Chapter 22: The school playground

[Summer in the year of the 73rd Hunger Games]

Once the Games were over, Prim and Lizzy were much more relaxed again, and we continued to sleep in the outdoor bed for some time occasionally. A couple of times there was some rain in the night, but the tarp I had rigged was tilted to one side, and so the water could drop down to the ground there; our 'bed' stayed dry.

During one night, though, there was a thunderstorm; we had not seen it coming in the evening, but I liked that. Watching the forces of nature was impressive, and seeing the lightning from our outdoor bed was a great show, well, for me at least. The two girls, though, were not quite that happy, and they showed a more timid behavior. When the thunderstorm was right over us and the thunder could be heard only a second or two after the lightning had flashed, I suddenly found myself with two frightened girls in my arms; they were hiding their heads on both sides of my neck, buried into my shoulders, and each of them had one arm around my chest. Eventually the thunderstorm moved on, but the girls stayed, and when I later tried to find out if they were okay again, I noticed that both of them were now asleep; apparently they had both been able to find comfort in my arms. Well, this was not exactly something I had a problem with, so that I tried to sleep as well.

Obviously sleeping worked well for all three of us, and I woke up seeing the first hints of daylight coming up. I noticed somebody coming out of the house and saw Katniss in her hunting gear; she quickly looked in our direction, saw both girls in my arms, shook her head, and moved on. A smaller shape was visible at the other end of the garden, and when more light came up, I recognized Buttercup crouching and looking for mice.

I enjoyed being here like this. The scenery was so peaceful, with birds singing, no human voices, daylight coming up and starting to illuminate some small clouds, and two pretty girls sleeping and breathing in my arms. For a moment I thought life could not get much better than that and wished that time could be frozen. I probably dozed off again while enjoying the situation, and I woke up again from the sound of a window being opened in the house. Mrs. Everdeen looked out and when she saw me awake, she waved; I just nodded and smiled, as I did not have an arm free to wave back. A few minutes later she came out and asked in a low voice:

"When I saw and heard the thunderstorm last night, I was getting a little bit worried. I was not sure if your tarp was fully waterproof, and I also happen to know that both Prim and Lizzy are easily frightened by lightning and thunder. But it appears that they found somebody to comfort them."

I smiled back at her and confirmed: "Yes, indeed, they did. It looks like they are both still asleep."

Now, with the Games being over, I had to work again, but once or twice a week we spent the night outside. Prim told me that she was sometimes walking around with Peeta during the day, helping him to find proper motives for painting and showing him the most colorful flowers. Sometimes I also found her in the bakery assisting Peeta, Wheat, or my father, and I loved to see her integrated so nicely.

Similar to the last years, the mayor wanted me to pay special attention to the school building and grounds during the summer holidays. Marc and I started to make some improvements to the sports area, and we also beautified the outdoor area where the kids could spend their break times. Prim was sometimes watching and assisting, and on one day she said:

"You know, it would be really nice if one could play during breaks, not just walk around."

"What kind of play do you have in mind?"

"I saw something in one of your old books, with a small board connected to long ropes, so that once can sit on it and swing. I think that they just called it a swing."

"Hm, do you recall if there was an illustration in that book?"

"Yes, I think that there is one – I can show you tonight!"

After supper at the bakery Prim got the book she had been talking about and opened the page about the swing. The book not only had a description and illustration on that, but also a few other things, like a wooden playhouse, a climbing castle, and more.

On the next day I took the book and asked the mayor:

"My girlfriend believes that it would be nice for the kids at school to have some options to play during their breaks. We found this old book with some illustrations, and I wonder if this is something we could try to build, with spare material of course."

"Hm, you have got a point there" Mayor Undersee commented on my suggestion. "Don't spend too much effort on it, please, but you have my permission to improvise something."

I shared the news with Marc Pherson, who was working with me a part time help, and we looked around on the school grounds. The school had been built a long time ago, and the founders had planted a number of trees around it. Most of those trees had grown over time, and some had developed into some sturdy giants by now. A couple of big oak trees were reasonably close together in one corner, and two massive branches, one from each tree, got quite close to each other, about three or four meters above ground.

