Gale

I walk up the steps to my house being careful to avoid the rotting sections. I really need to fix that, but to fix it I need to buy wood, which costs money, which I don't have.

When I open the door the wonderful smell of Ma's rabbit stew surrounds me, as do Posy and Vick. I kick my boots off, and hang my game bag. Usually by this time Posy would've launched herself into my arms, and Vick would have attached himself to my leg. But today they just give me funny looks. I'm about to ask what's wrong, when Posy giggles, "Gale you're covered in white!"

Oh yeah.. I had tried to get it off on the way home, but to no avail, the flour stuck. Well, how am I supposed to explain this?

"Yeah Gale," Vick joins in, "you're face is so white! You look like a clown! You already got the big feet, now all you need is the red nose!" He and Posy both giggle.

"Haha," Posy taunts, "Gale's a clown! Gale's a clown!"

"Oh yeah? Well, soon you two will be clowns just like me." I reach for them, slowly, to let them get a running head start. They screech and run to the living room.

"What is going on out here?" Ma says as she exits the kitchen. "Gale! What on earth is all over you?"

I'm not sure I want to tell them about Madge. I mean what is there to say really? Oh me and Madge Undersee just had little flour throwing fight, and we had a grand time laughing together. Oh, and I had a better time today with Madge then I have in, I can't even remember how long. She made me forget for a few amazing moments about Katniss, the Games, and this whole crappy world we live in. Is that what I'm supposed to say? Yeah, I don't think so.

"Oh, that. Yeah, don't worry Ma its just flour. Please, don't ask. It's a long story."

She looks at me for a second, and I can tell she wants to ask me more about it. But surprisingly, she doesn't push me to talk, "Okay then. Go wash up, and change shirts. Dinner will be ready in ten. And Vick go get your brother. He's playing with the other kids down by…"

Her voice fades away as I walk through the living room and down the hall to the bathroom. Looking at myself in the mirror, I realize what a mess I really am. Ugh. I turn on the taps, and splash my face with cold water. It feels so good, I pull off my shirt and stick my head under the faucet. The water is cool on my skin, and washes the flour down the drain.

Feeling refreshed after washing up and putting on a clean shirt, I walk out into the living room just as Vick returns with Rory.

"C'mon everyone dinners ready!"

We all herd into the kitchen grab a bowl and serve ourselves, well except Posy, Ma serves Posy. We all sit down at our rectangular table, one chair at both ends, and two chairs on each long side. Six chairs, five people. The empty chair is at the end of the table across from Ma. It's where my dad would be sitting if he were still here.

I remember the day he died like it was yesterday. It happened on a Tuesday, a Tuesday that started off like any other, but this day- Oh, this day would not be like any other.

It's the middle of math class, and the teachers droning on and on about fractions, or some shit like that. But I don't pay any attention to that, I'm looking up at the sky. It looks like it's gonna rain. I love the rain. Every time it rains, Thom, Bristel and I go to the meadow and have a huge mud throwing war. Whoever is the last to be completely covered in mud wins. Last time Bristel won, but I have a plan this time. My dad taught me how to climb a tree really fast last weekend, so I'm going to- EEEEEEE EEEEEEE EEEEEEE- we all cover our ears, but we can still hear the siren going off. The siren that goes off if something happens in the mines. The mines that my dad works in.

Oh no. Oh god, no.

My mind is in a haze. Explosion. Mine collapse. Siren. Sirens, won't stop going off. Soon, everyone is being carted off to the mines. Rory runs over to me, "Gale! Gale, what's going on? They're saying there's been an explosion at the mines! Is dad okay? Is he okay?!" Rory's crying. I can't think.

I know I should reassure him that, yes, of course Dad's okay but…"I don't know Rory. I don't know."

I hold him tight against me. When we get there Mom rushes to us, with little Vick in her arms, and her huge baby bump. The baby is due in days. Mom should be home resting. She pulls us to her.

