What They Taught Us
by LegacyGal
Author's note: Hey guys, this is my first Hunger Games story! I'm so excited! I just need to read the third part of Mockingjay, then I will have read the whole series! I really like the underlying themes/ moral lessons in the series, and I also like how the characters aren't larger than life. They're like real people. ANYWAY... this story takes place before the series... Nobody knows the names of Gale's Dad, Katniss' Dad, or Katniss' mom, so behold! I give you Jim Hawthorne, Conner Everdeen, and Eliza Everdeen. This story should fit in with the Hunger Games Story line, and I tried to make sure it would be accurate.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.
Mr. Everdeen's POV
I woke up, even though it was still dark out. My wife, Eliza was still sleeping, as were my two daughters, Katniss and Prim. I slipped out from under the covers, careful not to awaken Eliza. In a few minutes I had my miner's uniform on, and strawberries and leftover bread in my pocket for breakfast. I was just opening the door to creep outside when I heard the voice.
"Bye, Daddy," It was Katniss. My eleven-year old was still in her pajamas with her eight-year old sister standing next to her. They were both shivering, so I hugged them both. "Will you take me to the woods tomorrow?" Katniss whispered. Even though it was illegal, I had been hunting outside of district twelve for years. Often, I took Katniss with me. My older daughter loved the woods and pulling back the string of the bow I made for her. Prim really didn't like the idea of killing animals, so she usually opted to stay home, unless we were just having a picnic. Prim was the little princess in the castle I called home, and Katniss was the one I had the adventures with. Prim was the one who colored all the pictures that she made in school for me; Katniss was the one who daydreamed in class of spending the day with her dad. Prim wanted to be just like Mommy when she grew up, Katniss wanted to be just like me. I loved them both more than words could even begin to describe.
"Maybe," I answered Katniss. "It depends on how well you do on your history test. History was Katniss' worst subject. Maybe I could motivate her to do just a little better. I know she could do so much better if she just applied herself. She nodded, and I went to kiss Eliza goodbye before I left. I was lucky to have her. She came from a rich family, and I was a poor miner. But we loved each other, and brushed aside different social ranks to be together.
I finally left the house and headed toward toward the home of one of my mining partners; Jim Hawthorne. His house wasn't far. I knocked softly on the door, not wanting to awaken his family. The person who opened the door was definitely not Jim. Although I had never met his family, I could guess that it was his oldest son, Gale. He studied me, and then let me in. Jim came out to the kitchen shortly after. Every day, we met here before work. "Gale, go back to bed. You shouldn't be up this early when you have school," Jim instructed his son. The boy nodded and left. Jim made coffee, and I had brought breakfast. I sat next to him, and began to divide up the bread and the berries, while he poured coffee into two mugs.
"How's Hazelle doing?" I ask.
"She's exhausted. This is baby number four. You would think she would be used to it by now!" He shook his head, but a hint of a smile sneaked onto his face. Jim had three sons; Gale, age thirteen, Rory, age eight, and Vick, age six. The fourth baby was due any day now.
"Any names picked out?" I ask.
"Well, If it's a boy, I have no clue what we'll name him. I think we ran out of boy names." He smiled. "If it's a girl, Hazelle wants to name her Rebbecca, but I really want to name her Posy. It reminds me of home. Growing up, we had posies growing outside our window." Jim wasn't originally from 12. He was born and raised in district 5. It was not difficult to see that he wasn't from around here. His strawberry blond hair and pale green eyes gave that away. Nearly everyone in the Seam had dark hair and gray eyes, including Hazelle, me, and Katniss.
"Anyway, how's your family?" Jim asked me.
"Good. Katniss wants me to take her hunting tomorrow, but I won't unless she gets a good grade on her history test today."
"I was thinking about taking Gale out to set some snares tomorrow. Maybe we should finally introduce my son to your daughter like we've been talking about," Jim suggested.
"Maybe," I respond. Jim also goes out to hunt in the woods. He's been teaching Gale how to set snares, lately. From what I hear, the boy is turning out to be very skilled in the art.
"We should be heading out," I say. He agrees, and leaves momentarily to kiss his wife and children goodbye. The we leave.
~.~.~.~
Katniss' POV
History was my first subject that day. After Daddy left, I studied for the next three hours before school. I will do anything to pass that test so he and I can go to the woods tomorrow. Daddy has a friend with a son a few years older than me who like to hunt, too. Daddy says that maybe the four of us could all go together sometime. I'd like that. So I did my absolute best on that exam, and we got our grades back just before lunch. My studying paid off, I had the only perfect score in the class. I can't remember another time where I felt that happy. The only person I sat with was Madge. We didn't talk that much. We never really did. I just felt giddy all over. At the surrounding tables, girls were talking about someone named Gale Hawthorne. Apparently, he was the most desirable guy for a junior-high girl to have, even though he was two years ahead of them. I couldn't care less about cute boys. The next thing I knew, there were sirens going off everywhere, and we were being lead to the entrance to the mines. The elevator was slowly hoisting up coal-dust covered men. A teacher explained to us that there had been an explosion, part of the mine had collapsed. We were here to see if our fathers were okay. I waited, and waited. I watched my classmates run into their fathers arms, and then go home. I kept waiting. Fewer and fewer men came out of the mine. Soon, there were only a five of us left; Me, Prim, and three boys. My mother and a very pregnant woman joined us. I clutched my test in my hand, waiting for my father to emerge so I could show him my hard work. The sun set. Still, no Daddy. Finally, someone came up to us.
"Are you the families of Conner Everdeen and Jim Hawthorne?" he asked. All of us nodded. Hawthorne. One of those boys must be that Gale guy that everyone talks about. I still hadn't taken a close look at those boys; I was too busy watching the entrance to the mine.
"I'm terribly sorry to tell you this, but Conner and Jim have been presumed dead." Dead? No, this couldn't be happening. Daddy can't be gone. But he was, and there was nothing I could do but accept an award for his bravery, even though I knew it wouldn't change anything.
~.~.~.~
Three Years Later
It was that day. The day that I hated most. Reaping day was a close second, but nothing was as bad as the anniversary of my father's death. My mother was nothing more than a shadow most days, but today she was worse than usual. Most days, she could be coaxed to eat, but that day, she couldn't. She didn't get out of bed at all. Prim was silent. I escaped to the woods, where I sat under a tree and cried. Daddy was gone. Mom couldn't take care of us. I had to. I had barely wiped away my last tear when I say feet approaching me. It was Gale. He sat next to me and offered some strawberries. He had come from the opposite direction, and his eyes were slightly red, so I guessed he had been crying a little ways off earlier. I didn't say anything about my speculation. Neither did he. We just sat there for a few minutes, eating strawberries before we went out to the woods to do what our fathers had taught us to do. Hunt.
Author's Note 2: I hope you enjoyed! I plan on making a few other hunger games stories in the near future. Please tell me if everyone seemed in-character. I pride myself on keeping people in Character :)
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Bethany :) XOXOXOXO