Wings of Fire, Novel by Madge Undersee
Teenage Author from District 12 presents a stark and harrowing examination of the impact that 75 years of Games have brought to Panem. The honest narrative brings to life an ordinary girl Julia Wentworth and seeks to cast aside the divide that exists between Districts and Capitol. Focusing on the human nature that lies beneath our shared pursuit of meaning behind the spectacle of madness. Madge Undersee's debut literary outing is rife with flowery prose and pulls no punches in her language. Fans of Katniss Everdeen's rise to prominence will see parallels between her story, meant to be told from the unadulterated viewpoint of a District Citizen.
"...Gripping, start to finish - tragedy and truth laid bare in the span of a single book…" -Plutarch Heavensbee, Secretary of Communications.
Katniss Everdeen
It was hard not to feel the swell of pride in her chest when Katniss sauntered into the community hall. A stand-up banner had been set up outside. Book Launch: Madge Undersee's Wings of Fire. First Novel of Panem's new age. Admittedly, it'd been a little smaller than she expected. A few dozen members of Panem's leading intelligentsia. She'd been told some of them had just been released from prison, having languished there during Snow's regime due to sedition or running afoul of speech laws. There were others too: Capitolites who'd always harbored leftist views but never found the courage to speak for the Districts. Literary scholars and professors looking for a new lease of creativity in the arts. As well as bookworms just plain curious to see an actual book written by a District girl. Perhaps they'd imagined it'd be full of gibberish. Slander and misinformation.
One listen to Madge's voice from the podium would correct their misconceptions. She was reading a section of the book detailing Julia's encounter with the Mutts.
"...the thread of her resolve frayed in the face of their milky, whitened eyes. Darkness lit them like stars in the night sky. In her youth she'd lain on her rooftop and counted them with her sister. Pondering how far off they were and how fiercely they burned. Now there were a dozen of them. A hundred yards away. And the fire burned hot in her chest as they leapt towards her quivering spear. The last ticket up her sleeve that'd bring her home-"
The audience appeared enraptured by Madge's voice. The glasses she wore made her look a decade older. Legs crossed primly as she relaxed in an armchair and allowed the words to roll right off her lips. Beneath the hall lights Madge's golden hair glowed like starfire. It'd been only a matter of minutes listening to Madge field various questions before she found herself slipping back into her memories of those nights where she'd trail her fingers along her skirts and force herself not to venture further.
A rather pointed question stirred through the hypnotic daze Madge left her in.
"...perhaps the most heartbreaking storyline in this book surrounds Julia and Adeline - and you've managed to get the reader invested in them right from the first chapter. However, you've refrained from explicitly defining their relationship. We never see them described as friends by any of their families. Nor do they behave exactly like friends. Unfortunately, the Capitol knows that Adeline is enough of a loved one to use against Julia. Why have you placed them in such an undefined light?"
Katniss's heart sank. Undefined light. You mean like what we had together? The turmoil roiled within herself and she half-expected Madge to launch into a diatribe about how there was a girl she once loved and abandoned her and left her in a well of lost memories. She held her breath as Madge picked up the microphone.
"In all honesty, I intended for Adeline to be a placeholder for the loved ones that Districtfolk carry in our hearts. Perhaps it's easy to see a single child dying in the games and not see the friends and family watching them from behind a television. I don't think anyone's going to know about the empty place at the dinner table where they once sat. Forever destined to sit vacant because someone didn't make it home from the games. I struggled a bit with if I should've killed off Adeline outright…"
An audible gasp erupted around the room.
"...but at the same time I intended for her to carry forward the message that people are genuinely changed by their trauma and experiences. Even if they do come back from their hurts and destruction, you're never getting back the same person. This is where true love is tested. For each other. That's a more powerful message than if Adeline had been reduced to a grave that Julia laid flowers on every year."
Katniss sucked in a deep breath. A tear trailed down her cheek and seeped into her wide-open mouth. Face going sheet-white when Madge stared directly at her. A harsh glare that cut through the thick crowd and sliced directly into her soul. Two girls forever changed by violence and grief. Two gravestones: Madge's literal one in District 12, and Katniss's in the hollow recesses of Madge's memory. In the space of a few seconds where their eyes met, a library of emotions swam around Katniss's head and came crashing down. Guilt, grief, emptiness and that still foamy surge of hope that she shoved down with all her might. She's not the Madge you used to know. Would the old Madge sit in a town hall and field questions with so much suave and confidence and light-hearted humour? Would the old Madge pause before speaking, eyes wandering to the ceiling - considering her words carefully? Yet she carried the same prim poise, spoke with that voice she could lose herself in. Above all, stood unfazed by anything, anyone - like she'd take on the world if she had to.
This wasn't the Madge she'd fallen in love with years ago. If anything, this Madge only made her love grow more. A seed that'd sprouted into Primroses through the maturity of hardship and time. With this revelation came the roots of self-doubt, whether she'd even be good enough for her. Like she was the only person who'd gone through all this conflict and loss and still ended up the same Katniss. Shackled by grief and doubt she could ever call herself a survivor.
As the host ended their book launch, Madge's attention turned towards autographing copies for wealthy Capitolites. Katniss wandered out the town hall unbidden and unseen. Wanting to find a spot where she could give into that prick of tears behind her eyelids. She made it five paces before getting stopped in the lobby by Capitolites. Autographs and pictures. Should've worn a damn scarf. One of Plutarch's arts Journalists conducted an impromptu interview about Madge's book and how it uncannily drew a parallel to her own story. Katniss replied that Madge was free to take whatever artistic license she wanted, as long as it's for the good of Panem.
The questions took a loaded turn.