We stay there, huddled together, waiting. We stand as more and more miners rise to the surface, every time another person steps out there's shouting and crying. More and more people are relieved. Their loved one's are safe. Not us. We stay, we wait. It started raining, I don't know when but it did. There's not many people still here, we wait.

I see another girl here, with her mom and younger sister, waiting. She looks over at me, and for a minute we don't break eye contact. She looks away, so do I. Still, we wait. They tell the rest of us, whoever we are waiting for, they're gone. We finally go home, soaked.

I wait.

I think what really got us through his death, was Posy. Posy, his last gift to us. If only he could've seen her.

"So how was everyone's day?" Ma asks this every day.

Posy starts, "Well, I helped you with the clothes, and I helped with dinner, so I had the best day!"

Then Vick, "I played outside, by the trees and I found this," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny black ball, "Watch this." He pokes it and it unrolls into a little black bug.

Posy screeches.

Ma sighs, "Vick go put that bug back outside."

"But it's mine. I found it."

"Hey Vick," I step in, "remember that time Rory brought home the squirrel he caught in the meadow?"

"Yeah.."

"And he had to put it back because it belongs outside, with it's family. Just like you belong inside with your family. And like that roly-poly belongs outside with its family."

He stands and mumbles, "Fine." He leaves to put the bug outside.

Rory smirks, "Yeah I also had to put it back, because the little shit bit me." I chuckle.

"Rory! Watch your language."

He looks down, "Sorry Ma."

Vick comes running back in hands clasped together, "Look what I just found!" He shows us what he's got in his hands- a firefly.

Ma shakes her head, "What am I gonna do with you?"

Posy yells, "Throw him out!" Vick's eyes get wide.

I laugh, "Nah," he looks relieved, "We should sell him, and get some profit."

Vick looks alarmed, "No you can't do that! I'll put it back, I swear!" He runs to the front door, and tosses it out. He comes back, "Can I please stay?"

Ma sighs, "Well, I guess, but only if you eat all your vegetables."

He starts shoveling veggies down at an alarming rate, "Whoa slow down kid, you know we aren't really gonna sell you." I reach over, and rustle his hair.

"Well, I'm not taking any chances."

We all laugh. I think of my family, I think of Rick and Sae, and then I think of Madge. Today? Today was good.

Madge

Flour, as it turns out is a lot harder to clean up than you would think, you can't just sweep it up because the broom mostly just pushes it around. Which is why I spent half an hour on my hands and knees wiping up the kitchen floor, and then another half hour taking a shower and washing my clothes. But in the end it was all worth it, because I got my strawberries. My delicious juicy strawberries.

I wash some and get a small bowl of sugar. I decide to bring it up to my mom to share. After all, my strawberry addiction most likely came from her. I remember how much fun we had together when I was a child, coming up with all kinds of recipes to try our strawberries with. Some normal like strawberry; pie, pancakes, cupcakes, jelly, lemonade, tarts, etc. Then some not-so-normal like strawberry pasta (noodles with strawberry sauce- not good), strawberry burritos (also not good), and strawberry pizza (with chocolate sauce, not tomato. It was quite delicious).

She'd put on music and we'd dance around the kitchen in our pajamas, making a huge mess with our ingredients. We would just laugh, and then make Dad try our newest invention. He always acted like it was such a hassle, but I know he loved it. And then he'd make up for it by telling us how amazing our creation was, though I'm quite sure some of them were awful. That was before Mom got sick.

Today with Gale kind of reminded me of the old days with my mom. It was nice.

I lightly knock, just incase she's already asleep. I hear a quiet "Come in." I open the door.

She looks awful. Just a shadow of the beautiful woman she once was. Her twin sister, Maysilee, was killed in the 50th Hunger Games. She got really messed up after that, but she picked herself up, fell in love with my dad, got married, and had me. She had some bad days sometimes, where she'd stay locked up in her room all day, shades drawn, and she'd sometimes cry. But most of the time she was just my mom, and she'd teach me to play the piano, we'd play hide and go seek in the garden, we'd braid each other's hair and do our recipes. Until, the occasional bad day, became the occasional good day, which became the occasional good couple of hours.

