My eyes fluttered open, and immediately my heart sunk. I knew what day it was. It was Reaping Day. I rolled over in my bed and looked over at my sister, curled up in her covers. I smiled. At least she would get a few more hours of sleep. I wouldn't. Whenever I woke up on Reaping Day, I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to bed. It was impossible.

I climbed out of my bed and quietly got dressed. I slowly opened the front door and slipped outside. It was morning, and a few people were outside, but not a lot. I went over to the electric fence. I listened to it and smiled gratefully. It wasn't turned on. I slipped under it and went into the forest. I grabbed my bow and arrow (which were hidden inside a large hole in a tree) and began my hunting day.

My name is Penny Alred. I have a brother, Brian, and a sister, Clair. We live in District 5, the district of Power. Our dad got electrocuted and died three years ago. It was hard on all of us, but soon we all just had to accept the fact that he was gone. We rarely talk about him anymore, but I know that we all still think of him. He was the best dad anyone could ever ask for. He would sing to us when we were afraid and would whisper secrets to us sometimes.

Now our mom took care of us. Well, sometimes she wasn't able to afford the food. We were one of the very few families in District 5 that didn't have a lot of money. When my mom wasn't able to buy food I'd go out into the forest and hunt. Sure, it was illegal, but without food we'd starve.

As soon as I had killed some deer I headed back home carefully, making sure nobody saw me with my game. Only a few people knew that I hunted; my family and my best friend, Aliese.

I got back home and laid the food on the table, and my mom immediately got up from her seat and began cooking it. I only hunted when I had to; or in this case, when we were close to starving to death. I waited a while just in case we did get money, but usually we never did and I had to go out and hunt for our lives.

Clair, who was eleven years old, ran over to me and hugged me.

"Hey," I said, hugging her back. "You're up early."

She only nodded. I knew why she was up early. The reaping. She wasn't old enough yet, but every year the reaping came she worried that either me or Brian would be picked. And next year she would have to worry about herself as well.

Brian, who was fourteen, walked over to me. I could tell by the look on his face that he was worried about the reaping but was trying to hide it. I was worried, too, just like I was every year. Not for just my sake, but for Brian's. What if he was picked? Would anybody volunteer for him?

"So, you got food?" Brian asked.

I nodded my head and pointed to my mom, who was cooking the game I had gotten. I knew he was just talking to try and stop the awkwardness, but it only made it worse. He nodded and slowly walked over to help my mom with the food. We would normally eat it for supper, but whenever I had to get game on reaping day we always ate it at the beginning of the day. We did this because we knew that one of us might never eat at home again.

"Penny?" Clair said quietly.

"Yes?" I said, looking down at her.

"What if you get picked?" she asked, and I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

I embraced her in a hug as a few tears rolled down her cheeks and got onto my shirt. But I didn't care if my shirt got slightly wet.

"It's okay," I whispered to her. "There's only a few slips in there with my name in it. And Brian only has a few, too. It'll be okay. I promise. Alright?"

She sat back, escaping my hug, and wiped off her tears and nodded.

"Breakfast's ready," our mom said, and we walked over to the table where the food was placed. We all ate silently and slowly, hoping that time would slow down as well. But it didn't. Soon we had all finished and it was getting later into the day. My mom took Brian back to his room and got him dressed up in his best clothes for the reaping. Then she came out of Brian's room with Brian. I looked at Brian in his nice shirt, his black hair combed over to one side of his head.

"Penny," my mom said. "Your turn."

I got up from my seat and walked over to my mom. She handed me a dress with dull red flowers on it. The dress she had worn on her wedding. I looked over at her.

"You sure?" I asked her.

"Positive," she said. "Wear it."

"Thank you," I said, and slipped the dress on. It fit perfectly. My mom then combed out my long brown hair and put it into a braid down my back. Then she went out and helped my sister get dressed. Even though Clair wasn't going to the games, she still had to dress up. A few minutes later Clair slowly walked out of her room in a pretty little dress with a bow in her blonde hair. Even though Brian, Clair and I were all related we looked nothing alike.

We were all quiet for a moment.

"We all better be heading to the square," my mom said, breaking the silence. Everybody nodded but nobody moved. Then my mom slowly moved toward the front door and we followed her. She was just as scared as the rest of us. We walked over to the square where all the other kids were. Before I got into line I knelt down on one knee and looked at Clair.

"It's gonna be fine," I reassured her. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

She nodded and smiled slightly.

"Alright, now go with mom and me and Brian will be back before you know it," I said.

Clair nodded again, gave me a hug, then went with Mom. I got into the line of kids. We all went down the line, and soon I was in front of a desk. I stuck out my finger and a Peacekeeper took my blood from my index finger. Then I moved down the line and got into my age group; thirteen. My name had only been in the reaping bowl twice, Brian's had been in there thrice.

After every kid was in their proper age group and everything was quiet, a lady, Priscilla Lirus, walked up to the microphone and began speaking. I looked over at Brian, who was standing in the 14 year old group. He looked over at me and smiled slightly. I smiled back. It was all we could do. It was the only thing that could slightly calm my nerves. But not all of them.

"And now, a message from the Capitol!" Priscilla said.

And the video they played every year came up on the screen. The video about how District 13 had been destroyed in the war, and the districts of Panem had to offer up in tribute one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 each year to participate in the annual Hunger Games.

After the video ended, Priscilla walked over to the girl's reaping bowl. The girls were always reaped first. Priscilla reached her hand into the reaping bowl and pulled a piece of paper out. She unfolded it and walked back over to the microphone. I gulped and listened. Priscilla read a different name, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't me.

Suddenly, I realized what exactly she had said. She had said Aliese. My best friend. I looked around for Aliese. The crowd of kids parted and Aliese was slowly walked toward the stage.

"Aliese," I whispered. She's going! I thought. My best friend is going to the games!