The rays of the sun hit my eyes and force them open. I sit up from the covers of my bed and gently rub my eyes. I look around my room, the creaky door is closed but my window is open a crack big enough for me to fit through. I jump out of bed and pull on my small leather boots. Some logs lay next to the burning fireplace. I rush to them and drag them towards the windowsill. The house is so quiet, I hear my brothers snoring in their rooms upstairs. Zakora doing the same. The floor underneath creaks at each step I take with the log dragging against the wooden floor. I push the logs against the wall in a pile. I grab onto them, careful not to get a splinter, and make my way up the stairs I formed and to the window opening. I pull myself up to the top and push the window open with more force and it opens a crack more, big enough to fit through. I bring my leg to hang from the other side of the sill and push myself up. I slide my thin body throw the crack and force my head to do the same. I prop my legs to swing to the other side of the windowsill. My hands stay with its grips and I let go and jump to the ground not so down below me.
The rough dirt hits the bottom of my boots hard when they reach contact. I turn towards the woods and see the old wooden cabin next to the darkened forest. I run quickly, my feet moving fast. The sunrise is just coming in and I can see the sun coming up from hiding behind the trees. I stumble over a big rock and trip my way to the front steps of the cabin. I softly climb up the stairs and stand infront of the door, a crack of it is opened so with both hands I quietly push the door.
The inside of the one-room is dark, the familiar smell of lumber seeping into my nose. I turn around and reach for the high doorknob and close the door shut slowly. I turn back to the room as something in the shadows of the corner jumps out and tackles me towards the wall. It brings me under the sill of a window facing the woods being covered by the sun shine. A hand is gently put over my mouth and the light from the sun reflects on the face of the figure.
"Johanna!" I smile, looking up at the only woman that understands me and I trust. Her black hair covers one side of her face. She hears me call her and she places her hand on my mouth again. Bringing her index finger to her lips, she shushes me and helps me sit up. She crouches infront of the window and peeks her eyes out. I do the same and stand in front of the window and look outside.
"What is it?" I whisper to her. She points to the trees and responds softly. "The monster." I gasp and look out, scared of seeing a ferocious beast come at us. I turn to Johanna.
"What do we do?" I ask worriedly. Her hand pulls the hair from her face behind her ear, she takes a rubber band from her wrist and ties her hair up in a messy bun.
"We..." From her left, she pulls out my small wooden axe she made me 3 years ago and hands it to me. She grabs her own and grips it in one hand and narrows her eyes outside the window. "Attack!" She yells and flicks the window open and jumps out of it and sprints toward the closest tree. I climb up, following her. My axe stays in my hand as my feet dangle from the windowsill. My feet hit the ground and I raise my axe like her and let out a yell similar to hers. She brings the axe behind her neck and swings it hard into the bark of the tree. The blade stays deep inside the trunk, almost halfway. Johanna is strong, one of the strongest people I've ever seen. She can even beat all three of my brothers at arm wrestling. Zakora told me that Johanna once won a match against my dad in less than ten seconds, his muscles twice the size of any man's in the district.
She grins at her success with her weapon and stands next to the tree to watch how it turns out for me. "Get 'em, squirt!" She calls out and I swing my axe, the blade pointing to the wood. The axe makes contact with the trunk and it does nothing else but scrape the bark. Johanna folds her arms and tries to hide her smile but she cant help it and she bursts into laughter. My face turns red and I yell out a battle cry and aim my axe for her. Still laughing, Johanna starts to run from me, every once in a while, hiding behind a tree then keeps going. I whack a tree she was hiding behind and only the tip of the blade stays inside the tree. Johanna sees the hit and paralyzes herself where she stands and dramatically puts her hands over her heart.
"You got me!" She lets out and collapses to the dirt. I giggle and sit next to her head, her eyes shut and her tongue sticking out of her mouth.
"Did we get the monster?" I ask her. She slowly opens one eye and looks around the woods.
"I think we got him." She whispers then suddenly sits up straight.
She grabs a nearby twig and snaps it in half. "Oh no! He's back! Climb on fast!" She picks me up and throws me onto her back, I wrap my arms tightly around her neck and we run to where a patch of trees crowd closely together. One of the trunks of the trees has a ladder which leads to our secret club house. She grabs onto the ropes of the ladder and crawls up without any sign of tiredness. Johanna slings me over her back and walks on the floor of branches ontop of the tree.
She sets me down and I can see through the small twigs of leaves the whole forest. A sea of different shades of green sweep below us, white puffs of clouds start to fill the crystal blue sky. The district buildings cover the farthest end of the horizon. Johanna sits next to me and picks me up from my under arms and places me on her lap. She crosses her legs and wraps her arms around me as if I were her own child. I dont think I've been any closer to anyone like I am with Johanna. She is a second mother to me. I tell her everything that happens and she always finds a way to make me smile. Others see her as tough, emotionless, damaged, and full of hate just from her look. But in the inside, she is a warm, caring, loving woman who has no one else in this world but me. And I'm glad that I have her because she needs the youth of a child in her life.
She needs someone to remind her that there's something worth going on for, that someone does care about her and will always be there for her. But that will all change when I have to tell her the news that I will be moving to the Capitol with my grandfather and probably never see her ever again.
