Chapter 1: Fireflies
We wrote a time of our lives, not knowing the past we dreaded was soon to resurface.
I can't begin to count the number of days or possibly years it has been since I've heard from Peeta. Moments seem to blend into one another until there's just an unending string of time holding everything together. When you're young and innocent growing up is the slowest process known to yourself, but the predisposition of a youthful mindset doesn't allow a child to recognize the rapid flow of time. One day you wake up and five years have passed and just like that, life didn't stop to give time to appreciate it. There isn't anything I can do to reverse time and even if there were, it's better left forgotten. The questions I spent years justifying a reasonable explanation to are also better left unanswered. I stopped searching for them a long time ago. It's intangible and I'll never be able to correct the wrongs that have been done to the world. The few left with the energy to rebuild this society will eventually rise to the top and re-destruct what has already been broken. I don't spend time deciding my future, I just live day by day, passing time.
Knock, knock
I open the door to the usual daily visitor, Greasy Sae.
"Still not talking much?" She pauses for a moment, hoping for an answer. It'd be the fist reply in months.
"It's been a while since I've made my spiced apple pie."
"You and Pri-", She immediately halts the thought.
I want to reassure her that it's okay, but I can't. My body won't allow my mind to express what I should be capable of saying. She continued with a story of her neighbor's grandchild and how a community is beginning to reform with the smallest bit of hope those people still posses. She rambles on about a couple more things, but my attention fades.
I watch the fireflies nearby the lake where Gale and I used to hunt. No one knows where they migrated from, but they appeared soon after the rebellion. Some say the light is a symbol of hope and a good future that lies ahead, almost like I was, but a mascot of false dreams. Those poor creatures would be miserable if they knew what ideology the townspeople had given to their light.
The glowing green always captures my attention and I slowly drift into wandering, memorized by something so simple. I deeply inhale the now fresh air, which smoke no longer plows through. I close my eyes and live a short second of satisfaction before I hear the distinct sound of branches snapping in the night. My eyes dart around my surroundings and I spot a shadow from a distance. Maybe someones here to finish the deed.
If they are, I'm ready die.
The figure draws closer as my sense of danger increases.
"Katniss Everdeen." Says an unfamiliar voice.
I don't bother to muster a sound.
"You think you can just stand there and not say a word because you're better than me? Because you were the symbol of some stupid bird?" His words can't make me feel anything.
He begins to swiftly trot towards me as I stand still. I am thrown to the ground as his fist pounds into the physical shell of me. My mind begins to drift into unconsciousness and for a second I swear it's Peeta.