[I still remember the look on your face
Lit through the darkness at 1:58
The words that you whispered for just us to know
You told me you loved me
So why did you go away?]
Alder Locke, District 7 Citizen
The grief had been crushing, to say the absolute least. To say the least, he hadn't gotten out of bed for nine days. To say the least, the grief of losing his child sliced Alder's heart in half, a cruel pair of Capitol hands clasped around the knife.
Alder thought back to the day of the reaping. The sky was bright blue, and the sun was shining, without a cloud in sight. The sky didn't know what was happening that day. It didn't know that two children would be taken from their parents and killed. The sky had no idea, and Alder was jealous. He was so, so, jealous.
He remembered how his whole body shook as a delicate hand reached into the bowl containing thousands of slips of paper, and how that hand chose the one containing his daughter's name. Alder remembered how the wicked man announced Juniper's name, with a pretentious accent and a grin on his face. He remembered Juniper's sobs, how she almost tripped while climbing the stairs to the stage.
He remembered screaming his throat raw. How the other parents looked at him with pity, a few resting their hands on his shoulder. He remembered the look of pure terror on her face as she shook her district partner's hand. Alder remembered the last time they spoke, guarded by Peacekeepers. How neither of them could stop crying. Alder remembered the embrace, and how he had clung to Juniper's dress. He was trying to get her to stay, even though the rational side of him knew she couldn't. Knew it wasn't possible. Alder remembered how the peacekeeper had forced them apart, how he had grabbed Juniper's arm and pulled, driving her away from him.
Alder remembered watching the Games. He remembered the panicked look on Juniper's face as she ran from the bloodbath, from the other children trying to kill her. Juniper was one of the youngest in the Games this year. She was barely fifteen.
And the worst part was that Juniper didn't die.
Alder remembered watching Juniper plunge the knife into the boy's heart. He remembered being in the town square, his jaw dropping in horror as Juniper's spear sunk into another girl's head. How Juniper killed, again and again, until she was the only one standing.
Alder remembered the cheers all around him. He remembered people bumping into him, offering to buy him a drink. But most of all, Alder remembered the confusion. He didn't understand where his Juniper had gone. Alder remembered comforting Juniper as a newborn. He remembered holding her hand as he led her into her first day of school. He remembered watching her grow up and try new things. He remembered her bubbly laugh, her bright smile. He didn't remember the side of her that could do this. The side that could kill and walk away like it was nothing.
When Juniper returned, things were unchangeably different. She still laughed. She still smiled. She still rambled about her favorite things and cooked delicious dinners. She was the same. But nonetheless, there was a gleam behind her eyes that rooted itself in Alder's mind for the worse.
"Dad?" The delicate voice shook Alder awake, his eyes opening with a start. In front of him stood Juniper, standing in the softest pajamas District 7 had to offer.
"What's wrong, honey?" He asked, scooting over and patting the space next to him in his bed. He watched as Junie climbed into the bed, and a sharp memory flooded his brain. Juniper looked just like her mother. Paige. Alder thought about her everyday. He thought about their late August wedding, how much Paige's mother had hated him. A sad smile formed on Alder's face at the memory of her.
"I just," Juniper's hesitant voice brought Alder back. She was nervously playing with the hem of her shirt. "I can't sleep," She said, rolling over from her back onto her side to face Alder. He nodded.
"I understand. With all you've been through-" Alder cut himself off. Going down that path would help no one. Bringing up the Games wasn't what Junie needed right now. "I understand." He repeated, reaching out and gently rubbing Juniper's arm, offering a comforting touch.
"Can I tell you something?" Juniper whispered, even though there was no reason to be quiet at that point. They were the only two in the house, after all. Alder nodded, staring into his daughter's dark brown eyes.
"Anything," He whispered back.
"When I was," She paused, and Alder pretended he didn't hear how her breath caught in her throat. "When I was in there, it didn't feel," She closed her eyes and moved her arm then, pulling away from Alder's touch. "It didn't feel wrong." Alder felt his stomach drop what felt like four stories down, felt his eyes widen and his heart stop. He wanted to scream then, wanted to cry and howl and flail his limbs around like a toddler. He didn't.
"Okay," He said instead, willing his heartbeat to go back to normal. Even though he knew that nothing would ever be normal again. "That's what…" He wasn't sure what to say, what he could possibly tell her to make it seem like that- like that was fine. "That's what the Capitol does." There. That sounded good, sounded promising. It was true, at least.
"I love you, Dad." When Junie had said those four words, her voice barely above a whisper, Alder almost broke down. Alder said the words back, but they left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Juniper rolled back onto her back, a loud sigh escaping her lips. Alder did the same, staring at the ceiling, trying to make characters out of the shapes on it. It was going to be okay, it was going to be fine. As much as Alder wanted to believe the words he was repeating in his head, he didn't. Not a single morsel of his body believed them.
hey guys! it's good to be back on the site! as i've been getting back into my hunger games era, i've been enjoying SYOTs again! and i was thinking that it was definitely time to write my own and try not to immediately fail like the last two! the prologues i'm writing are pretty much just for fun, to give you a taste of what my writing is like before you submit a tribute. i'll also be attaching song lyrics to the chapters because i'm a teenage girl and it's cute and fun! more information will be on my profile! (also thank you to taylor swift for writing the lyrics at the top of this chapter!) (most of the lyrics are gonna be by miss taylor swift)
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