"It's best to have failure happen early in life. It wakes up the Phoenix bird in you so you rise from the ashes." - Anne Baxter
The sun was just beginning to peek through the gray clouds as Katniss took a seat on one of the damp steps. The rain had cleared in time for many of the district citizens to begin going about their days as normal.
Living all the way in Victor's Village, Katniss often felt isolated from both the town and the Seam. Most of the time it was welcome, but occasionally a pang of some weird emotion would hit Katniss when she realized how estranged she was. Peeta at least had the bakery. Katniss just had selling meat sometimes and buying from Greasy Sae. In a rare moment of emotional weakness, Katniss had voiced as much to Peeta, and now here Katniss was, sitting on the stoop of the bakery alone on a Wednesday morning just as the birds had begun their daily singing.
Peeta had convinced her to come along with him that day by saying she could do whatever she wanted but maybe time in town would do her good. The walk into town had been wet, and Katniss had poised herself for a day of sitting around confined to the bakery. Then the sun had started to break through, and Katniss had wandered off to sit outside where she felt more at ease.
The bakery was nice for short periods of time, warm and comforting with a constant smell of delicious food. Katniss had begun to sweat slightly from the heat in the kitchen though, and the April air outside felt just right against her skin. Plus, you could only smell pastries for so long before you were strongly tempted to eat some, and Katniss didn't think Peeta had asked her to come so that she could eat his stock.
The bakery staff arrived to work earlier than the workers at many other business because of the need to have the items baked before customers could arrive at opening time. Katniss could see lights turning on and signs being flipped to open as she sat on the step.
There were people milling about now, although Katniss knew this wasn't as busy as the morning would get. More people would be heading to work soon. With the new supply of jobs, the workforce in town had gotten larger. The hospital had begun employing a good deal of people as technicians and secretaries since opening, and even more people had managed to get local government jobs in the Town Hall, which would have been unthinkable just two years prior.
Katniss also saw the occasional man walk by dressed to begin his shift in the mines. The industry had shrunk in the past couple of years, with the demand for coal shrinking as more people in the districts switched to more efficient means of energy that hadn't been available this far from the Capitol before. This decline in demand of their formerly exclusive industry only made the recent rise in jobs more welcome, but some were still forced to work in the mines, as District 12 remained the only source of coal in Panem. Katniss had heard rumours that this wouldn't be the case for long, but as it stood, the current demand left mining to still be a common profession among District 12 men, even as their wives took office jobs to help put more food on the table.
The conditions in the mines weren't what they used to be. Workers' rights had been one of the first issues covered by the new government, and all workers in Panem were now guaranteed a liveable wage and safe working conditions. The mines now weren't the same mines Katniss's father had died in, even if it still wasn't the safest profession. Still, Katniss couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of sympathy for the miners she saw walking past her that day. A part of her would never be able to trust the new government and its laws, no matter how much they proved themselves.
Children began filling the streets after the workers with their backpacks swaying as they ran and skipped around with each other. The town had been built more compactly this time around with all of the new buildings bunched closely together. Peeta's bakery had wound up being right across from the new school, which Katniss saw as brilliant advertising. She had seen the way the children stopped to stare in the windows just as Prim used to do. Now that some families could afford to give their children a bit of spending money, students would come in several times a week to purchase something small for themselves and sometimes a friend.
No children came towards the bakery that morning, and Katniss wondered if it was due to her sitting on the steps. Many of the older residents of District 12 had become desensitized to her presence, but Katniss still caught some of the younger children staring at her in awe and slight fear on many occasions.
There was half an hour or so until classes were set to begin, and the children were taking that time to mill about outdoors and enjoy the lack of rain and spring temperatures. Katniss watched as they naturally divided themselves by both age and social groups. It wasn't at all unlike Katniss's previous experience as a student. The only thing Katniss didn't notice was a student all by his or herself just like Katniss had always been, but Katniss knew that was because of her limited perspective. Such a student would be arriving much closer to the beginning bell or would have at least gone indoors already to prepare for the day as they had nothing better to do.
A young group of girls about thirteen years of age were gathered closest to Katniss. They had shot her several curious looks but mostly ignored her presence as they chattered with each other happily. Katniss watched them closely and thought of Prim. It struck Katniss that Prim would have just recently turned fifteen if she were still alive. These girls would have been just a couple of years behind her sister back before the bombing. They may have even known each other, had conversations.
Katniss's heart skipped a beat as she saw the shirt tail that had come untucked from one of the girl's skirts. Memories came back of Prim's shirt coming undone just the same way, of Katniss tucking it back in and chastising, "Tuck in your tail, little duck."
Katniss pulled herself away from the memories, not ready to relive them in the middle of town for all to see. With a deep sigh, Katniss stood from the step and headed back into the bakery, where the memories would continue to flow in some semblance of privacy.