The trip to Gale's house was implemented into my routine. During the morning I would make my way through the seam, and to the front of Gale's house. It was small; the wood had become dark due to the weathering from District 12. I brought the same every day. A small basket of strawberries. Gale and I began to bond, both of us almost finding comfort with each other's company. Today I was running late. My father had kept me to talk about why I had kept these recent trips into the seam. I told him that I was helping Gale. He quietly smiled to himself and continued on with his work. The games started at 12:00 and peacekeepers were going to be hunting down anyone not in their homes or at work watching them. I decided that I would just sneak the back way. My plan would work, and my father would help me out of any problems that I would get across. Another privilege. I stood on the porch. I could hear the yelling and laughing of small children. I knocked on the door, and Gale opened it. Over the last few years he had gained height on my. His hair was a dark brown and he dressed very plainly.
"Here you go." I said handing them to him. He smiled to me, and Posy made her way to the door. Her dark hair and brown eyes gleamed in the morning haze.
"Hi Madge!" She said happily.
"Hello" I said meeting her at eye level. "How are you today?" I said. I enjoyed talking to the small girl. She was light hearted, and very creative. I could tell why Gale had become so protective of her.
"I'm doing great. Gale has been non-stop talking about you ever since this morning." I looked up to Gale and blood rushed to his face. "Go along now Posy, tell mother that the birds are in the bag by the back door." And with that she bounded away, into the small house.
"You know it's almost 12:00, those peacekeepers will be on the streets soon." Gale said. "How are you going to get home?"
"I was just planning to take the back way, hopefully none of them would be back there." I balanced my weight on one foot, and the tip of the other was pointed into the ground.
"Why don't you just spend today here?" Gale said, his voice was sad, but I knew he was trying to keep in a good mood just for me.
"Well, I don't want to bother anyon-"
"Don't worry about it, come in." He opened his stance and his arm was extended to the inside of the house. I could hear the loud footsteps of the peacekeepers as Gale pulled me into the house. I looked around, almost intrigued by the simplicity of the house. I favored it more than my own house. Something about the smaller space gave it a home feeling.
I was ushered into a hall, Gale pulled me into the kitchen and I was greeted by his mother. Hazelle Hawthorne, she was a pale women, who was thin and frail looking. She stood over the counter, Rory and Posy sat on the floor, a projection was on the wall of the Games. It was going to begin shortly.
"Hello there." Mrs. Hawthorne said. She reached her arm out, and I shook it.
"Hi, I'm Madge." I said. I tried to sound as friendly as possible but it was hard for me to be friendly.
"Oh yes, I know who you are, you're the strawberry girl." She said with a strong smile. I laughed to myself. Maybe in the eyes of these people, I have become more than just one of the privileged merch kids.
"You two go on ahead; we are going to watch them in here while I make dinner."
"Alright." Gale led me into the hall and pulled a rope that hung from the ceiling. A small rung of stairs unfolded. "Watch your step." He said as I walked into the upper attic. It was a small place, but the room had several windows, which allowed light in. A mattress lay in the corner, and a dresser lined the side of the room. The beginning intro to the Hunger Games was projected onto the wall. It showed Cesear Flickerman, giving us a preview of what happened so far. Most tributes have died. Peeta and Katniss were in a cave where they found shelter. Peeta was in grave condition, with his wounded leg. I sat on the floor cross legged, as Gale sat next to me. He smelled like the forest. Sometimes during late October, I could open my window, and the light autumn breeze would carry the smell throughout my room.
"Katniss has a pretty good chance." Gale said blankly. I looked over to him. To me this was the opposite of what I thought. Katniss was losing her grip on winning. I felt she had become so involved in Peeta and Her relationship. There were mostly hard hitters left. The careers and the boy from 10, and the girl from 5. Katniss would easily kill the girl from 5, but the 10 tribute was going to pose a challenge for her. He was bulky and massive; he could easily over power Katniss. Also, Katniss had Peeta he was immobile and required a lot of her food, and resources. Even if, she somehow makes it through all the careers, and the 10 boy, she would be left with Peeta. It was announced that there could possibly be 2 winners. I asked my father and he said it would be foolish to believe that they would actually let this pull through. It was only implied just to give the Capitol audience the best ending to the games ever. The two star cross lovers would fight to the death, or at least wait out Peeta until he dies. This would almost ensure that Katniss would win. She has no fatal injuries, other than her ear, but with her already precision hearing she would be golden. So I guess, in a way Katniss had a strong chance at winning.
We sat in silence, and watched as Katniss and Peeta repeatedly kissed each other. I could see Gale become tense every time this happened. I slowly levitated over to him, and without him know, I was sitting immediately next to him. I wondered how this would be when Katniss would arrive home, If she wins. Would Gale forget about me? Would I just become one of the girls that foolishly fell for the boy with the squirrels? I wouldn't let that happen. If it came down to it, I would deliver strawberries ten times a day just to get him to acknowledge that I was still a part of his life. Or maybe it was best if we drifted. Gale and Katniss already have a strong bond. They've spent their whole lives together. I felt like I was just thrown in the mix, and would be easily forgotten once this all ended. It didn't matter; I would never make an impression on anyone.
