A pair of eyes flashed open. Clove blinked at least 10 times before everything had adjusted and registered to her. She sat up and looked around at her surroundings; she had the painful urge to turn over and puke.

She was sitting in the middle of some type of valley; towering, snow capped mountains lined the edges like a bowl. Her small framed body was covered in a flowing, loose fitting white dress. Her feet were bare and buried within large flowers of yellow, pink, orange, white and red.

Tress were randomly scattered around; their pale blue leaves fluttered in the gentle breeze. The sky resembled that of the early morning. The ends of the dome above her were a mix of pink, and gold, before it turned into a lighter blue the further you went in, until you met the very heart of the sky where it was still a deep blue.

If it wasn't for the fact that she loathed girly and clichéd things, she would've actually thought this scenery was rather beautiful.

"11 years, and this still makes you want to puke your guts out? You never fail me Clove."

Clove rolled her eyes and turned to the presence that could never fail her.

Laying beside her in the sickeningly vibrant flowers was a boy. He had blonde hair and sweet blue eyes. As he laid on his back, the palm of his hands supported his head. His frames was small, and he had very undefined muscles though he appeared to be older than her.

He had on a loose fitting white t-shirt pants. Just like always.

This boy had been in her dreams since before she can remember. Every night she has this dream; same place, same wardrobe, same boy. Every night.

Though she had grown older, he had always been the same age and his appearance had never changed since she was a child. By now Clove expected they were the same age or close, but she never knew. She didn't even know his name, if he had one that is.

Some nights she would lay in bed telling herself over and over again that she would ask him; who he was, why he was there, and why did he stay the same. But when she ended up here, she always forgot.

"I'm 14 not 11 smart one." Her words cut like the knives she enjoyed so much. Even as an infant, she had no tolerance for any bullshit. The boy turned his head and smirked at her.

"You're a real pain, you know that?"

"Maybe you're too soft." She replied laying back down upon the bed of flowers that practically devoured them.

The two of them laid there in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. They watched the birds come out of their nest and fly overhead. The sky became lighter and brighter. Small, faint clouds drifted their way into the air; replacing the dewy mist. The breezed picked up a bit.

Right on cue, the boy let out a content sigh. A small smile that lasted for a small second traced Clove's face. She had loved the routine that occurred like clockwork around here.

She then let out a content sigh herself. "As much as I hate this place, I wouldn't mind staying here forever." She hadn't meant to let those words come out but they did and she didn't even bother to take them back.

Clove never let her walls down in front of anyone. Which was strange considering she had no need for a defense mechanism whatsoever. She was highly respected in everything she did. Even the stupid finger paintings she created as a child.

And yet here she was pouring out her most inner thoughts to a figment of her imagination.

"Why?" the boy turned his head a little towards her.

"Things seem less complicated." Her voice was so soft now. Again, here she was letting words she swore not to say come right out of her mouth and into the open air.

"Because…" he prompted her.

"I don't know… they just seem less complicated." Her voice was bordering a whisper.

"I see…"

Clove sat up and sharply turned to him. "Do you? Do you see?" she hadn't meant to speak to him so coldly. She was just frustrated and confused. Particularly as to how she can say everything she feels almost as if she was doing it involuntarily.

The boy said nothing immediately, but he held her gaze. "I think the question is do you see?"

"See what?"

"That's the point." Okay, he was really starting to confuse her now. Clove was completely bewildered. The boy sighed and sat up beside her. "Things are only ever complicated because you're getting something wrong. A thought, an image, an action, whatever it is, you're getting it wrong."

"I am not!" she was already defending herself, even though she didn't know what she was defending herself from. What he had said was completely true; no doubt about it.

He said nothing and laid back down, letting out another sigh. "Well I know you know it's true Clove. And to answer one of your previous question, yes, I do see. I see what you're getting wrong too."

Clove's eyes narrowed into slits. "How can you see when you're not real."

The boy turned his head to her again. A fat grin plastered on his face. "That's another thing you're getting wrong."

Before Clove could respond, the ground started to shake as her alarm blared. The sky turned red and the flowers caught fire.

Clove jumped out of her bed and smacked her clock with her hand. Her heart was racing; she had never had that happen.

Her alarm clock had woken up from her dream like that many times before, but it was never like that. The flowers never burst into flames like that, the sky never turned red, the ground never shook, and her alarm was never that deafening.

She sat on the edge of her bed and held her face in her hands for a moment; trying to gather herself. She let her heart rate slow down before getting up to look in the mirror.

"What am I getting wrong?" She whispered.

AN: Hey guys! Okay this is my first Hunger Games fanfic and I would appreciate some constructive criticism. Clato is my fave! This story came to me from this song I was listening to, 'Childhood dreams' (like the title) by Nelly Furtado. Little warning: I take a little long sometimes so bare with me.

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~L.