Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I just like to torture the characters.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
I forced myself to ignore the wretched sound, forced myself to focus on dinner.
"And then, and then I jumped in and I could do it, Daddy!" My daughter was happily retelling the tale of her swimming lessons that she was taking at school. She had originally been telling both of us, but since I had not responded at all to her exciting story, she had turned her full attention to Peeta.
"Wow! You'll have to show me soon. Maybe we can all go to the lake together after school tomorrow." Peeta showed the appropriate amount of enthusiasm. Our daughter was delighted.
"Yeah! Mommy, will you come with us to the lake tomorrow?"
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
"Mommy?" My eyes flashed to my daughter's timid face, but didn't reply. That sound was the only thing I could hear in my head.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
"I wanna learn how to do swimming!" My son piped up in his childish voice.
"You want to learn how to swim." Peeta corrected, "And you will, when you get a little older. But you and I can play in the shallows, right?"
My son grinned happily.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
I could feel Peeta's leg pushing against mine gently, a silent anchor to the here and now. I tried. I tried really hard to focus on the lovely dinner of fresh venison, cheese buns, and wild greens. I tried to force myself to look at my children's beautiful faces, to return the pressure of Peeta's leg against my own.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
"Maybe we can take a picnic! I love picnics."
"Yeah, I think that would be a lot of fun!" Peeta's enthusiasm is a bit more forced and I could feel his eyes on my face, but continued to stare down at my plate.
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
"Can Netty come too?"
"Why don't we make it just us, sweetie?"
The clock struck one
Down the mouse run
"Eat your greens."
"But I don't like them!"
"Don't you want to grow big and strong?"
Hickory dickory dock
"Stop it!" I felt my whole body go rigid as I slammed my fist into the table.
Silence followed my outburst and I looked into the frightened faces of my children, the concerned and alarmed face of my husband.
"Katniss?"
"Stop singing the song."
Hesitation.
"No one was singing, Katniss."
His hand reached for mine, but I pulled back, guilty at ruining the pleasant evening. I tried to recover what I could of it.
"Maybe we can pick some berries for our picnic tomorrow. What do you think?" I asked, my voice shaky.
My forgiving children melted easily back into contentment as they responded excitedly to my berry picking idea. Peeta, however, was unconvinced and continued to shoot me worried glances as I took tentative bites of my meal.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
"I can go hunting tomorrow morning. Maybe get something fresh for our picnic?" I murmured to Peeta, continuing to attempt to salvage our dinner.
"That's a good idea." He murmured back, offering me a small smile.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
The sound was inescapable and bounced around inside my skull, making me crazy.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
No, I could not have a pleasant evening with my family with that noise.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
I forced my chair backwards away from the table and walked out of the room, searching for something. There was silence behind me except for that incessant noise.
Walking back into the room, I went straight for the clock on the wall and swung the hammer I had found into the face, shattering the glass with a resounding crash. Once, twice, three times.
My children were screaming for me, crying. I could hear Peeta trying to sooth them as he ushered them from the room, but I couldn't hear what he was saying exactly.
All I could hear was that noise.
I dropped the hammer and wrenched the clock from the wall, slicing my hands on the broken shards in the process. I ripped out a part that looked important from the back of the clock and dropped it to the floor.
The room was silent.
Peeta's arms guided me gently to a seat as he carefully placed a cloth around my bleeding hands. Then he was on the phone, speaking silently, and the next thing I knew there was someone at the door and hurrying upstairs to check the kids.
Peeta returned and I looked into his eyes,
"No more clocks." I whispered, my voice cracking.
"No more clocks." He agreed.
A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed. I also apologize for the wonky change in tense in the first chapter. I wrote this story a looonnngg time ago, and just recently dug it up. I guess I was so excited to post it, that I didn't do a very good job of proofing. I may fix it in the future, but for now, I'll just try to make sure the rest of the chapters are up to scratch
Also, this story was originally only from Katniss' perspective, but I felt like I was missing out on some good stories from Peeta. I went back and wrote a couple centered on him, which is why it switches from first person to third when switching between the two.