my mom tugging a bit more. Perplexed, I just sat still, waiting for her to finish. When she finally dropped her hands, I reached back and felt a satin ribbon pulling my hair into a half-pony.

"It looks really pretty," Bryanna said.

I stood and walked over to the mirror. The ribbon was the same color as my dress and sat right at the rounded part of my head. It really did look pretty.

That's when Chris came back in, carrying two buckets of milk. He glanced at Bryanna and I, smiling a little. But it disappeared as he said, "C'mon. It's time to go."

My brother especially hated the Games. Many of his closest friends were reaped. They all died. District 10 hadn't had a victor for 10 years. Diane was the only living victor in our district.

We all began the trek to the town square.

My sister and I both signed in and went off to our respective age groups.

A video plays, outlining the origin of the Games. We've all seen it plenty of times, so no one really pays attention.

Finally, the escort, Kaelyn, announces it's time for the reaping. Everyone waits with bated breath to see which unlucky child gets sent to their death.

Kaelyn reaches into the girls' bowl, swishing her hand around, before plucking a slip of paper out.

"Bryanna Shorts!" she cries gleefully.

No! Not my sister! I saw her walk toward the stage, a mix of fear and shock on her face. I can't let her go. She's too pampered, too needy, too kind.

I race toward the stage. "I volunteer!" I scream at the top of my lungs, desperate to make sure everyone hears me. Kaelyn just blinks and allows me to step onto the stage.

"And what is your name?"

I breathe deeply. "Autumn Shorts."

"Well then, moving on," Kaelyn says as she walks toward the boys' bowl.

"Alexander Lux Rall!" she says, reading off the slip.

The boy walks up. I don't know him. He might've been in my class once, but he's really of no importance to me. We shake hands, and then we're both escorted into the Justice Building to say our last goodbyes.

My family rushes in, both my mom and my sister running over to pull me into a tight hug. Chris just stands off to the side, looking like he's trying not to cry.

"You shouldn't have done that, Autumn," Bryanna begins, pulling out of the hug. "You should've let me go. You're so smart and brave and you can't die!"

"It's okay. I've already made my decision. And hopefully, my smarts and bravery will help me to win," I answer as calmly as I could, to try and reassure them that I knew what I was doing.

"Oh, Autumn…," my mom says wistfully, gently caressing my hair. Suddenly, she pulls the ribbon out and ties it around my wrist. "Let this be your token. So you'll always remember us."

I smile sadly. "Mom, how could I forget?"

She just smiles back and hugs me again. When she lets go, I walk over to Chris. He's about to open his mouth to say something, but I throw myself at him, hugging him with all my might. He hugs me back and puts his chin on top of my head.

"Why? Why does everyone I care about get sucked into this?" he mutters, mostly to himself. Louder he says, "Just, don't die, okay? And if you do, go down with a fight. I don't want people to say that the Shorts' family can't fight."

"Okay," is all I can manage to say.

"Promise me," he says sternly, pulling back from the hug and staring me down.

"I promise."

Then he hugs me again, and then my mom and sister join. Too soon the peacekeepers are pulling them out, leaving me alone in the room.

I sit on one of the chairs thinking, If my dad could see me, what would he say? But I know he can't. He was taken away by the Capitol years ago, and we haven't seen him since. All we could do was assume he was dead.

To my surprise, the door opens again and in walks Miranda. We had been good friends before my dad was taken away, but then I was forced to drop out of school to help with the animals, and I hadn't seen much of her since.

She shuffled in slowly, glancing down at the floor. I just watched with curiosity. Why was she here? Finally she looked up at me.

"I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but I saw what happened, and I wanted to come talk to you, just in case we never see each other again," she said, looking at the floor again.

I smiled at that. "Thanks. I appreciate it," I said, walking over to give her a hug. "I really do."

She smiled too, hugging me back. "You're so brave. I don't think I could've ever done that. Volunteer to die."

"Yeah, well I'd rather it be me than my sister."

"I understand," she replied. "Oh! Here, I brought you some cookies from my aunt's house!" she exclaimed, shoving a small bag into my hands. "They're chocolate chip."

"Wow, thanks Miranda! This is amazing!" I said, opening the bag to look at them. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome! Well, I think I should leave now. My aunt is probably wondering where I am."

"Alright, well, bye!"

"Bye!" she yelled, running out of the room.

Cookies and a promise, I mused. What have I gotten myself into?

A/N: Hey everyone! The other day I signed up for this Hunger Games role-play thing and I actually got picked! So after writing out my reaping, I realized there were a lot of things I'd forgotten to mention. So I decided that after writing my crappy role-play for the page, I'd go back and write something similar as a story! :D So this should be updated regularly as I go through the different parts. Next up is training, which has already been pole-played and just needs to be written! :D

Also, if you guys happen to like Harry Potter, I know someone who writes some really good stuff. Her pen name is Gryffindorable so go check her out! :D

Oh wait!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games in any way! However, I do own the Shorts family and Miranda so nyeh!