He's dead. That must be it. What else could it be? Unless…, "He's seriously injured." She stole the words right out of my mouth. "He's in a coma and he's not waking up," she sobs.
I sit down next to her. I feel very awkward because I have never been in this situation before. "I'm so sorry," I whisper. I wish I knew what was going on. Does it look like my parents will come back alive, healthy, and winning their second war. Or will the games come back where Gale and I could go in forced to kill each other. I feel if the games do come back they'll make sure I'm competing against my brother.
She gathers herself together and stands up wiping her eyes. "I'm going to get some groceries," she announces. "Alright," I say quietly, now depressed. She leaves trying to stay strong for us but I have a feeling it won't last.
Gale comes down still half asleep. "Where's Aunt Madge?" he yawns. "She went to buy a few things," I mumble. "What happened?" he asks now awake. It's easy to tell things aren't going right, I'm not happy and Aunt Madge never goes shopping in the morning. "Uncle Gale," I start, "is in a coma." Fear fills his eyes as he grows pale, "Is he going to d-d-die?" I can't lie to Gale, well I can, but not about things like this. "It's possible," I say.
Silence hangs in the air like a death sentence…no one wants to talk about anything, no one knows what to think. I drop my head and pick at my cuticles. What's next? Who's next? Our parents? So many questions aren't answered and I don't like it. "What do we do now?" he asks. "I don't know," I say angrily.
He sits down next to me and I lay my head on a pillow that's on the couch. I trace patterns on the soft couch surface. I feel like Gale now just wanting to ask, "What do we do now?" but I don't, I can't. I sigh, why must things be so complicated? When will things end?
Then there's a knock on the door, must be Aunt Madge. I stand up and slowly twist the brass doorknob, still thinking. It's not Aunt Madge. She has dark hair and grey eyes. She's undeniably from The Seam. She also is undeniably my mother.