Marc saw me looking at the branches and asked: "What are you thinking about?"

"Look at those sturdy branches!" I replied. "We could get a long pole up and tie it to both branches to get a horizontal bar. Ropes attached to that bar can be used for swings, and if the pole is long enough, we can have three or four swings side by side."

"You think that swings are fun for the kids?"

"Quite sure of it, actually; just wait and see."

We were able to locate a very long wooden pole and, with Gale also helping, managed to get it up into the trees and move it to the spot where I wanted to have it. Once it was properly tied down and bound to the branches, I got a number of long ropes and had them hang down from the pole in pairs, with some distance in between. Getting a board attached to sit on was a challenging tasks, as we did not want the board to tilt and shift, but eventually we managed to do that as well.

"Next task is to find out how high the boards should be from the ground. I should guess that smaller kids need it lower and older kids need it higher."

Gale and Marc nodded, and the older boy asked: "Sure, but which height exactly?"

I pondered that and then told them: "I know; we just need kids to test. Gale, why don't you bring your two brothers along tomorrow, and they can help us testing. Posy is too young and small for the big swings, I guess, but I can also get Prim, who is about between your brothers in height."

Gale smiled and responded: "Yes, that should work. Rory and Vick should have some fun helping us like that."

One day later we had company, with Prim, Rory, and Vick eagerly waiting to 'assist'. We showed them around, and soon all three of them took a seat on one of the boards and got busy. It turned out that using a swing was not as easy as it looked like. Fortunately, Prim had read the text in the old book and had at least a vague idea on how to move her body back and forth to get going. The three kids spent almost the entire morning learning how to swing and experimenting with different heights. When I walked over to where Prim was swinging quite high and wanted to call the kids to lunch, Prim was overdoing it and lost contact with the board; her hands slipped from the ropes, and she went flying into the air. I heard a quick yelp from her, and she was coming down in my direction. Fortunately I was almost exactly at the right position to catch her, but she came down with force enough to bring me down to the ground as well. My girlfriend landed right on top of me and drove the air from my lungs for a moment.

When she had recovered from her shock, she looked rather pale and flustered, and I quickly asked her if she was hurt. Her face was very close to mine, and her response was a little slow:

"No, I do not think so. I am so sorry; I did not mean to drop myself on you like that, I just lost control, and I am so glad that you got me."

Gale looked at us and smirked: "Ryan, you are really a lucky guy to have your girlfriend literally drop on you like there's no tomorrow. Hey, I wish I had a girlfriend being that forward with her affections!"

I chuckled, and Prim realized that she was still on top of me and got up now. I noted:

"Note taken – we have to prepare a soft ground under the swings, so that if somebody falls down, there's less of a risk of injury."

"We could use some sand," Marc suggested, "as we seem to have plenty of that."

"Yes, good idea," I agreed, "let's work on that next, after lunch."

I had lunch ready for all of us, and we spent the afternoon with some more fine-tuning, until we could fix the ropes properly. We also started to remove the top layer of soil under the swings to prepare for getting sand there, which we would do tomorrow.

The three children were happy to hear that the swings would remain to be used during school breaks and that we eventually might get a chance to rig some other fun stuff.

A few days later I had an afternoon off, and I invited Prim for a few hours to our meadow. I had another picnic prepared, and we indulged into the food before relaxing and talking. When we had made ourselves comfortable, we first talked about various topics like the weather, the new swings at school, and some of Prim՚s friends, and eventually Prim came up with something else:

"Rye, I need you to help me understand something, please."

"Of course, what is it, dear?"

"A few days ago, when I dropped on you from the swing by accident, and when I landed right on top of you, our chests were pressed together quite tightly. At first I thought that it might hurt both of us, but then I noticed your face very close to mine, and I got that sudden urge to kiss you. There was also an odd feeling in or around my stomach, like a tickle or some buzzing or so."

I had a feeling where this might go, but decided to let her finish first.

"At that time I was too surprised to react, but I asked Mom later on if she knew what that kind of feeling is. She smiled very widely at me and did not explain; she rather suggested I might to talk to you about it. Do you know what this is? Am I getting sick?"

