So, this little oneshot has been bouncing around in my head for a while. I originally meant for it to be in Gale's POV, but I've been writing everything (seriously. Everything.) about him and in his POV lately. I'm not particularly fond of the flow of this in third person though, so I might rewrite it later. Especially the ending. It's rather abrupt and early, no? But yeah. Reviews are greatly appreciated.
On the mantle in the living room of the Hawthorne household, there is a picture. It's old and tattered, lying face down and coated in a thick layer of dust. Once every few months, the thin fingers of Posy Hawthorne brush the grime away from the surface and her dark, round eyes stare at it for an hour or two. No one else in the family can bear to see it, but she thrives off the photo of the father she never knew.
Of all the things Gale and his brothers can get mad at their baby sister for, it's that she doesn't feel empty when she looks at the mines. They lost their father when the accident happened. She didn't know him; she wasn't even born yet. It's not fair that she can see the mines and the photo without becoming sad, while they have to fight back tears at the very thought (except Gale; he's the strong one. He's not allowed to cry.).
Of all the questions that her daughter asks Hazelle, the ones about her dead father are the worst, the hardest to answer. Was he nice? What was his favorite color? How did he meet you? She often ignores and redirects these questions to something happier, like what's for dinner (until dinner becomes small and rare, of course).The first one ever asked was the most depressing. Mommy, where's Daddy? Is he at work? She hated the broken look on Posy's face when she told her that her father was dead.
When Posy asks to see the picture, they all leave the room. But she stays, dangling her short legs off the side of the couch and gazing at the image. Sometimes she compares him with the others in her family; they all have the same dark skin, so does she; Gale has the same eyes, bright and passionate; Vick has Daddy's ears, small and high on his head; Rory has the same lips, thin and pink. She has his nose, even though hers is still like a button, Mommy says, because she's only four. Sometimes Posy's confused about why everyone else got sad when they talked about him. Wouldn't they want to remember him, remember what life was like when he was with them? She gets sad sometimes too, though. Why couldn't she have known Daddy? Why did he have to leave before he met her? It wasn't fair.
Today, she doesn't ask questions about Daddy after she puts the picture away. It's Rory's first Reaping, and she doesn't want to make his mood any worse than it already is.