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p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"br /spanspan style="color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"The history books at school say that district 12 and the arenas are about a three hour time difference. I never understood what that meant, and I don't really care. If in district 12 it really is 3 hours ahead of us here, well then she should already be awake. It's probably 4 a.m. here according to the moon, so it's 7 a.m. there. Right now, Katniss and I would both be awake and already ready for school. I would be getting ready to milk Lady and Katniss would have been setting out our breakfast. I'm sure that with me in the Games though, she is watching. Forgetting about the regular chores and watching me on the old projector that only plays when it wants to. At school, Katniss may be excused at any time to watch the games, so I'm sure she is taking advantage of that. I watch Peeta for another minute, he whispers Katniss in his sleep 2 more times before I go down to Rue's branch. She is awake and I slide over to her leg. The cast is doing its job, and her head and arm look better. I add more green mix to her arm though. Afraid she might get another infection, and apply a coat to her head as well. "Have you slept Rue?" I ask her. She gives her head a slight shake indicating she hasn't. "Well, I'm fully awake now. Why don't you rest?" I say, giving her a pillow. She looks me in the eyes and says, "Prim, you have been so nice since you got here. Thank you. And, I hope to use the crutches later. To help pull my weight around her." She tells me. "No, take all the time you need. I want to make sure you are completely okay before you do anything. I do want you to use the crutches and make sure they work, but I want you to get right back up her out of danger." She sits up more and says to me, "Out of danger? Prim, this is the Hunger Games. We are always in danger." She gives a slight laugh, "Do you actually think we are safe here though?" I know we aren't safe here. Not at all. "Well, no. But we have to try to be as safe as possible. With the resources we have, this is the safest we can be." I tell her. She just nods her head. We sit in silence for a few minutes, until she breaks it. "Do you have a district token Prim?" I wonder if she is asking because she may not have one. "Yes, I do. Would you like to see?" I ask. She nods and I give her the night glasses. I pull off my bracelet and give it to her. She looks it over and smiles. "Have you noticed this bird before?" I take my bracelet and I hold a tiny figure in between my fingers. "No, I haven't. Do you know what kind it is?" I ask her. She seemed to have recognized it. "Yes, I do. It's a mockingjay." She tells me. A mockingjay. I have heard of them before. During the war, the Capitol created mutations called Jabberjays. They designed them to listen and record whole human conversations. The Capitol sent them around areas where the rebel's bases were. They would record all the conversations and send them back to the Capitol. Well, the rebels soon figured out what had happened. They would feed the Jabberjays lies and the Capitol were the ones being made fun of then. The sent the birds to die off in the wild, but instead, they mated with mockingbirds. It created a whole new species. The new birds, mockingjay, can sing whole songs, or just a few notes. Katniss said, when she would go in the woods with my father, all the birds would trip over themselves to hear him sing. Eager to repeat it. I ask Rue, "Do you have these birds in your district?" She nods her head. "I'm one of the fruit pickers. I can climb up really high in the trees and pick. I see a lot of mockingjays up there. I actually use them as a tool." She tells me. Confused, I ask "How do you use them as a tool? You pick fruit. How do they help with that?" She smiles and responds, "Well, at the end of the day, I'm usually the highest in the trees. I see the clock on the Justice Building before anyone else. When it is time to go home, I do a four note whistle. The mockingjays carry it through the trees and that's when people know it's time to go home. It goes like this." She says and whistles four notes that sound like they echo off the trees. I realize the mockingjays are awake and singing Rue's whistle back to her. "Wow, that's beautiful." I tell her. She smiles and says, "Thank you. Is it okay if I go to sleep for the last few hours before the sun rises?" She asks me. "Of course. Here, take this pillow." I hand her the only one we have left. "I'm going to go back up to Peeta's branch. See you soon." I tell her and climb up to Peeta, who is asleep still. I grab my sleeping bag and curl up. Before I drift off, I hear him whisper Katniss one more time. /span/p
