A/N I'm sorry it took so long to update,
But I had a severe case of writersblock on this fic, which caused me togo crazy on my other one! I promise more frequent updates!
8.
It's the first day of the Games, and I'm holding my father's hand while sitting in front of the television, tensed. We are counting the 60 seconds down, and I'm holding my breath, not daring to blink, afraid I'll miss her. I'll miss Katniss. I can spot her easily and have my eyes fixated on her. 10.. 9.. My father's hand must be numb by now, 7.. 5.. I'm clenching my teeth and scratching the insides of my other hand, 3.. 2.. 1.. And the zoom goes.
I gasp as she launches herself forward to an orange backpack and squeal when she almost gets hit by the knife of Districts 2 girl. She runs away in to the woods and I exhale and inhale. She is safe. She is away from the bloodbath. ''Madge, my hand,'' my father reminds me.
I quickly let go and excuse myself, before running off.
I roam the streets, and go looking for Gale. But he is nowhere to be found. I decide there is only on place he can be. I enter the woods through the weak spot in the fence, and walk to the place Katniss told me she always met Gale. I feel scared, with no one by my side to protect me, and jump every time I hear a howl. When I finally reach the rock ledge, I see I was right. He sits there with his back turned to me. Without saying a word I sit down next to him. ''Is she..?'' he asks, not looking at me. ''She is alive,'' I respond, neither looking away. I see him nod out of the corner of my eye. ''Of course she is,'' he mumbles.
''Do you think she can win this?'' I ask him. ''Absolutely,'' he says without hesitation.
I sigh and clasp my hands together, trembling. ''I'm scared,'' I admit quietly. His head drops down. ''Me too.''
And so we sit like this, for another hour, until I can't fight it anymore. I need to know how Katniss is doing. I quickly make my way out, entering the square where we can watch on a giant screen.
When they focus on Katniss, I notice something is wrong. She is desperately looking for something. Water. ''No..'' I whisper. She can't die from dehydration. She has to find that water. I mutter in desperation, small encouraging words, even though those words will never reach her. Maybe she won't even be able to hear my voice ever again if she doesn't find that water.
I stay there, in the square, watching her every move, scratching my arms and hands to bleed. Suddenly someone lays its hand on my shoulder. I jerk around to see who it is. I look right into Gale's face. ''It's nearly 9, you should go home,'' he tells me. I shake my head, but he doesn't even let me say why I don't want to go home. Instead he picks me up and carries me to my house. We say goodbye and I run upstairs, not bothering to undress or wash myself. Shivering I step in bed, hoping sleep will come soon.
And it does. Only not the way I wanted it to.
My dreams are haunted and horrible. I find myself wandering around in the forest, holding Katniss her bow and arrows. I look at it questioningly, when suddenly Peeta comes crashing through the bushes, spear in hand. I position an arrow and let it go, but in mid-air it bursts into flames. It is just about to hit Peeta when Katniss suddenly jumps in front of him. I inhale sharply as the flames engulf Katniss. ''NO!'' I yell at her screaming and ashening body.
She.. she just sacrificed herself for Peeta. This can't be happening. Peeta steps over her blackened body and stands before me, just an inch away, whispering; ''The girl on fire doesn't love you, Madge. She loves me. Katniss would never choose beauty over life,'' and then he impales me with his spear, only it doesn't hurt like I expected it to do. No. It starts burning, and when I look down I see it's not blood seeping out, reddening my white dress. I notice it's the same white dress as on the reaping. No, flames are engulfing me from the inside, eating me. I cry, scream, watching myself burn to death. When I lay down on the ground, silently sobbing as life seeps out of me, I see I'm staring in Katniss her dead eyes.
''He is right,'' she speaks to me in a clear voice.
I wake up in a pool of sweat, though I don't know if my cheeks are wet from tears or sweat. I look outside and see I actually slept through the whole night. I dress myself, slowly, when I look at my scratching wounds. They look ugly. But on the other hand, I also feel ugly. When I go outside, the screen is already on. When I see Katniss finally found water, I want to feel happy and glad, but all I feel is the burning sensation my dream left. The girl on fire left her mark.
I turn around and go to the meadow, plunging down on the soft grass. I pull some daisies from the ground and start to make daisy chain, as my mother once taught me. An hour later she was back in bed, knocked out by morph-ling. I think back to the dream, about what Peeta said. ''Katniss would never choose beauty over life''. And I know what he means. My pin is the beauty, his bread is life. He probably is right, because that is just how Katniss her mind works.
When I've finished it, I decide to make another few, when I get an idea. I quickly collect Prim and take her to the meadow. I know this was a good idea, because her wary look slowly comes off as we start working on our daisy chans.
''She's still alive,'' Prim suddenly says softly. I nod and give her a reassuring smile. ''Of course she is,'' I say. Prim now smiles too, if only it is a little. But it's okay. If only I get Prim to smile, to live, Katniss her fire in life, I feel happy about it. I know how much Katniss cares about her, and if I get Prim to live, maybe if Katniss survives the Arena, she'll get to live too, and not end up like Haymitch. Even if I don't get to be a part of that life.