Hello! Another update yayy
Morning came quickly, to my relief. No horrible dreams, just a deep lulling sleep. I woke up to the soft crashing of district 4 waves. Breakfast was short and sweet. Just plain cereal and milk, I felt like I couldn't eat; my stomach was full of butterflies anticipating Annie's arrival. I wonder what she would look like today. Would she be bedraggled like she was yesterday, or a little more put together? Either way was nice in my opinion. She did not need makeup or a dress to make her look beautiful. It was something that came so effortlessly to her, thinking about her made my heart pitter pat.
My daze was awaken by a faint knock on the door. I stood up quickly and walked to it. Slowly, I opened it and was awaited by Annie's smiling face. She looked better today. Her hair was less tangly and her eyes looked less swollen with tears. She look was very minimal; a thin white shirt and black Terry cloth shorts. Simple and beautiful.
"Hi Finn," She said shyly, avoiding eye contact.
"Hey, Annie! Long time no see," I cracked a joke seeing if that could break the awkwardness of her greeting.
She giggled softly and smiled at me. Her smile was infectious, a beautiful sight to see.
"Well what do you want to do," I ask her.
"I don't know, anything to distract me for this pain," She said disdainfully and I could feel her mood shift. "I just need to be in a place where I don't hear them.
"The beach? I suggest and she nodded 'no'.
"I am still haunted by the ocean, it pains me to look at it everyday when I know that I killed people there," She said disappointedly "Maybe when I am better," She says trying to brighten the mood.
"Hmm, I could take you to a river, if your comfortable with that," I say to her.
"A river? In 4! I never knew those existed here. I thought filtered salt water from the ocean was all we had," She said in a genuinely surprised tone.
"Yeah it really shouldn't, and technically I should not know about it either," I respond to her reluctantly.
"Well, where is it?" She asks enthusiastically, clearly excited about this finding.
"Not too far from here, maybe 15 minute walk. No one guards it or anything. I think its a remnant from the dark ages honestly. I heard in history class years ago that all the districts had similar functions. After the dark days, they separated us by work, but there are still remnants like the river that leads to an old farm, I assume it had cattle on it," I ramble.
"Oh wow, Finnick. How did you even find it," She questions me with eagerness in her tone.
"Well, I found it one day when I was doing some soul searching, lets just call it that," I say to her trying to avoid the topic of my family.
"So interesting Finnick, well, show me the way," She squeaks.
I grab my shoes and walk out of the house as Annie follows. It is a warm and humid day, but not too excruciating to take a walk. As we strolled, we were greeted by the faces of some kind onlookers, including Mags, who smiled at me. Instead of taking the road to the downtown area of our section of the district, we took a sharp right turn into the brush. Annie grabbed my hand as I guided her up a small hill that needed to climbed in order for us to get to our location of choice. I look back at her and she seems a little bit anxious, so I start with some small talk. So far, I have discovered that Annie loves looking at stars, her dream job was working with animals, and has all of her adult teeth except for one in the front. Hearing Annie speak about what she is passionate about warms my heart because it is so genuine. Before the games she was such a charismatic girl, but the games stole that from her. But slowly, she is gaining her original self back.
When she begins to ask me about my life, we finally reach the break in the overgrown grass and brush, and are awaited by the freshwater river. Annie's face lights up in excitement and I feel my heart swell. She is just so beautiful. She smiles brightly at me, and walks closer to the river.
"I really can't believe this exists," She says to me in shock as she dips her small feet into the water. Her body flinches as the cool water hits her skin and I can tell she is a bit shocked by the feeling. "Well Finn, are you going to come?" She asks me with puppy dog eyes.
Reluctantly, I join her in the cold water. The rocks covered by soft algae feel smooth beneath my now, bare feet. Annie grabs my hand as she guides be upstream with her. We wade slowly as she finds what I think she was looking for. She lightly plucks a couple of flowers and ties them together. She faces me and hands me what looks like a circle of tied flowers. I look up at her, slightly confused.
"Its a flower crown," She says enthusiastically, and I smile at her.
"You're the queen Ann, you wear the crown," I respond to her as I place the crown on her soft hair. It looks like the most purest halo surrounding her golden brown hair. She looks heavenly.
"Aw, Finn," She responds softly. "Can we go back on the grass?" She asks.
"Of course," I answer and grab her hand gently.
We walk back to the grass and sit down next to each other. She is quiet for a few minutes and her expression is blank. I start to get concerned when I tap her shoulder and I receive very little of a response.
"Hey Ann. Are you alright?" I ask softly, trying to wake her from her daze.
"I hear their screaming a lot, Finn. But no one can hear it but me. The voices are softer today, but they are still there. I just want them to go. I am so f*cked Finn. My life is truly pointless. I am just unstable, a wreck. No one wants to be with me anymore. I tried to contact some of my old friends, but they just looked at me as if I was crazy. Maybe I am crazy. Maybe I will always be crazy Annie Cresta from District 4. I just feel hopeless. I can't keep track of anything anymore. Before I was so in control but its completely fallen apart now," She begins to sob quietly. "Why was I chosen for this? I Why does the capital even do this Finn? Why? Why? Why," Her sobs get louder and I lightly wrap my arm around her.
"I understand. I hear voices too. Every winner does. Ask Mags or the other victors. We are all haunted. I know its awful. I am constantly being tortured by my past. I got back all the time Ann, I am never in the district anymore because I am always being called to the Capitol to be Snow's sex pawn. I get it. They never fully go away. It is so hard. But you're not alone. I am always here. Its okay," I ramble comforting words to her.
"Does it ever end?" She asks me, still teary eyed.
"No, Annie, it never does," And I feel her tear soaked face rest upon my shirt.
I don't know how much time past between Annie's breakdown and when we went home. It just kind of consisted of cuddling on the grass, with the occasional small talk. We decided to get up eventually and head back to the village before dinner. I picked up lobster a couple of days ago and decided that I would cook it for Annie for supper. I wasn't the best cook, but I always tried my hardest. Annie was watching me intently as I placed the lobster tails on the grill. She seemed intrigued by the way I oiled and spiced the lobster before I cooked it.
"Sorry, not trying to be weird but, I have never eaten lobster before," She says awkwardly then giggled softly.
"It is really good," I reassure her and smile.
And by the end of dinner, Annie agreed with me. She thoroughly enjoyed the lobster I cooked in which I added mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. After a wonderful dinner, I decided to walk Annie back to her house. It was a quick, pleasant walk. I dropped her off and had a quick conversation with her mother before I returned to my house. I didn't know where Annie and I stood. But I was happy. Very happy