Dandelion.
That was Peeta's, the youngest Mellark's, second favorite word. His first was, of course, Katniss.
When the teacher asked for a painting of a flower in art class, he was given many answers.
The adorable buttercup.
The blossoming tulip.
And of course, the passionate rose.
It was almost always that many girls and boys would fight over who would draw the rose. It was a symbol of majesty, of beauty.
But Mr. Wellington had only one student in mind who would draw it. He was certain that Peeta Mellark, who had a strong talent in art would choose the most artistic flower. That would most certainly be the rose.
You can say he was rather astonished when Peeta requested to do a dandelion.
The plainest flower.
The least beautiful.
The most simple.
Yet, when he asked for an explanation of why Peeta chose the flower, the 7 year old boy had a sturdy answer.
"Simple is beautiful. I have more to work with if I choose a simple flower, not one of the large pretty ones."
Unsure of what to say, Wellington allowed Peeta to do whatever he wanted with the flower.
A few days later, Peeta had finished his artwork, and Mr. Wellington was astonished. The flower itself was in black and white, but that wasn't the main focus. A beautiful girl with two dark braids and olive skin was blowing the seeds off the flower. She wore a dark green dress, and the corners of her mouth were turned upward into a smile. A small boy with blonde hair and blue eyes sat on the grass facing her, smiling brightly with twinkles in his eyes. Mr. Wellington was surprised beyond measure. Needless to say, the artwork was placed carefully in a frame and displayed in the class walls - along with all of Peeta's other pieces.
Immediatly after the art was displayed, his next class filed in one by one. A small girl who wore double braids looked up towards the wall and smiled. After a few moments, Mr. Wellington realized two things - the girl was the one in the picture, and the boy, the boy was Peeta.
The same picture would one day lie in Wellington's grave, but he would never hesitate to tell any of his students that he knew about the star crossed lovers 9 years ago.
Peeta Mellark smiled sadly at he placed a dandelion at a tombstone marked Murphy Wellington.