Meadow Melodies

Deep in the Meadow

"Will we be there soon?" Willow asked. She was impatient as ever today, but I understood where she was coming from. "Maybe...." I smiled mischievously. She hopped up and down. I was willing to bet that Willow was the most hyper kid in her class of 10 and 11 year olds.

Peeta stumbled up the hill with Rye in his arms and sighed exasperated. "Katniss, I'm getting kind of tired of Golding Rye." He sat the chubby toddler down on the hill.

"We're almost there!" I sprinted forward and Willow followed. Peeta scooped up Rye and struggled to keep up. Finally, we were there. "Here it is." I looked around the beautiful meadow, full of violets. Willow gasped. "Its beautiful!" Peeta and Rye appeared from over a hill and after setting Rye down, he looked out over the meadow. "Where did you find this?" He asked. "I was just exploring one day and I found it. It wasn't part of a district, which is why it took us so long to get here."

Willow danced around, twirling and leaping and nearly kicking Peeta and I in the face multiple times. Rye smiled and clapped for his older sister. He had just learned how to clap a couple of weeks ago, but didn't use the skill often.

"Mom this place is amazing! It's a meadow, right?" She had been learning about physical features recently in school. "Yes. Now you can tell everyone in your class you saw a real meadow." She grinned.

"But we also have something for you." Peeta emerged behind me and looked over my shoulder. Willow's eyes widened. I ran over to Rye and picked him up, then walked back to Peeta and Willow and put him on the grass near us. "Your eleventh birthday is soon, and what better place to give you a gift than here?"

I pulled my backpack off of my shoulders and handed Willow it. "Open it." Willow unzipped the leather bag and pulled out a small wooden bow, the perfect size for an eleven year old Willow.

"A real bow and arrow!!!" Willow's grin widened. She had always known about my love for archery and constantly begged me to "Will we be there soon?" Willow asked. She was impatient as ever today, but I understood where she was coming from. "Maybe...." I smiled mischievously. She hopped up and down. I was willing to bet that Willow was the most hyper kid in her class of 10 and 11 year olds.

It was in these moments when I was most glad that I had agreed to have children, under Peeta's request. I was afraid for them, afraid that they would have bad lives. But after everything, I like to think we did it for them. We did it for all the children in Panem, in the world, to end the pain for them.