A/N: This is my entry for the October 2010 Primrose Fanfiction Contests at the Mockingjay .net forum, but I also decided to post it here.
I was horrified by Prim's death. It was a terrible way to die, and I didn't see it coming. I was literally hysterically crying when she died. I decided to write a drabble, that's basically "the grass is always greener on the other side" kinda thing. The timeline/events are a little different from that in Mockingjay, so be warned.
Enjoy, and please leave a review with your honest opinion.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games trilogy.
I Am On Fire
"Prim!"
I turn, catching sight of my sister, Katniss Everdeen. Covered, draped, and in disguise, I can still recognize her. I could always recognize her, whatever she is wearing or hiding from.
I am overjoyed to see her. I want to walk towards her, embrace her, send her my love. I smile at her.
"Katniss!" I call out. I adjust my feet, ready to start moving towards her.
But I cannot embrace her, kiss her, send her my love. I can never walk towards my sister again. Smile still on my face, I hear a deafening boom from behind me.
And I am on fire.
XXX
It is ironic; funny, even. My sister, the Mockingjay, the Girl Who Was on Fire, was thought by some to be the one to die for the rebellion. But it's me. The one she saved from the Hunger Games. The one she gave everything to protect. I am who died.
Fire consumes me. I can't breathe, can't move. I can only wait to die as the fire burns through my bones and squeezes my soul from my body. I feel my shoulder bones almost severing from my body, my hair being scorched, my throat burning as my voice box fizzles out. Everything is glowing, scorching, as I die. I want to scream. I cannot last much longer like this. I want to die, want to leave this torture.
It feels like an eternity as I slowly lose myself to the bombs that ignited me. And what feels like later, much later, I feel myself levitating, going higher and higher as I leave the earth.
I am no longer Primrose Everdeen of the living.
I am Primrose Everdeen of the dead.
The fire is gone. My skin is no longer scorching, my throat is no longer burning, my mind is no longer crazy with fear. I am whole again.
I look up. I see a clear blue sky, and not a single cloud in the air. The sunlight illuminates everything in a brilliant light. In the distance, I can make out a mountain. I look down at myself. I am a bird. A small, white bird, flapping my wings. I laugh, reaching up towards the sun.
I fly. I am in heaven, joyful, and at peace with all that has happened. I whisk this way and that, yell out in joy, do somersaults in the air as I lose myself in happiness. No place is better than this. Nothing on earth can match the peace and serenity of this place.
XXX
No terrible things can happen here. There will be no hunger. No poverty. No fear. No sickness. No bombs. No suffering. No sadness. No neglect. No mistreatment. No corruption. No Hunger Games.
No Panem.
Nothing bad will happen here. Nothing. I am free, finally free from the hard life I have lived.
I look down, seeing polluted, foamy water. I see a reflection of smoke, a large mansion, people running in different directions.
But it is not a reflection. It is the land of the living.
I am filled with relief that I am not there, that I am no longer part of the suffering. My life is over. And I am happy. I think of my mother and Katniss, willing everything to be okay.
"Primrose!"
I turn around, catching sight of them. The dead. I flap my wings harder, yelling out.
"Hello! Hello!"
My father, a large, tan bird, calls out to me from above. "Primrose!"
"Daddy!" I grin, flying as fast as I can.
Please leave a review! I hope you enjoyed! :)
TOTALLY not bribing you into reviewing, but as well as saying if you liked the story or not, tell me who your dream cast is for the movie! I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours!
-singingtothewind