Chapter 11: Ruth

The televisions were everywhere. On the streets, in the stores, all the buildings, in the schools, in our homes. It's everywhere.

But what bothered me wasn't that they were there. It was that they were on. Every minute of every day. But it wasn't that either. It was that they all played the same thing- everywhere. They were all set to the frequency that showed the Games. Every. Single. One.

Every year of course this has happened- especially bad during the 74th Games- but this year is the first one that was bothering me. Even had I wanted to, I couldn't get away from what was going on unless I went to the fence.

Did Gale, Katniss' friend who stayed behind, feel like this? Did he feel that there was no way he could get away from it all? He'd had hunting, I know, and I didn't but I remember seeing a lot less of him after the Games started and even less after Katniss and Peeta came back.

Would I be like him? Worried sick about the person you love on the screen, living it miles and miles away? Just to realize the person you thought you knew was so completely different when they got back it was hardly comparable?

No.

Katniss came back for her sister. Jackson said he would come back for me. Not for his sister, not for his parents or friends or family, but me. The silly, little, undeserving girl he'd grown up with.

Why did he love me anyway?

What had I ever done for him? Other than keep him company and be his friend? He'd always protected me, always been there, to cheer me, to show me where God was in every situation.

"Hey, Vick," I called across the road, "do you know where the recordings of the interviews are?"
"Yeah," he called back. "Why?"

"I'd like to watch them when we get home."

He shrugged. "Sure. I'll show you when we get there, which should be soon." He looked up at the road and away from me as he said this last part.
We were walking home together after school. I had missed a few days because of my coma, so I had extra work to do when I got home.

"Do you mind explaining why you want to watch it again? Are you going to watch the entire thing?"

"Probably not. I just want to hear what he said again. At the end."

"About you?"

"No, about the jumping bananas he ate," I tell him sarcastically. "Yes, of course."

"Are you in love with him?"

I stopped, and stared at my brother, considering the question. "I... I don't know."

Vick raised his eyebrows at me. "Seriously? You're totally in love with him. I was just wondering what you thought."

"Well what defines being 'in love'?" I wondered aloud.

"What do you mean?" Vick questioned.

"Think about it. People always talk about being 'in love', and how great it is, but what do they even mean? Are they talking about having positive physical contact, how pretty the person they're 'in love' with is? Or are they talking about how much they care about the other person?"

Vick shrugged and opened the door of our home for me. "I don't know. I'm only 12."

"Then why'd you ask me?"

Vick shrugged again and I sighed, pushing past him. "You could try finding a love story in the bible I suppose, but if you do you gotta tell me," Vick suggested.

I nodded, grabbing it and beginning to flip through. Song of Solomon? No good. Esther? Great story, but not about romance.

Ruth. I devoured the book within the hour. Her story was one of the most amazing books I had ever read.

Ruth was a Moabite, which was a nation against Israel at the time. She married an Israelite, who has died at the beginning of the story. She is left with her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi. There was a famine in Israel, so they had been living in Moab. As soon as the famine was over, Naomi wanted to go home; she didn't belong in Moab. She intended to leave Ruth behind, but Ruth insisted, saying, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth 1:16. So they traveled back to Israel and Ruth picked up the leftover grains in a field nearby where they stayed in order to eat. A wealthy man called Boaz owned the field. He happened to be related to Ruth's husband. Boaz learned of her travels and her love for Naomi, and makes sure she can continue to collect food.

Then I stumbled upon chapter three, in which Naomi tells Ruth, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do." Ruth 3:1b-4.

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

"Dad?" I called, knocking on the door of our parent's bedroom. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, of course," he responded, opening the door. "What's on your mind?"

I showed him the verse. "Why would Naomi tell her to do that?"

Dad sat down on the bed, rubbing his forehead. "Hm, how should I explain this. You see, this is their way of proposing to each other. When Naomi says she is trying to find a home for Ruth, she doesn't mean a place to stay, she means she wants Ruth to have safety, and protection, which they cannot afford or provide on their own. Does that answer your question?"

I nodded. "Yeah, though I might be back later with more questions."

Dad smiled. "What if I read it to you?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

I listened intently as Dad read the rest of the book, explaining the various complications Ruth and Boaz encountered as they worked to make their marriage happen. At the very end, after they were married, Ruth had a son, Obed, the grandfather of King David.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think defines being 'in love'?"

"Hm, tough question. Let me tell you the story of how your mom and I met..."