I smiled at her and replied: "I think I know, yes, but first, can you please tell me if that feeling was more pleasant or more not so nice?"

Prim smiled back and responded: "It was a wonderful and amazing feeling, actually. I would like to feel it again if I can, but I do not know how!"

"Hm," I told her, "Why don't we find out first if we can make you feel like that again."

"How?"

"Well, let's do like we did a few days ago. Not the drop, I mean, but the resulting position. Maybe you would want to sit on my lap, wrap your legs around my waist and your arms around my neck."

"Okay" my girlfriend replied and did as I suggested. When she was properly seated, I carefully pulled her chest against mine with one hand and used the other hand to get her head close enough to mine so that I could start a kiss. I tried to make it a very tender one, nibbling on her upper lip a bit and just going slowly. Right away I could hear some moaning and purring, and she started to press and push against me as well. Suddenly she got startled and moved back, looking confused and surprised, and she told me excitedly:

"You did it! That feeling was there again! What is it, and why can you make it appear?"

"Well, Prim, it is not really a sickness at all, but it is an expression of love. Some people, when they are deeply in love with another person, feel what is commonly called 'butterflies in one's stomach' when they are close to the loved one. I know this very well, because I have felt like that when I am with you for a long time already, and I will probably never get tired of feeling it."

"Yes, 'butterflies in the stomach' is a good way to describe it. And you really feel that as well? For me?"

"Of course, my love, and I am happy to hear that you are feeling that, too."

"But why haven't I felt like that before?"

"I am not fully sure, and your Mom would know better, but I believe that this feeling is something children do not normally experience. It is probably an early sign that you are about to start the transition from girl to woman."

"I am? Really? I am not sure I want to do this; I feel quite happy as a girl as it is!"

I laughed, knowing that she was not quite serious about that. Of course, herself being a healer's daughter, she probably knew better than me about the biological changes when a girl started to grow into a woman. Apparently, though, some of the feelings had been left out by her mother.

A couple of days later I was called into the mayor's office. Mr. Peters, the coal mining operations supervisor, was with him, and after we greeted each other, Mayor Undersee started:

"Mellark, in the last few months there have been discrepancies between the amount of coal we get out of the mines and the amount which arrives in the Capitol and in District Five. They urgently request that I find out why that is, and I do not know where to look. Would you have an idea?

"No, not right now," I had to admit, "but let's review the situation step by step. First, where is the coal counted or weighed when it is getting out of the mines?"

"I do not know." The mayor clearly was not involved in the details. "Mr. Peters, can you elaborate please?"

Mr. Peters responded: "Of course, sir. The coal is weighed right when coming out of the mine shaft, and it is weighed a second time when loaded onto the trains. So far, those two numbers have always matched."

The mayor was confused: "But when the numbers are right when the coal is loaded onto the trains, where does something get lost?"

I had an idea: "How are the coal cars locked? Are they sealed?"

Mr. Peters shook his head: "No, there are only very simple locks. In theory, somebody could break in either in the night before the train leaves or maybe even in transit, like at slow orders. We have a number of track sections very close to our district which are in urgent need of repairs, and the trains need to go very slow when passing them."

"But," I cut in, "I think that we are not allowed to patrol outside of the district, right?"

"No, we are not," Mayor Undersee confirmed, "but if we have a justified suspicion, I can ask for permission to send a peacekeeper detachment along the tracks. For now, we have identified two possible ways for coal to get 'lost'; as the first one is easier to do, let's just guard the train when the next delivery is due, and maybe re-check just before the train leaves."

The guarding was supposed to be done by peacekeepers, of course, and I was not directly involved. However, I supervised the coal weighing procedure together with Mr. Peters, just to make sure that this was done properly. At the mine exit, they sorted the coal into high quality, to be transported off via train, and low quality, which the miners were free to take home for heating their homes and for cooking. The low quality coal was still good enough for us here, but the power plants in the Capitol and specifically in District Five needed the best quality. The poor quality coal was not always enough, though, but miners were not allowed to get more. Of course, one could also get wood, although most of the supply was outside of the fence and thus not legally accessible.

