Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hunger Games characters except for the ones that I make up. The Hunger Games belong entirely to Suzanne Collins.

Chapter 1:

The forest of District 12 is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. There are so many plants and animals. Mom tells us stories of when she used to hunt in these areas. Not for fun of course, she did it to keep her family alive. Mom has never actually told us why her family was starving. She still thinks we're too young but someday I'll get to the bottom of this and I can't wait for that day.

Today, Mom and Dad brought us out for a picnic. I love when Mom and Dad bring us out for picnics… OH WAIT! I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Austin. I'm 14 years old. Mom gave birth to me a couple years after she got married with Dad. I keep asking about Mom and Dad's love life and how they met, but Mom will never tell me and neither will Dad. I have three other siblings. The twins are identical. You can't tell them apart. They both have Dad's blonde hair and Mom's grey eyes. Draco and Finn are their names and they're 11 years old. Then we have my little sister who's 8. Her name is Primrose, but we call her Prim. She looks exactly like Dad, blonde hair and blue eyes. Mom says she reminds her of our Auntie Prim. We have never met our Auntie Prim before… why is that? And as for me, I resemble Mom with my dark hair and grey eyes.

"When are we going to eat Daddy 'cause I'm starving?" asked Prim in her cute little southern accent. "Whenever Mommy is ready to go get some fresh meat," my father replied. My mother spoke up at this point in the conversation. "Alright Prim, I'll go get something for us to eat. Austin, want to come?" "Sure Mom." "Can we go Mom?" asked Finn. "Sure, come on guys." Mom beckoned the twins over. "We'll be back my sweet, little Prim." Mom gave Prim a quick kiss on the cheek and then walked over to Dad. "Peeta?" Mom asked.

"Yes Katniss?"

"How about a little kiss for good luck?" Dad responded by grabbing Mom and kissing her right on the lips. "EWW!" the twins groaned. Mom and Dad totally ignored them.

"See you in a bit then Peeta?" Mom asked when they finally separated.

"See you in a bit Katniss."

"Alright kids, let's go," Mom beckoned us to follow her. We made a quick stop by the tree where Mom kept her bow and her sheath of arrows. She swung the sheath over her shoulder and then gave the twins their bows and arrows and then lastly, mine. We walked through the forest quietly. Mom set up a few snares while we were walking but we never stopped somewhere for a long period of time. Finally, when it seemed like ages a buck came into view and Mom shot it down before I could even blink. It was a clean shot too, right in the eye. Mom went to retrieve it and we followed behind.

This buck would be enough to feed the whole family. There was no need to continue hunting so Mom went to check her snares and found two plump looking rabbits and then headed off into her clearing where she always skinned her meat.

Mom was a pro at skinning fresh game. I mean you should see her. With one quick and graceful movement it's all gone. It didn't take long to finish skinning our game so we had plenty of time to spare. With all the extra time Mom taught all of us to weave a basket with just our natural resources. We filled two of the baskets with blackberries and the other two with strawberries. We were sure going to have a feast tonight with all this fruit and game and the fresh cooked bread that Dad had brought along for the picnic. When our berry picking mission was accomplished we heading back the way to our picnic clearing.

We only had a couple more minutes till we arrived at the clearing when we came across this beautiful flower bed. I bent down to pick a couple for Prim when Mom let out an ear piercing scream. I looked around but nothing was wrong. It was just a typical day in the forest. When I turned my attention back to Mom she was wrapped in a tight ball and was rocking back and forth. My thoughts were interrupted when Dad rushed into the site with Prim right at his heels. Dad ran straight to Mom and sat her down in his lap and started talking to her in a gentle manor.

"Katniss, it's okay, what's wrong? Tell me what's wrong."

"HE'S BACK PEETA, HE'S BACK! THE… THE ROSE IT'S RIGHT THERE! WE CAN'T WIN THIS TIME PEETA. WE BARELY SCRAPED UP VICTORY LAST TIME! WE CAN'T DO IT AGAN PEETA, WE CAN'T DO IT AGAIN!" Mom was sobbing by now but screaming at the same time. Mom and Dad had these breakdowns every so often. Mom's were not so often, maybe once a month. Dad had them more frequently, maybe three times a month. The thing with Dad is he overcomes his quickly, but Mom, it takes awhile for Mom to overcome her breakdowns.

Dad was still trying to calm Mom down when I came back down to earth from my thoughts. "He's not back Katniss, you're just over reacting. Our kids won't have to go through what we had to go through." At this, Mom calmed down and gave Dad a big hug.

"Thank-you Peeta, thank-you."

"Anytime." But what was Dad talking about. 'Our kids won't have to go through what we had to go through.' What is that supposed to mean? I wasn't going to ask Mom or Dad, especially not after Mom's breakdown. I shrugged the though off. I'll ask later…later for sure.