Through the shrouds of my thoughts Gale muttered, "He's being dead weight." I nodded my head. Peeta was, sadly, the poor boy would not be able to make it 7 feet without making noise. The anthem played and Gale leaned to the edge of his seat. The only reason the anthem would be playing at this time of day would be because of a feast. This is just what Katniss needed. We watched as the girl from 5 swiftly moved past trees, and into the edge of the cornucopia, waiting for the table to appear. She was smart. She has spent the whole games hiding, and now she's in the final 6. They cut to the careers, which listened and began preparing. Finally, they cut to Katniss, Peeta begging her not to go. Then the sponsor package came, and I was watching attentively. Katniss was in luck. One of her sponsors had sent her some type of sleeping elixir. Gale smiled,
"That's the Katniss I know." Katniss tricked Peeta into falling asleep as she made her way to the feast. We watched the 5 girl run and take her package first. Inside were food, and water. Then when Katniss made a break for it, she was attacked by the girl named Clove. My hand found the blanket we were sitting on, and I was clenching it tightly. Gale had his hand under his chin. We watched as Clove threatened to kill Katniss, and taunted her. I could see Gales face go white. Then Clove was ripped off of Katniss and killed by Thresh. Katniss grabbed the backpack, and ran back to the cave. I could hear cheering from downstairs. Gale, relieved, leaned back in his chair. His arm found its way over my shoulders. I was glad to. I exhaled with relief, and would remind myself to take something over to Prim later on today.
The mandatory screening of the games ended, and we both made our way down stairs. I could smell bread baking in the oven, and a stew on the stove.
"Would you like to join us for dinner?" Hazelle asked. Before I could respond, Gale answered for me. "Yes, I'll walk her home after." The sun was setting and the windows let in a cool breezed. I sat next to Gale on the table as I quickly ate. I ate quickly; my fingers trembled, from not realizing how long ago I had eaten. The food almost had a sort of distinct flavor in it. I preferred it better than the food that I had eaten at home. Most of our food came processed. Nothing in our house was homemade. When I looked up, all of their eyes were transfixed on me. They seemed to be surprised that I was eating the food so diligently.
"The food is a lot better than what we have at my home." I said. I tried to slow down my eating, and I finished it before anyone else. When we finished, Gale mashed the strawberries, and spread them on the left over bread. It tasted, good, except for the bitter taste of the tesserae bread. I looked to Gale, and his eyes were studying me. I turned away and I could feel the blood rush to my face.
Once we finished eating Gale walked me home. The roads were dirty and chalky, and our shoes occasionally scraped on the road. Most of the lights were on in the houses. They were filled with families, who sat in silence. I had never taken much interest in the seam. It was more different than I thought it would be. I planned to take the long way home because Gale's presence was nice to have around. When he realized this he didn't make any action to take the short way. He kicked a rock along as we walked. My heart dropped when I saw my house. I walked around to the back door, and stopped. Gale stood in front of me. I looked up to him, and hugged him. His rough shirt rubbed against my face. I looked up to him, and that was the first time I had ever kissed anyone. When we stopped, I stepped back. "Thank you, Gale" I said to him. His face was red, and he began walking back to his house. I watched as his shadow faded into the distance.
Two Years Later….
I pulled Rory and Posy to their feet. Mom was ready; she had packed enough for us to survive in the woods. I ran through the house grabbing last minute things. My heart was pounding. I ran to my mom. She had Rory and Posy in her arms.
"Alright mom, Get through the break in the fence, then run as fast as you can to the hover craft. Once you get to thirteen, just stay put. I'll try to find you as soon as I get there." She nodded, gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Hurry, kids let's go!" My only family bounded out into the darkness, and into weaved their way through the seam, and to the fence. I was already out the door, in the other direction. It was about 1 in the morning; the darkness was as thick as ink. My feet were pounding against the roads, and the wind was whistling in my ears. Victor's village was just across the way. I jumped over the fence and onto the grass, opening the door, I yelled for Prim and Mrs. Everdeen. I ran up the stairs, and into their rooms, to find them dazed on the bed.
"There's going to be a bombing we need to get out of here!" I said. Mrs. Everdeen was already to her feet, grabbing clothes and things for Prim and her. Prim raced to find buttercup but we needed to move. I grabbed her, and we were out of the house. She kicked and screamed, but I kept a steady grip. It seemed that word got around, and hundreds of people were already at the fence climbing over, and disappearing into the hovercrafts. I broke a part of the gate, and hurriedly pushed them through. Just as I was going to go through I turned around, Madge. I was running again, my breathing was heavy. I came just to the hob, when the initial bombs began to rain down. It seemed that it everything was on fire. I came to the sight of Madge's house, it was untouched by destruction. Until, a hovercraft flew by overhead, and released one over the house. It seemed that the back end of the house was demolished, the front end still standing. I ran to the front window, and kicked it open. I jumped into her room, and shook Madge. Her blonde hair was tangled and messy; smoke was beginning to fill her room, as I could see the glow of a fire erupting down the hall. She woke up in a daze, and I grabbed her hand and was running back to the window when she stopped.
"My Parents!" She yelled coughing over the smoke. Her face was filled with terror. It brought me back to the day I first saw her, she was so pure and innocent. Now after years of violence from the hunger games, she looked different now. In this moment. She looked strong.
"I'm sorry Madge! We have to go!" I yelled back. She ran to me and laid a kiss on my lips.
"I love you." She whispered in my ear.
In this moment of weakness she ripped her hand from mine, and bounded down the hall. The roof was collapsing, and I jumped outside. And like that the girl with the strawberries was gone. I turned and ran to the fence. Refusing to go back to the house, refusing to come back to 12. There were too many memories, too many for me to handle.