Spreading Flames: A New Generation
By Rue Mellark
The Hunger Games may still be over, but there's a new threat that's spreading flames…
Prologue
My name is Lily Mellark, daughter of the great Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark. But I just call them mommy and daddy. I live in District Twelve, inside a small area called the victor's village. I live with my mom, dad, and my brother, but right now he's at summer camp. I have only one neighbor, and his name is Haymitch. I guess you could say he's sort of like my grandpa, but he doesn't like the idea very much. In fact, he doesn't seem to like anything that much, other than the clear stuff that he is drinking all the time. I think its water, but it smells really bad, and plus no one will tell me what it is. They say I'm "too young" to know, just like everything else exciting that goes on in my life. I mean, I just turned nine yesterday, and I think that means I'm a pretty big girl now. I told everyone that I was, and they just laughed at me. Especially Haymitch.
I just finished the second grade, and I am going into the third after this summer. I was going to skip a grade and move into fourth, as my teacher suggested it, but my parents wanted otherwise.
The last thing we learned about in the second grade was the Hunger Games. And how my parents basically saved the world from the Capitol, or so I've been told. The thing is, my parent's never want to talk to me about it, especially my mom. They say that when the time is right, they have something to show me, something that will explain it all. It must be the book.
My parents always kept this certain book all locked up in our basement. It was big, I mean really big, and it was just sitting there, waiting for the key to be inserted…
So after about the five-hundredth time I tried to break into it, along with another four hundred times I begged for the key, they still said no. So I decided to launch a brilliant plan that had just popped into my head: I was going to take a visit to Haymitch.
Once at Haymitch's house, I simply walk in the open door. He is lying face down on the couch, knife in his hand, and glass bottles littered all over the coffee table in front of him. That's Haymitch alright. Now I have to wake him up, which apparently is not an easy task. I call his name softly, loudly, and then scream at him. No avail. So I take one of his opened bottles and hold it up to his nose. His eyes instantly light up like a light bulb.
"I hope you weren't sipping out of that; it's mine if you haven't noticed sweetheart," says Haymitch, setting his knife down and heaving himself out of the couch. I sniff the bottle, and scrunch my face in disgust.
"Ugggh! Nope, I was only using it as bait to wake you up," I reply, setting the bottle down.
"Now that's what I call a smart kid, at least somebody in your family has brains. You know your mother used to dump buckets of ice water on me to wake me up?" says Haymitch, grinning a little. Today was some day for him! My mother usually says to me, "If you can squeeze a real compliment out of Haymitch, you can do anything." Thinking of that, I grinned a little, and then we both burst out laughing our heads off about it.
And to think that I thought Haymitch was a grouch.
"So what brings you all the way to my house today?" asks Haymitch.
"I want to know all about the Hunger Games. And my parents, when they were tributes. They won't tell me, so I was thinking you could," I reply. Haymitch just strokes his head; and seems to be deep in thought for a while.
"Sweetheart, first of all, there are some things about the Hunger Games that only Katniss and Peeta can tell you. Second of all, they told me not to tell you. And third of all, if I could tell you, I wouldn't; because I'm too lazy," says Haymitch. I am absolutely crestfallen.
"Okay then. Thank you Haymitch." I say sullenly as I walk to the door.
"Okay then," chimes Haymitch, mocking my tone of voice, "then you won't get to see the thing that your parents said I could give to you, when the time was right." I quickly back up, turning on my heel and leap back into the room.
"Oh, but I guess you're to busy to check it out…" sighs Haymitch, sliding back onto the couch.
"NO!" I cry, "Pleeassee Haymitch, tell me!" I plead, but I could tell he was already enjoying it, for he is suppressing his laughter in mock-seriousness.
"I'm not so sure about it anymore Lily, you know you may be too young for this…" says Haymitch, now laughing. After about five more minutes of me pleading, jumping, and stamping around the room, he decides he has had enough time laughing at my suffering.
"Alright, Alright! Alright! But we have to go into the woods, so help me outta this thing," says Haymitch, and I quickly drag him off the couch.
Outside it is a clear, sunny blue sky, and I assume it is about noon-time. We quickly dropped a letter off at my house, notifying my parents where we were headed to. Once we were safely inside the woods, we sat down on two benches made out of logs that my dad fashioned long before I was born. I look up at Haymitch, all the seriousness and wiped out the laughter in his gray eyes.
"I want you to have this as a reminder of just how special you are. The fire that your parents kindled is now passed down to you. It is completely your choice if you want to tame it, or set it ablaze," says Haymitch, holding out a small pin to me. It is absolutely gorgeous. There is a small gold mocking jay in the middle, standing on top of a crushed snow-white rose, its head tilted up in triumph. The edges of the pin are all in a brilliant flame shape, the vibrant oranges and red, glowing in my hand.
"Wow… I don't know what to say… it's so beautiful! Thank you!" I exclaim.
"Oh, and just between me and you, you're my favorite," says Haymitch.
"Wow! Two compliments in one day from Haymitch? Score!" I shout into the woods, laughing like crazy.
Haymitch just smiles and says "Oh, shut up. Let's go home now, I'm hungry. Did your mom by any chance make lunch for me?" asks Haymitch.
"Of course not!" I reply simply.
"Well that's too bad, because then I'll just have to eat all of yours," retorts Haymitch, clucking his tongue.
"Not if I get there first!" I shout, as I stick my tongue out and race away. Luckily, my mom had made lunch for him too, since I won the race home.
I decide that today is a great day, even if I didn't find all the answers I was looking for. I stare at the extraordinary pin on my nightstand, as I drift off to sleep.
Someday I will find out what happened… someday I will know…
I wake up the next day, and everyone and everything is in absolute panic. I check my parent's room, and no one is there. Then I hear the voices outside, and I hurtle out in the open, completely unprepared for what I see before me. Something that I will never forget. My mother is just a second too late in covering my eyes, and I see him. It is Haymitch, Haymitch I saw in that one split second. His face was pale, his hands still, and blood from his horrendous gashes spilled all over the ground as they carried him away. It only took that one split second for me to register one thing before I passed out: Haymitch Abernathy had been murdered.
When I finally come back into consciousness, I feel like I haven't eaten for days. I feel like something is missing, like a part of me is gone. And then I remember that Haymitch is gone. Dead. Murdered.
I take my mocking jay pin and give it a good hard stare, and one of the last words Haymitch had said to me pops into my mind.
"The fire that your parents kindled is now passed down to you. It is completely your choice if you want to tame it, or set it ablaze."
As cold flames of anger well up inside me, I feel the missing spot become filled.
I know my choice.
I am going to set this fire inside me ablaze.
And whoever did this to Haymitch, is going to get burnt.