When she woke up that morning-or was it afternoon? She slept much longer these days-a warm breeze was blowing through her window. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly, warming the grass. It was the warmest day they'd had in District Twelve so far. The first day of spring. A single dandelion had bloomed in her scraggly front yard. She crawled out of bed and stood at the window for a few moments, relishing in the warmth she hadn't felt since they small amount of coal she'd managed to procure had run out nearly four months ago.

It took her longer than it should have to cross the small room and enter into her kitchen. She ignored the bare cabinets; she wasn't hungry anyways. Hadn't been for weeks. It was a nice change from the days of painful emptiness and pangs of hunger, although the weakness and chills she had been experiencing weren't much better. She heated water on the stove, enough for her and Rachelle and Cavar. Her two precious children, almost as skin and bones as she was, were still asleep on the lumpy cot in the bedroom.

She had given up hope of survival days ago; spring with its abundance of edible plants just wouldn't come. But now a flicker of life appeared in her dead eyes. She had spotted the dandelion, and walked outside to it as fast as her frail legs could carry her. Despite her efforts to be cautious, the hope grew and surged through her, bringing a burst of energy and maybe even happiness that she couldn't remember ever feeling. At least, not since her husband had been killed in a mining accident. A small smile appeared on her gaunt face, masking her prominent cheekbones ever so slightly.

Spring had come. She was alive. Her children were alive. Right here, right in her backyard, was a perfect dandelion, just waiting to be picked and eaten. More would crop up in the days to come. She carefully bent over to pluck it from the ground and then sat down, rolling the juicy stem between her fingers, and looking at it. The flower, she thought, was her savior. It would bring her to life. It would bring Rachelle and Cavar to life. She scooted back against the wall of her house where a ray of sun shone down. Leaning her head against the rough wooden planks, she closed her eyes and basked in the light. She had survived the winter. She had done it.