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p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"br /spanspan style="color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"The history books at school say that district 12 and the arenas are about a three hour time difference. I never understood what that meant, and I don't really care. If in district 12 it really is 3 hours ahead of us here, well then she should already be awake. It's probably 4 a.m. here according to the moon, so it's 7 a.m. there. Right now, Katniss and I would both be awake and already ready for school. I would be getting ready to milk Lady and Katniss would have been setting out our breakfast. I'm sure that with me in the Games though, she is watching. Forgetting about the regular chores and watching me on the old projector that only plays when it wants to. At school, Katniss may be excused at any time to watch the games, so I'm sure she is taking advantage of that. I watch Peeta for another minute, he whispers Katniss in his sleep 2 more times before I go down to Rue's branch. She is awake and I slide over to her leg. The cast is doing its job, and her head and arm look better. I add more green mix to her arm though. Afraid she might get another infection, and apply a coat to her head as well. "Have you slept Rue?" I ask her. She gives her head a slight shake indicating she hasn't. "Well, I'm fully awake now. Why don't you rest?" I say, giving her a pillow. She looks me in the eyes and says, "Prim, you have been so nice since you got here. Thank you. And, I hope to use the crutches later. To help pull my weight around her." She tells me. "No, take all the time you need. I want to make sure you are completely okay before you do anything. I do want you to use the crutches and make sure they work, but I want you to get right back up her out of danger." She sits up more and says to me, "Out of danger? Prim, this is the Hunger Games. We are always in danger." She gives a slight laugh, "Do you actually think we are safe here though?" I know we aren't safe here. Not at all. "Well, no. But we have to try to be as safe as possible. With the resources we have, this is the safest we can be." I tell her. She just nods her head. We sit in silence for a few minutes, until she breaks it. "Do you have a district token Prim?" I wonder if she is asking because she may not have one. "Yes, I do. Would you like to see?" I ask. She nods and I give her the night glasses. I pull off my bracelet and give it to her. She looks it over and smiles. "Have you noticed this bird before?" I take my bracelet and I hold a tiny figure in between my fingers. "No, I haven't. Do you know what kind it is?" I ask her. She seemed to have recognized it. "Yes, I do. It's a mockingjay." She tells me. A mockingjay. I have heard of them before. During the war, the Capitol created mutations called Jabberjays. They designed them to listen and record whole human conversations. The Capitol sent them around areas where the rebel's bases were. They would record all the conversations and send them back to the Capitol. Well, the rebels soon figured out what had happened. They would feed the Jabberjays lies and the Capitol were the ones being made fun of then. The sent the birds to die off in the wild, but instead, they mated with mockingbirds. It created a whole new species. The new birds, mockingjay, can sing whole songs, or just a few notes. Katniss said, when she would go in the woods with my father, all the birds would trip over themselves to hear him sing. Eager to repeat it. I ask Rue, "Do you have these birds in your district?" She nods her head. "I'm one of the fruit pickers. I can climb up really high in the trees and pick. I see a lot of mockingjays up there. I actually use them as a tool." She tells me. Confused, I ask "How do you use them as a tool? You pick fruit. How do they help with that?" She smiles and responds, "Well, at the end of the day, I'm usually the highest in the trees. I see the clock on the Justice Building before anyone else. When it is time to go home, I do a four note whistle. The mockingjays carry it through the trees and that's when people know it's time to go home. It goes like this." She says and whistles four notes that sound like they echo off the trees. I realize the mockingjays are awake and singing Rue's whistle back to her. "Wow, that's beautiful." I tell her. She smiles and says, "Thank you. Is it okay if I go to sleep for the last few hours before the sun rises?" She asks me. "Of course. Here, take this pillow." I hand her the only one we have left. "I'm going to go back up to Peeta's branch. See you soon." I tell her and climb up to Peeta, who is asleep still. I grab my sleeping bag and curl up. Before I drift off, I hear him whisper Katniss one more time. /span/p
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