A Flower's Observations
By
Snuffles4Eva
A/N: Here's another chapter, if you wanted it.
Disclaimer: Yep, 'cos I'm definitely Suzanne Collins.
…
Being slapped awake by Sime isn't really that pleasant. But when I realised what had happened, all I wanted was to fade into that blackness once again. At least the blackness didn't want to kill me.
But I have to get up as Sime pulls me, and I walk, like a robot towards Effie Trinket and her podium, bile rising in my throat. I hear the crowd murmuring, but no-one steps forward. My hands ball up as I'm determined not to cry, and I can only dream about what I must look like. My blouse has un-tucked itself, but that's not the reason why a painful shiver wracks my body, as I can feel heat, mingled with hope, escaping my small form.
That's when I hear it. 'Prim!' A strangled cry snaps my head back towards the crowd, searching for the speaker. I know who it is, but I can't bear it to be true. 'Prim!' there is a shout again, and I can see there is a ruckus being created in the crowd. Straining to see where she is, I can feel my face scrunched up in a mix of emotions; Love, Worry, Desperation – Sadness. Why did this have to be me? Why did it have to involve – Katniss. There she was, the crowd parting for her, running towards me. She grabs my arm, and forces me behind her, before I hear her sign her life away.
'I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!'
It's a good as a death sentence.
…
I've always wondered what it was like to be on Death Row. I got close to it today. I can only imagine what Katniss is thinking now. But I know what it's like to be saved. Katniss just sacrificed her life so that I could stay here, safe in District 12. I don't know how to process that.
…
Effie's doll face suddenly scrunches up, and it appears like she is thinking. At any other time I probably would've found this comical, but now I hated her beyond belief. I hated her, I hated the Capitol, I hated the President, and, most of all, I hated the Huger Games. They would take my sister away from me; Yet not only would they my sister from me, they would take my mother's daughter from her. Our food supplier from us. Our life support from us. How were we to survive?
The Hunger Games had not only as good as killed her; it had also as good as killed us.
And the people at the Capitol thought this was entertainment? I would like to say I was nauseous, but I wasn't. I was so disgusted, I felt sick, and my world spun.
Katniss began to move away from me. Terror gripped me, as my brain registered she was moving towards certain death. My arms wrapped around her in a vice grip, and I started screaming in horror.
'No, Katniss! No! You can't go!' I wailed, unashamed, crying in front of the whole of District 12. 'Prim, let go' she commanded, and I have never heard her speak to me like that. She used a harsh and unfeeling tone. I knew this wasn't her, so I didn't let go. I would never let go.
I faintly recall her commanding me to 'Let go' once again, before my misery overtook my brain, and I flat out sobbed, still clinging to her back. I remember being torn off of her, and hearing Gale's voice: 'Up you go, Catnip'. It was the first time that I have ever heard Gale have to fight to keep his voice steady.
Effie Trinket looks like a kid at Christmas. I must look like the child facing the Grim Reaper, as Gale carries me back to my mother, who is also crying quietly. He leaves me huddled to her, and goes back to stand in the crowd of teens, all holding their breath as they witnessed the scene. Doll-faced Effie is gushing to Katniss, sickly sweetness oozing from her aura.
'That's the spirit of the Games!' hah, hypocrite. I don't think she even knows what 'the spirit of the Games' is. If we all had it, 'the spirit of the Games', then I reckon we would've massacred one another within the space of five minutes. What does Effie Trinket know about the Games? She will have only watched them – for enjoyment. Anger flared within me as I watched Trinket gush over my sister, sadistically taking immense pleasure in the fact that she has just signed her death sentence.
'I'll bet my buttons that was your sister' Boy, we've got a smart one. I was so angry; I was starting to make fun of her. Not that she didn't deserve it.
I tuned Effie out for the rest of the time. I saw Haymitch stumble on, and congratulate Katniss, and practically insult the Capitol, but I didn't care. I watched him fall off the stage, and knock himself unconscious, and I saw Effie trying to collect herself back together, as she headed for the other ball of names. The other ball of death sentences. The one that had Gale's name in it 46 times, just waiting to be signed. But I still didn't care. I felt like the life and the energy had been sucked right out of me, like poison from a wound. The last thing I remember doing was putting my three middle fingers on my left hand to my lips, and raising them to salute Katniss. The salute I was giving my own sister was the salute that is usually seen on only one occasion: A Funeral.
….
A/N: For all those non-existent followers, here it is. And I would just like to say that, if ya gonna burn, then chuck the remainders away as well, will ya?
Snuffles4Eva