A clock. A ticking clock.

This is the only way know I how to describe human life. You are born into this wretched world, believing that life is a happy thing, a gift even. But it's only a clock. And imagine that every time the minute hand comes to a new number, new horrors are unleashed upon you. At first, there is blood raining down from the Heavens. Then, there is a blazing fire, destroying everything, and everyone in its path. So you run from it. You run from the blood and fire, but the seconds are still ticking. Your heart is nearly at breaking point when the clock strikes again, and your loved ones, dead and alive, call out to you. They urge you to follow them to a new world, called Death, and you want desperately to obey them, but tick tock, the clock is still on. And according to it, it isn't your time. You must endure the hardships the new numbers bring, regardless of your safety, health, wants, needs, or other people in your life. Instead of being there for her, you are at his deathbed, clinging to his final words. And after you have returned to her to share your grief, she is gone. She may be dead, she may be alive. The clock is cruel this way. When you know someone is dead, and you see the corpse, you will believe it, and move on. Upon hearing that a person is alive, you will rejoice and find them. Sometimes, and this is where the clock turns wicked, sometimes, a person can be right in the middle of life and death.

That is, you do not know for sure.

The clock had turned evil long before Peeta was taken by the Capitol, but only then did I realize that the clock not only existed in the 75th Hunger Games, but had been going on since the Capitol began its cruel reign. If Peeta had been most certainly dead, I would have given up hope of ever finding him. But I was stuck in that middle spot, not knowing whether he was alive or not; I couldn't give up the search until he was found. It would've been better if I had discovered his corpse on Day 1, instead of searching for weeks and finding him to be a broken man.

All the while, the clocks are reeling, spinning, ticking away the seconds of my life, and Peeta's. Counting down the number of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds, we have left to spend together.

The clock is your most dangerous enemy, but could also be your most powerful ally. After all, it decided your past, decides what you're doing right now, and will pave the way for your future.

May the clocks be ever in your favor!