I DO NOT OWN THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. I ALSO DO NOT OWN PURE AS THE DRIVEN SNOW. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO SUZANNE COLLINS.
Logan, West Virginia. July 4, 1996.
The town of Logan was filled with the sights and sounds of celebration. Coriolanus Snow had never seen such celebrations since the end of the District uprising when the peacekeepers had a march down the streets of the capital. According to Joshua, the 4th of July was a day to celebrate American Freedom and this particular 4th was the two hundred and twentieth anniversary of gaining that freedom from the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
While Lucy Grey Baird was delighted by the notion and eagerly joined the family in watching the local parade; something about this holiday rubbed Coryo the wrong way. It felt like something that the districts would have done if they had defeated the capital in the rebellion. Thankfully, Coryo was smart enough to know that any anti American sentiment would not go over well with the people of Logan, so he did his best to appear just as patriotic as anyone else.
The Logan parade seemed to be an annual tradition where businesses and the schools would make floats to go down the Main Street. Meanwhile, kids like Esther's age only went for the candy being thrown from certain floats. It did warm Coryo's icy heart to see Lucy Grey gleefully standing with Esther and helping her score the candy; while sneaking some pieces for herself.
After all the trauma that his song bird had gone through: the persecution of the Covey, being 2 timed by Billy Taupe, the Hunger Games, not to mention Samuel arranging her sexual assault merely to gain entrance into a college frat, she deserved as much happiness as she could get and if this problematic festival gave her any joy, Coryo wouldn't take it from her.
Samuel however, Coryo would gladly take joy away from him. In another act of terror against him, Coryo had spotted a plastic bag full of candy near a set of lawn chairs and quickly snatched it. He then placed the bag near Samuel's lawn chair and waited for it to be missed. Sure enough, a couple minutes later, the child in question started crying hard for her missing candy until she spotted the bag near Samuel's lawn chair.
"He stoles my candy, pa. He stoles it!" The girl cried as her father, a big man, saw the bag and marched up to Samuel, who had his back turned and cuffed him upside the head.
"What the Hell?" Samuel asked as the man grabbed him by the collar.
"You damn punk; stealing my lil' girl's candy!" The father said as he began smacking Samuel hard on his left ear.
"I ain't stolen nothing!" Samuel yelped as the man best his ear so bad it started to bleed.
"What the Hell you doing to my boy?" Joshua Howell asked as he came on the scene.
"You done raised a thief, My lil' girl caught him red handed stealing her candy." The father said as Joshua turned to his son with disgust.
"You dirty thief!" Mr. Howell shouted as he whipped out his belt and proceeded to wail on his boy with the buckle end.
"Please Dad, I ain't no thief!" Samuel cried out as he took the beating. Meanwhile, the people gathered around and cursed at Samuel for literally stealing candy from a child. Lucy Grey turned away and buried her face in Coryo's chest.
"Why is Samuel so cruel?" She asked with heartache as Coryo held his songbird close and kissed her forehead.
"I don't know." He answered as he made sure Lucy Gray didn't see him smile as he watched Samuel's suffering.
Eldridge Estate. Logan, West Virginia. Later that afternoon.
After the parade, Enoch Eldridge announced that he was hosting a barbecue at his estate so that people could also watch the fireworks show that night. Ruth decided to go home with Samuel so that she could tend to his wounds, while the rest of the family went to the barbecue. Coryo was overjoyed by all the food they had for the taking. Ever since his paste eating days, Coryo never failed to find the joy in having more food than he could eat. To him, a full belly was a sure sign of success.
As he, Lucy Gray, and the rest of the Howells chowed down on ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, the group that was playing live music decided to take a break.
"Lucy Gray, you should sing, they ain't as good as you." Esther insisted eagerly.
"I dunno sugar, I don't wanna impose." Lucy Gray replied as Coryo took her hand.
"She's right Lucy Gray, no one has a more beautiful voice than you do." He insisted as his songbird blushed bright red as he waved Enoch over.
"Howdy Howells." Enoch said with a tip of his hat.
"Enoch, we was wondering if Lucy Gray could get on up and sing a little, she's real good." Joshua inquired.
"Sure, people love live entertainers." Enoch said as Coryo quickly went and got an acoustic guitar left by the group.
"What song will you sing?" Coryo asked as Lucy Gray took the guitar and kissed him.
"Your favorite." She replied with a wink as she got up on the makeshift stage.
"Hello Logan, my friends call me Lucy Gray, I hope you will too!" She spoke into the mic as some people applauded. "I was asked to come up here and sing a song. So, I wrote this one for my beautiful capital boy and the love of my life."
Everyone's born as clean as a whistle, as fresh as a daisy and not a bit crazy
Staying that way is a hard row for hoeing, as rough as a briar, like walkin' through fire
This world, it's dark, this world, it's scary, I've taken some hits so no wonder I'm wary
It's why I need you, You're as pure as the driven snow
As Coryo listened to the song she wrote for him, it was rather bittersweet. She loved him and she thought that he was a good man, but he was anything but.
Everyone wants to be like a hero, the cake with the cream or the doer not dreamer
Well, doing's hard work, but it takes some to change things. Like goat's milk to butter, like ice blocks to water
This world goes blind when children are dying, I turn into dust, but you never stop trying
It's why I love you. You're pure as the driven snow
Coryo knew that he was evil; that was just the truth of it. He just made sure that Lucy Gray only saw the parts he and she wanted to see.
Cold and clean, Swirling over my skin
You cloak me, you soak right in down to my heart
Coryo could see everyone falling in love with the voice of his songbird; especially the young men. He couldn't help but smirk at them. They could undress her with their eyes all they wanted, but her body belonged to him; Laurel Simms had learned that lesson the hard way.
Everyone thinks they know all about me, they slap me with labels and spit out their fables
You came along and you knew it was lyin', You saw the ideal me and, yes, that's the real me
Coryo had seen the real her and loved all of her perfect imperfections. He felt only a twinge of fear that she could never see the real him. He refused to roll the dice in case she was horrified by his ugly soul.
This world, it's cruel with troubles aplenty. You asked for a reason, I've got three and twenty
For why I trust you, you're pure as the driven snow
Lucy Gray locked eyes with Coryo at the end of the song as everyone clapped wildly. He knew that it was her ultimate declaration of love, because she valued trust even more.
It's why I trust you..You're pure as the driven snow
REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.