Finally decided to take a crack at the Starvation Forum's monthly prompts! This month's prompt: Lullaby! Featuring our favourite drunk and Greasy Sae!
Mama's Lullaby
Greasy Sae sighed as she peered into her burnt pot, scraping what little that remained into a small container. Meat did not come easy in the winter, even with Katniss and Gale around. Still, she always made sure she had a little left over. The container was packed with a vial of sleep syrup and a few mint leaves into a cloth bundle. She would need them later. With that done, she headed towards her bedroom to retire for the night.
At three in the morning, she stirred from her sleep, her biological clock already well trained to awake at this time of if on cue, screams came from the house near hers. Although it was late, her body did not move sluggishly, rather, with a brisk, business-like pace.
He'll wake the whole district at this rate,she thought to herself.
She checked on her granddaughter, looking as innocent and carefree as an angel in her sleep.
Too bad not everyone can sleep as soundly as you, my dear.
Bending down, she planted a kiss on the child's forehead before entering the kitchen. She wound the tattered shawl about her weary shoulders, grabbed the cloth bundle from earlier and followed the screams all the way up the little path in the Victor's Village.
At the Abernathy household, which really, consisted of just one person, she pulled a key out of its hiding place in the potted plant and inserted it into the keyhole.
On the couch in the living room, Haymitch was thrashing wildly on the couch, screaming his lungs out for people that were supposedly being snatched away from him. With all the violence of his movements, it was a miracle how he managed to stay on the couch.
Poor kid can't ever get a break, not even while sleeping.
She sighed warily, settling herself in an armchair. Her hand reached out to stroke his hair gently, soothing him in his sleep. Amazingly enough, Hyamitch had calmed down reasonably, his nightmare seemingly dissolving into nothing. For the first time, District 12's only living victor whimpered in his sleep, clinging to the elderly woman's bony arm.
"Mama," he whined. "Don't go. Not before a lullaby."
Greasy Sae's thin lips stretched upwards.
How nostalgic,she thought. It had been a long time since anyone had called her Mama. She had lost her only son in the mining incident years back and her daughter-in-law followed her husband in her depression, leaving little Marissa in her grandmother's care.
Seeing how Haymitch stubbornly clinged to her arm, she thought it wise to just comply with his request. Clearing her throat did not help her naturally croaky voice as she 'sang', producing a sound akin to a combination of nails on a chalkboard and a dying cat.
"Hush little baby, don't you cry,
Go to sleep, that you must try," she began awkwardly.
"There are no monsters lurking under your bed,
There only live those that dwell in your head,
Banish those demons so you can rest,
It's all just one of God's big tests,"
She cringed to herself, unable to tolerate her own voice long enough to finish the song and the horrible lyrics she had come up with on the spot. Rhymes were definitely not her thing. Her granddaughter often bemoaned her inability to sing 'pretty' lullabies or even sing.
Yet, the perpetually drunken victor released his vice-like grip on her arm, seemingly satisfied with 'Mama's' lullaby. Greasy Sae emptied the vial of sleep syrup into his mouth, ensuring he would not disrupt anymore of his neighbours for the night. She nodded smugly to herself and busied herself in the kitchen.
When she was done, she set a cup of mint tea on the coffee table along with a bowl containing her stew. She then bustled about the living area to tidy it up. By that, she really meant removing the liquor bottles. She was Greasy Sae after all, not a miracle worker.
After deeming the living room satisfactory enough, she turned to leave.
"Mama, are you leaving me? Don't go," Haymitch mumbled again in his sleep, turning himself over to snuggle the cushions on the couch.
She allowed a tiny smile to grace her lips.
"Mama will be back tomorrow, hopefully with a better lullaby," she whispered as she left.
The next morning, Haymitch awoke as he always did to a cup of mint tea and some stew. The mint tea helped his hangover somewhat and the stew filled his stomach, something he would normally have neglected out of laziness. His mind would be devoid of all memories except one haunting melody.
"Hush little baby..." He smiled wistfully.
Special thanks to Cindy if you happen to read this. You gave me the confidence to upload this (: