A bird sat on a nearby maple and sang to greet the rising sun. The bird-a small crested black bird with white marks like the mockingbirds on it's wings-paused as it heard the sound of a whistle to its right. It remedied quiet just a few short seconds after the sound died, then began to whistle the tune that tasted so sweet in its mouth.
A man emerged from the tree line whistling the same tune back to the bird. A young girl trailed behind him. The bird replied again.
The man smiled and looked down at the young girl. "You see that up there," he said pointing to the bird. The girl nodded. "It's called a Mockingjay. It can repeat any tune you sing it in perfect pitch. If it likes your voice of courses." He opened his mouth and sang the a few lines of a tune. The Mockingjay sang them back.
A small amount of shock registered on the girls face and the man laughed. "Why are you so surprised Katniss?" You already heard it whistle."
"I know." She said. "But it just seems different."
He smiled at her again then looked up at the sky. "We best head home now." He said.
Katniss sighed. "Are you sure we can't stay just a bit longer." She never got to spend much time with her father and every minute she did was a minute she didn't want to end.
"If you don't want your mother mad at us, I suggest we go now." Her father said, taking her hand and leading her back towards the towering chain link fence.
They reached it just as the orange morning sky gave way to the blue of day. The fence towering over both of them as her father paused to listen for the hum of the fence to see if it was alive with electricity. No hum came. He reached down to pull up the loose chains and let his daughter crawl under to the other side before following her into the meadow.
They walked in silence with the food they had collected from the woods slung on their backs. Katniss seemed a little crestfallen. Disappointed that the morning with her father had ended so quickly. Noticing this her father stopped and bent down to her. "Hey." He said softly brushing a piece of dark hair from her face. "Tell you what. If I get home early I'll take you some place I've been meaning to show you."
"You're never home early." She sighed. He never was. He was always trapped in those suffocating mines until dark.
"This time I promise." He smiled. She looked up at him with puzzlement. Of course he was lying to her. He could never promise that but it did make her feel better to hear those words come from his mouth.
He held out his hand and she took it firmly and shook it with a smile.