"The girl knows we played a role in them. The boy wil know in a few years. How can I tel them about that world without frightening them to death? My children, who don't know they play on a graveyard. Peeta says it wil be okay. We have each other. We can make them understand in a way that wil make them braver. But one day I'l have to explain about my nightmares. Why they came. Why they won't ever realy go away. I'll tel them how I survive it. I'll tel them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I'm afraid it could be taken away. That's when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I've seen someone do. It's like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years. But there are much worse games to play."
The Innocence of a Child
A/N: This idea just came to me, and I had to write it down. :) I think it's one of my better works, so I hope you guys like it too.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games
Two children play in the meadow. They play with sticks, fighting with them as though they are spears. Left, right, lunge, fall. One is dead, the other survives. The little girl bounces back up again, and the little boy laughs, and they continue their game.
A man and a woman sit on a porch. They are still very young, but look so, so old. The woman begins to cry, and the only thing the man can do is tell her "I love you."
The little boy collapses underneath the willow tree, and the little girl runs up to the porch. "Katniss, I think we need to tell her."
"No Peeta! I don't think she's ready yet."
"Katniss… She'll never be ready."
Peeta was right, and they both knew it, but that wouldn't make anything any easier. Katniss began to cry again. "Daddy?" The little girl asked, with an innocence in her tone that represented the new world better than anything else ever could. No child from the old Panem ever knew what innocence was. "Yes darling?" He asked, picking her up and placing her on his knee. "I love you." She said, burying her head into his chest. He couldn't help but smile, despite the story he was about to tell. "I love you too sweetie. You're my second favorite lady in the whole of Panem." He said, kissing her on the cheek, then giving his wife a kiss on the lips.
"Prim, sweetie. Daddy is going to tell you a story now, okay?" Katniss said, swallowing all of her emotion, even though Peeta could tell it was a struggle to keep the memories back. "He's going to tell you about your Aunty Primrose, and the little girl named Rue, both of whom you were named for. He's going to tell how mommy and daddy fell in love, okay? And he's going to tell you why daddy sometimes locks himself up."She continued to choke on her emotions, then continued to speak. "Then he's going to tell you why mommy has her nightmares. I want you to promise me you won't tell your brother these things, not until he can handle it. And I want you to promise me you will never let these things worry you, okay? Sweetie? Can you do this for us?" The little girl nodded, and Peeta began to tell her the tale.
Katniss knew Peeta would be the best for the job. No one else could have ever wrapped all of Panem around his finger. Of course it's only fitting that he be the one to tell Prim, after all, she's got him wrapped around her finger. A daddy's girl. The woman could tell that it was a struggle for the man to tell the story without having the painful flashbacks that come every time he thinks of them. He knew he needed to stay strong, so as not to scare the girl. He had finally found happiness. Everything was okay.
And so the little girl learned that she played on a graveyard. The little girl learned why her Aunt Annie was always so sad, and why Uncle Haymitch was always so drunk. She learned about the little book her mommy and daddy made together. She learned about the games, both of them, along with the brave children who fought in them. She learned about the little girl Rue, not much older than she was. She learned about her Aunt Prim, and how brave she was. She learned that her namesake died for her freedom.
She learned how her mother and father were heroes. She learned how they saved Panem, and how she had a freedom no children had for hundreds of years. She learned about how her mother and father were so, so brave, and how they are able to survive it. She learned about her mothers game, and eventually she started playing it too. She learned that even in the darkest circumstances, there can always be a light. Slowly, the sun began to go down, and the meadow began to fill with little shining light bugs, and the sky was filled with stars.
And then the tale was over. The story darker than a fairy tale, and lighter than the truth, had been told to her. She breathed it all in. Then a tear trickled down her cheek, because of all of the pain the people went through. "You are just like your father." Her mother said, giving her a tight squeeze. Then little Finn, her only brother, came waddling over. He tugged on her feet, and then said, "It's okay Prim! The sun will come back again tomorrow!" And then the whole family smiled. Because nothing is more perfect than the innocence of a child.
A/N: So yeah! What do you guys think? Let me know by dropping off a review! Thanks,
-Awesomegirl13