"How would you describe your relationship with Madge Undersee, since you're from the same District? You must've been close friends due to your status and Madge being the former Mayor's daughter."
Heat flashed through Katniss's face and she rifled a hand through her hair, "Uh, yea. We were close friends."
"Close?" the man asked, scribbling down notes, "Like Julia and Adeline close?"
"Yes, something like that," Katniss answered, before remembering a particularly spicy scene between Julia and Adeline with lots of kissing. She blushed hard when she realised she couldn't take back her words and it'd probably be in the press tomorrow. Or what Peeta was going to make of it. As if that was the only veiled insinuation the reporters were getting to, he promptly left without further questions. Katniss quickly left the town hall in wide, open strides - lest more people mobbed her and she'd never make it to Plutarch's rehearsals on time.
The frazzled hurrying immediately evaporated when she swept out the double oak doors and saw the hem of a white dress peeking behind a pillar. Madge leaned on the greying marble. Wind fluttering through gold hair she'd let loose over her shoulders. She appeared listless as she took another drag on a...
…a cigarette?
"You picked up smoking," Katniss blurted. The girl let out a soft shriek and stubbed it out beneath her heeled shoes.
"Sorry, I thought you didn't want to meet me and left," Madge explained, eyes unable to meet Katniss's, "a-and I don't usually smoke. It's all Cassia's fault for introducing me. I only have a cigarette when I'm anxious or need to calm down."
As if needing to demonstrate, Madge held out a hand. Noticeable tremble in her fingertips. Katniss wanted so badly to hold her and feel her fears subside into silence.
"You didn't appear so nervous earlier."
"It's all an act, really," Madge folded hands behind her back, "I'm sure you know a thing or two about acting before a crowd."
I still don't. I'm hopeless. What boldness I showed on stage was only because I was singing for you.
"Look - you can smoke if you want to, you don't have to stop because of me."
Madge paused for a second before swiveling to meet Katniss's gaze, "I'm much calmer now, because you're here. You have that effect on me."
Her eyes dipped to Madge's outstretched hand. Still as a steel beam. An invitation. Katniss bit back the bated apprehension in her soul and gently laced her fingers into Madge's. Watching the way she blushed at her touch. It lit a fire within her soul. Fanning further into flame when she felt the dimpled calluses on Madge's palms. A ripe roughness she didn't recognise from the last time they held hands. Or before when they were kids. She would've known - there wasn't a line on her palm that'd ever gone untraced. No vein on her wrists she'd ever left unkissed. Unbidden excitement built within Katniss when she imagined doing it all over again. Learning this girl anew like the new life she wanted so desperately to be a part of.
"Has living in the Capitol for a year turned you into an incorrigible flirt?" Katniss smiled, fingers trailing along her pulse lines.
"Maybe?"
"Was that how you convinced Plutarch to film your bookstore on one of his documentary episodes?"
"More like, he convinced me," Madge smiled, "that was you, wasn't it?"
"I was just trying to help-"
"You don't have to say a word," Madge insisted, before she lurched forward and pecked her squarely on the cheek, "thank you."
Heat shot through Katniss's face as the memory struck her like lightning. The unspoken attraction. Swirling within deep charcoal grays. The instinctual urge to draw out that former affection they held for each other crested within Katniss like a roaring wave. But the better part of her held back. Shrinking further within herself when Madge dropped her hand and sighed.
"Though, with the way things are going, I don't know if it's going to be enough," Madge shook her head, "Plutarch checked with the interior ministry and…and the Crenshaws have already filed for a demolition license on our entire block. The other businesses and families have started moving out. I don't even know how long I'm going to be here, they could tear down my house while I'm still sleeping in it."
"T-that's terrible-"
In all her years, Katniss solved each one of her problems by hiding or shooting. Frustration boiled within herself at her own naivete - that she didn't have the political connections or wit to solve Madge's problems. The fury further compounded with a banging drum in her head begging Madge to move back with her to District 12. Stop, slow down. Let Madge travel at her own pace. Unfortunately it appeared that going at her own pace would result in a pile of ruin and a homeless best friend.
"Is there no way out of it?" Katniss asked.
"I'm working things through with Plutarch, although-"
The blonde girl appeared to grasp for words, eyes locked onto Katniss. Through the softness she saw an edge to her resolve. That hardened determination to ask for the impossible. C'mon Madge. I've always known you as the bravest person on earth. Ask me anything and I'll give it to you.
"What?"
"It's nothing," Madge relented, "or rather, I wanted to ask if you were going to invite me to one of your shows."
"Yeah, I, uh, wanted to pass you the tickets," Katniss fumbled around her purse and passed her two golden slips, "still two. In case you want to bring a date."
It was impossible to miss the tremor in Madge's fingertips when they brushed hers. She barely looked at the tickets. Eyes fixed on Katniss. "You know, I'm only going to this because of you."
"Just like how I came back to the Capitol. For you."
Madge smiled. An electric spark lit in her eyes and Katniss wondered whether Madge would resist if she leaned in and kissed her. Behind them, a publisher called for Madge to return and finish signing her books. Katniss looked away and sighed.
"I hope things work out for you, I-I mean I'd hate to see you hurt by anyone."
"I'll be fine, you've already done so much for me - with the book and Plutarch and everything," Madge touched the crook of her elbow, "See you tomorrow, alright?"
Katniss nodded. Forcing herself to turn and walk away into the summer heat. Right as she reached the base of the town hall steps, felt a pang of longing strike deep within her chest. She looked back and saw Madge with the wind in her hair. Still reaching out to her with her eyes. A million words on both their lips and not one either found fit to let ripen and fall into the narrowing space between them.