KATNISS
It's rainy days like these that I just want to go outside and dance. I would feel so free, and after a long time, happy. Before the unmentionable occurred, when it rained, my sister Primrose used to come outside with me in the rain, and I would spin her around. My mother and father would waltz with smiles in their faces, and we all would be laughing as the rain poured.
That was a long time ago, and I've learned that you shouldn't depend on the past.
I can't help it, though. The rain reminds me of what my family used to have, and what my family will never have.
We used to have my father, until he died in a mine explosion. That was seven years ago. I'm 18 now. My little sister, who was 7 when he died, understood one thing: our father was gone, and we'd never get him back. Little did we know that we would soon loose our mother too.
Our mother lost all the life she had in her. She was despondent and depressed, and we had to force her to eat. Slowly, she began to cooperate and help around the house. I went to the woods illegally to hunt for food using the bow and arrows my dad had made, and Prim made milk using her goat.
Now, enough of all that depressing stuff. Because today, I'm feeling something that I've never felt before.
It almost seems foreign to me…
While I walk to school with Prim, I recognize the feeling.
I feel hopeful. I don't know why.
Maybe it's because it's the first day of spring. Maybe it's because I saw a flower so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. And maybe, just maybe, it's because I just saw Peeta Mellark, the boy with the bread, with eyes so blue, that I could drown in them.
I owe Peeta. After my father's death, my mom was uncooperative. We has no money and the family was beginning to starve. Peeta saved our lives, just by giving me two loaves of burnt bread.
Desperately, I went outside in the rain, trying to sell our old clothes with no good luck. Then, Peeta came outside. He noticed me and my terrible condition, and instead of giving the burnt bread to the pigs, he gave the bread to me. Because of his life-saving act, I owe my life to him.
Now, as his baby blue eyes lock with mine, I feel reassured. As if this year is going to be fine, as if nothing bad is going to happen. The positive possibilities become endless as I hold my gaze, and he holds his.
I feel a tug on my arm, and I look down at Prim.
She smiles at me knowingly, and in reply I roll my eyes.
"C'mon, let's get you to class, Little Duck."
I look up to see if the boy with the bread is still there, and as I had not expected, he stands there, watching me.
I look away quickly, and walk Prim to her class.
As I run to my class, I pass Peeta, and notice that his mouth is tilted up in a slight smile.