I wasn't supposed to, but on one of her bad days while my dad was at work, and Viv was making lunch, I snuck into her room. I was only five, but I still remember every detail; the smell of the hotdish Viv was making, the worn overalls and red t-shirt I wore, the way the floorboards creaked as I made my way towards her. I climbed up onto the bed, expecting my mother to see me and I could make her happy. Maybe we'd go downstairs and make one of our strawberry pies. "Hi Mommy!" She didn't even see me, she was practically catatonic, she just lied there staring at the same spot on the wall. I shook her arm, "Mommy?" She didn't even blink. I shook her shoulders, "Mommy look at me." I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and I didn't want to get in trouble, so I bolted. I closed the door just as Viv reached the landing. "There you are Madge! Lunch is ready go wash up."

I shake off the memory, and cross the room to her bedside. "Look Mom I've got strawberries, and sugar!"

"Mmm, strawberries. How did you know I was craving some?" It looks like she's having a good hour.

"I had a feeling."

"Was that Gale I saw leaving?" she gestures toward her window, which happens to have a perfect view of the path leading towards our backyard.

"Oh, yeah. He was just bringing these," I dip a strawberry into the sugar and take a big bite. Yumm.

"And what was all over him when he left? It wasn't there when he got here. And he was here for quite some time." She raises her eyebrow suggestively, and takes a bite of a strawberry.

I shake my head, "Mom, come on. We're talking about Gale here. And that was just flour on him."

"Oh, of course! Flour, because people often leave our house covered in flour. " She gives me a look.

"Yeah well.." I trail off not exactly sure what to say.

"And how long does it take to pay him?" She pokes my side, making me squirm. "You must have had a really hard time counting those coins."

I don't say anything.

"You know I have ways of making you tell me." She raises her hands and wiggles her fingers.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would" She pulls me onto her lap and attacks me with her tickles. She knows my most ticklish places and she's relentless. She's so weak, I could easily break away from her, but we don't get moments like these very often anymore. We're both laughing hysterically.

"Stop, stop!"

She keeps tickling me, "Only if you tell me!"

"Okay, okay fine!" she stops, and I scoot over to lie beside her. "I was getting his money from the pantry, and the flour got knocked over, and got on us…"

"Ah, I see. So, that's what all the laughing was about downstairs?"

"And we might've had a little flour war.. Wait. How did you hear even hear that?" Her room is completely soundproof, so that we don't disturb her during one of her migraines.

She pauses, and apparently can't come up with a good enough excuse, "Well, I might've noticed that he had been here for quite a while, so I, out of pure motherly concern for my daughter, decided to investigate. When I opened the door, I heard you two laughing, quite loudly, and so because of the lack of screaming terror, I concluded that you were fine and went back to bed."

"Whatever Mom, you were so eavesdropping."

"I would never do such a thing. But if I had, I might comment on how adorable you two are together." She gives me a smirk.

I scoff at that, "And I'd have to say how ridiculously wrong you are. Gale and I are not, and will never be 'together'. That's just crazy, we're not even friends. And I'm pretty sure he hates me. And I don't even think of him like that."

She lovingly pats my hand, "Of course honey. But then why are you blushing so much?"

My hands fly to my cheeks, "I am not!" I am.

She laughs, "Okay, okay. But from what I saw he most definitely doesn't hate you."

"Whatever you say Mom.."

She puts one arm around me, and with the other grabs the strawberries from the bedside table, "Now lets finish these while we watch a movie."

I wonder how many more good days she has left. I snuggle closer, and reach for a strawberry, "Sure, what movie?"

AN: So you got to see them interact a bit with their families. How was it? :D