The bonfire burned bright in the dark, night sky. I watched as the fire burned through the wood, and as each ember rose up, the fire seemed hungrier. The smell of smoke blasted through my nostrils, and the sounds of the wood burning and the whispering of others drifted through my ears. My mother was leaning on my father's shoulder with her eyes closed, and my little brother sat between us.
My name was Prim, and my little brother's name was Noah. Once, my father explained to me where my name was from. Primrose was the full of it. He had sat me down and told me I was named after my mother's younger sister who died in a bombing at the Capital. During the same conversation, he told me my mother had been known as many things. A leader. A mockingjay. The girl on fire.
"The leader of what?" I had asked him.
"A rebellion." He had replied, but hadn't ever elaborated. I never asked. He would tell me in his own time, in his own way, not by me forcing it upon him.
My parents never talked about their past, well, they did, but not much. The day I turned twelve, I found my mother staring off into nowhere in her room. When I asked her what was wrong, all she said was, "It's reaping day." I asked her what she meant, but she never replied. Sometimes my mom did things like that. I guess she was just traumatized of something that happened when she was younger, but I knew not to ask. I knew what happened when I asked her of her past.
I was seventeen, and living in District Four. In school, we had learned about our history. About one hundred years ago, Panem was created. They divided the country into thirteen districts. When the districts began to rebel against the Capital the first time, they obliterated District Thirteen. Cruel, right? After that they created a "game" called The Hunger Games. We learned that a boy and girl were chosen to fight to the death in an arena. Only one could live. Then, twenty years ago, another rebellion began, and this time the districts one. In the process all of the districts but five were destroyed. Now, there was only District One, District Two, District Four, District Seven, District Eleven, and the Capital. Now that I think of it, even my school hadn't taught me much of my past.
I looked up as Annie came toward us. She was wearing a thin, white dress that reached her knees. Her son, Finnick, followed her, and sat next to me. "Hey." He nudged my arm with a grin.
"Hey." I replied quietly. Annie sat next to my mom and started up a conversation with her. Within moments they were both laughing. I turned to Finnick, and smiled at him. "What's up?" I asked lightly.
"Not much." He was quiet for a few moments. "Listen... Meet me under the big dock tomorrow at noon, there's something I'd like to show you." I crinkled my eyebrows at him. What could he possibly want to show me?
"Uh, yeah, sure."
"Great," he said, "I'll see you there!" And just like that, he was gone.
The next day I woke up early as always. I pulled on my brown, leather jacket and boots, and left the house with an apple in my hand. I took a bite of it as I jogged to the black market we called the hob. Juice ran down my hand from the ripe apple as I finished it off.
The Hob was already bustling with people as I arrived. People were trading as usual. I walked around for a while until I found my best friend, Meg, standing next to her mother.
"Hey!" She motioned me over once she had seen me. I looked up and saw her, than came toward her. Meg said something to her mother then came running toward me. "So, I saw Finnick talk to you last night!" She wiggled her fingers at me.
"You always were the gossip, yeah?" She nodded, "All he wanted was to ask me if I wanted to meet with him under the big dock at noon." I said, "I bet it's going to be really boring."
She gaped at me, "What?" I asked her defensively.
"You don't know what happens under the big dock?" She asked me. I shook my head. She leaned over to my ear and whispered, "Finnick asks all the girls he likes to meet him there, and then kisses them." She chirped in a sing-song voice.
"But, he said he wanted to show me something." I said, suddenly confused. Who would ever like me? I'm not pretty, and I don't have any good qualities about me.
"Exactly!" She giggled as I rolled my eyes. "Moving on... My mom found a stray cat and said we could keep it! I've named her Lily! She's the cutest thing ever!" "Ugh, I hate cats." I groaned.
"What? They're so cute and adorable!" She said in a mock surprised tone. We went on like this for a few hours when I realized it was time for me to go.
"Hey, I have to go or I'll be late." I began to walk toward the big dock.
"Make sure you give him the kiss of his life!" She called out. I turned around and stuck my tongue at her. We both started laughing, and I sprinted off to the dock.
Once I got there, I found Finnick walking back and forth quickly as if he was stressed. "Hi." I was slightly breathless as I caught up to him. He looked up as soon as he saw me, and his blue eyes drifted over my body. He was studying me.
"Can I trust you?" He asked cautiously. He put his hands behind his back, and stared narrowly at me.
"Yeah, I guess." Where was this conversation going. He seemed to approve of my answer and walkd under the dock. I couldn't see anything underneath, but I knew it would be harmless... Probably. I ducked my head as I followed him under. He had pulled out a flashlight to guide him, and he seemed like he knew exactly where he was going. I remained a good five feet behind him, but could still see the glint of his blond hair in the dim light. After a few moments of walking, he came to a stop, and turned toward me.
"I come here a lot." He pushed a hand through his hair as if debating whether he was going to tell me or not. "A week ago, I was just walking around down here. Thinking, you know. And I found this." He pulled out a gold pin. It was a mockingjay. My eyes widened. My father had once said my mother was a mockingjay.
"H-how did you get that?" I asked him quietly. Out of the few things my father had told me about his past, I knew the pin had belonged to my mother. It had to.
"I found it, like I said. When I came back here yesterday, there was a note under a rock in the same place as the pin." He pulled out the note as well. "Here, read it yourself." It said:
Harry,
The President is growing impatient. You need to make a move now. The reaping must happen soon, or you'll be eradicated. In accordance to this, he'd also like you to take care of the star-crossed lovers. You know who they are, you know what to do. -Jonathan "What do you think it means?" I asked as I handed it back to him.
"Well, Harry is our mayor, so it's obviously to him..." He said quietly, like he thought someone might here. "I asked around, about the reaping I mean, and that's what they called the selection of the tributes for The Hunger Games twenty years ago. They're bringing the games back, Prim, there's no way to stop it." My eyes widened as we both fell silent for a few seconds. This was big. "I also asked about the starcrossed lovers." He continued slowly, as if he were regretting ever bringing it up.
"And...?" I urged him.
"They're your parents, Prim. Peeta and Katniss. They were the star crossed lovers. I'm sorry."