Authors note: So, new story for me. I like it so far and I hope you do to! BTW, Misty may is the narrator. Let the story begin…
"Mommy! Misty pushed me!" Max shouts. Crud, I think, now mom is going to yell at me, and I'm going to get in huge trouble….
"Max, shush! I'm really sorry, okay? How about… You have a piece of my cookie, will that make it better?"
Max snuffles and says, "Yeah, okay." He grabs my hand and we walk into the house, ready for dad's fresh baked sugar cookies. Immediately, I know something's wrong. My mom is sitting on the couch, frozen. Dad is standing at the oven, still holding the pan of steaming, hot cookies. Both are looking at the T.V.
"But… they haven't had a mandatory viewing for years…" comes the whisper from my mother. Daddy sets down the tray and rushes to mom, soothing her, telling her it's all right, nothing is wrong.
But something IS wrong; I can feel it in the air. "Max, go play with Charlie. Now." I say, sending him to the house next door, Gale and Delly's, to play with their daughter, who is also five. "Okay! Bring us some cookies!" he says excitably. I just nod.
The minute Max is gone, I rush over to my parents, just in time for the announcement to start. President Greene starts talking about rebellion and some sort of problem in the capitol. My parents stiffen. "Peeta, go finish the cookies so Misty can take them to Charlie and Max." Mom orders.
They want me out of the room, I can tell, so I run over to dad and help him ice the cookies with my favorite icing, orange cream. We finish the now cool Cookies and I push a dozen onto a paper towel, then start to leave. Giving my mom a kiss, I say, "Be back soon. I think that I'll hang out with Charlie and Max."
Still staring at the screen, I hear a yes dear come from my mom. Then I leave. But halfway out the door is still close enough to hear the words, "One last Hunger Games" from Greene.
I hoof it to the hawthorn household, scared to death. Delly sees me coming and waves, picking her way out of her crowded veggie garden.
See, Delly and Gale lived in district two and three, then ran into each other when they came to visit twelve, where they both used to live. Gale gave up his television job and married Delly three months later. They honeymooned in four, but decided that they wanted to live in twelve. Delly is a stay at home mom, and took to gardening. Gale sells fresh game every now and then.
"Misty! How nice to see you! Would your mother like some more greens?" I pant out a why not? And help Delly gather some beets, tomatoes, kale,lettuce, and beans. She adds some Broccoli to the gigantic and heavy basket of produce, and I give her a cookie, then take them over to Charlie and max. they devour half, then Gale, delly, and I split the rest.
Not even that can keep out my dark mood, though. Gale has the same look as I feel, and I know he saw the announcement. He won't speak to her around me, though, so when we finish the cookies, I scoop up the produce, gather Max, and wave goodbye.
When we arrive home, I thwack the giant basket of food onto the tabletop. Mom hurries over, and says that she needs to have me help her cook. Max goes outside, and my parents hug me so tightly that I think I might pop.
"What's going on? What did Greene say about the hunger games?" I squeak out. Dad looks at mom and says, "Katniss, you tell her." Holding me tightly, my mom gets out the words, "the hunger games are back…"