Grandmother passed away.
When we came home from school, we knew there was something not right. Father was in the kitchen making cheese buns. We would soon find out why he was home instead of at the bakery. On the table was a letter from Annie Odair:
Dear Peeta and Katniss,
I am sorry to write this to you, but your mother passed away last night. She had been ill for some time. We buried her in the Odair family plot. I will be sending a box with her belongings in it.
Take care, and sorry for your loss.
Annie
Grandmother Everdeen was an interesting woman. She and mother spoke on the phone weekly. She always wrote us, and remembered us on our birthdays, and sent us presents and trinkets at different times through the years. We would draw her pictures when we were younger, write her back as we got older, but we'd really only seen her once or twice. She didn't like coming to District 12, and we never travelled to District 4 to see her (actually, we've never travelled anywhere). She and mother had a tense relationship. I'm sure it goes back to Before, when her father died. But also After, when Grandmother chose to go to District 4 instead of come back to 12 to be with Mother. I can't imagine Mother leaving either my sister or me to fend for ourselves, even with someone like Haymitch to be there for us. Or, maybe I should say especially with someone like Haymitch. But that's what Grandmother did, and that stood in between Mother and Grandmother always.
When we came home, and saw father in the kitchen, we knew mother would be upstairs. I don't know if she was upset about her mother's death, really, or if it was just one more loss she had to bear. One more person who "used to be."
Isn't it funny how someone who seems barely relevant to your daily life can suddenly make everything different? Father home from the bakery in the middle of the day. Mother, upstairs and in bed, silent in her grief. My sister and I left to think about what has happened and if there was anything we could do to make it better.
We went to the woods and found them there. We dug up 2 primrose bushes, just like the others that bloom by the side of the house. We weren't sure if what we were doing would help or not, but it was all we could think of.
As we dug the holes to put the bushes in, the front door opened, and there stood mother, tears in her eyes, but a small smile on her face. She came over and held us. A silent thank you. And then we knew. It was all good.