The mayor gave orders to closely guard the next three coal trains and find out if the problems continued. If they did, he planned to contact the Capitol and ask for permission to send a patrol out, along the tracks.

Meanwhile, school summer holidays continued. Prim and Lizzy spent a lot of time in their garden, and Mrs. Everdeen was happy top see that her supply of healing herbs was growing. I got busy again on the school grounds, and Marc and I started to build some kind of climbing frame. We used all kind of different material, mostly wood, but also some metal, and we started from a big base to allow many children to use it at the same time. Building that was kind of fun, and sometimes we had Gale bring his brothers to find out if we built it properly. Like I had seen in the old book, I wanted to have a slide or two attached to the frame, but we did not know how to construct that. A wooden slide seemed to be not good, as it was not smooth enough; but maybe if we polished it right? Metal would be best, but I did not think that we were able to get properly bent metal from another district.

Prim also came over occasionally and provided her input, and when we had time to enjoy a break together, she sometimes climbed on my lap and asked me:

"Let me feel the butterflies again, please?"

I was more than happy to oblige, and neither Prim nor I cared if we were alone or not; Marc and Gale both chuckled when we sometimes completely forgot time about that. We were not really heavily making out or something, but we were just totally happy when Prim was in my lap, we had our arms wrapped around each other, her head was buried in my shirt or close to my neck, and we felt and cherished each other and got lost in our thoughts and in our love.

A few days later a big old tree had to be brought down on the school grounds. It was getting old and in parts rotten, and there was an increasing risk of having it come down on the school building in a storm. We did not really have proper equipment for felling trees, but we managed to make do with what we had. There were no professional lumberjacks around like they had in District Seven, and we had to work together for a few days to finally cut the tree down. The tree trunk was massive and partially curved. The wood, as it was partially rotten, was not suitable for construction purposes, but I wondered if we could make slides from it.

Once I had discussed the idea with my coworkers, we first split a section of the curved trunk, about six or seven meters long, in half lengthwise, which was tedious work. Once we had the two halves, we started to make them hollow by first cutting larger parts out with axes, and later on have fire do our work for us. This was also documented in an old survival book, actually for improvising some kind of small boat from a tree trunk. We allowed the fire to burn the trunk parts into hollow shells, fueling it where needed and stopping it with water where it had done its job. Weeks later, just before the new school year started again, we had two curved half tubes, and they seemed to be sturdy enough to be used as slides. Of course, more work needed to be done, like polishing the interior so that it was smooth enough for sliding. The slides would not be ready for use yet for some time, but the climbing frame was done at least.

Prim was now in sixth grade, and she was best in class, according to what she happily told me, and I was quite proud to have such a smart girlfriend. I had also been quite good at school, but never in the very top group. I had always been a person for more practical work, and mere theory lesson about history and such did not appeal to me.

Prim՚s best friend Lizzy was among the top five at least, too. Both girls were sometimes called 'teacher's pet' or even 'nerd', but they were both popular and liked by almost everybody. Both girls, despite being very different in how they looked like – with Lizzy being tall for her age, bronze skin, grey eyes, and athletic, already showing some modest curves, and Prim petite, blond, blue eyed, and a slim tomboy body with no curves at all yet – always showed a friendly attitude, and they never tried to show off. Prim sometimes offered to sit together with other students to help them improve their understanding of specific topics, if they wanted. Rory Hawthorne came over a few times, and when he and Lizzy had been studying with Prim a few times, they found out that they got along quite nicely with each other. Soon we found Rory studying with just Lizzy in either of their homes, and this seemed to work very well for them.

Sixth grade also brought an increase in homework, and Prim told me that some other students groaned, as they needed to spend so much time on it. Most children needed to help their parents with chores at home; having the adult males spending so much time in the mines, many women were overloaded with work, taking care of household and raising children and maintaining their homes all together. I noticed once more that my own work was really great; my work hours were less than what the miners had to do, I got a higher salary, and I liked most of it. Viewed from that point of view, it was kind of unfair – why were miners getting less salary for harder work?

[Author's Notes: Valuable jobs and hard work gaining too small salaries is an issue not limited to Panem, of course, but sadly seems to happen almost everywhere in the world].