Safe and Sound || Hunger Games

Chapter Eleven - Sixteen

NOTE: Back to Harper's point of view, just in case you didn't read the previous author's note :)

Chapter Eleven - Sixteen

I went the whole day without hearing a cannon shot, meaning that nobody had perished today. That was a good, yet very bad thing. It was good because nobody had lost a child or a friend today, but it was bad because it still meant a lot of hard work and competition to me. If my father wants me to do well and at least try to win, then do that I shall.

That evening, I climbed another tree and laid myself down on a thick branch, belting myself onto it. I looked up at the sky and looked at the stars. Whether they were real or just projections from the Capitol, I wasn't sure, but they were nonetheless beautiful. I sighed as I looked up at them. This moment could have been the last moment that I would ever see the stars. It could have been the last moment I would have seen anything. Somebody could have fond me and chucked a spear right into my heart. Because this could have been the last moment, I decided I would savour everything. That's what everyone should do, whether they're in the Games or not. Too small a number of people never appreciate this enough until they need them the most. The Capitol, for instance, is a very good example of this. When they've killed off all the children and workers from each District, only then will they realise how much they needed us in the first place. Without the Districts, the Capitol wouldn't get food, coal, luxuries and much more. In reality, even though the Capitol would never admit it, we were the ones keeping them alive, even though we were half dead ourselves.

I wriggled as much as I could about in the sleeping bag, trying to get warm. It was particularly cold this night. Either that or I hadn't noticed before. The cold nipped at me constantly, causing me to wriggled about. I couldn't toss and turn because I was belted down to the branch, but that didn't stop me from shaking from the cold.

When I finally got to sleep, I wouldn't have called it a night's sleep. I would have called it a night's trip to hell.

- - -

The room was blurry and wavered a bit, but I knew where I was. I was home. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly beneath my feet, even though I was wearing the boots Cinna gave me, along with my tribute outfit. I should have been as quiet as a mouse, perhaps even silent, but that was not the case.

My breathing was sharp and scared, the mist from my breath wafting out in front of me. I walked down the corridor, the mist rising. It seemed to get colder the further I walked down the corridor. I was heading towards a small room near the end of the house. It was my sister and I's room. I was going to see my sister and show her the old and slightly cripple deer I had killed that evening.  I had put it out of its misery. It would help her get better and it would also cause her to smile. My sister's smile was the brightest in District 12, and I hadn't seen it for so long. I extended my hand towards the door and wrapped my stiff and slightly raw fingers around the handle. I had been shooting for so long that evening, that my hands were slightly bloody, but I didn't care. I was just itching to see the bright smile on my poorly sister's face.

I pushed open the door, the creaking sound ringing in my ears, like a bad omen. I ignored it. I adjusted the deer on my arm before I stepped fully into the doorframe, smiling brightly. My sister didn't wake up. She stayed quite still. She was still asleep. My smile flickered, but I didn't mind. Being ill could make you quite tired.

"Rosie?" I whispered, walking over to her bed, putting the deer down on the floor, "Rosie-posy, get up please. I've got you something that will help you get better." I sat at the end of her bed and reached out, shaking her shoulder gently. She didn't move. She didn't seem to breathe. "Rosie, stop playing around. I've got you a deer. Tasty, huh? It was old and it was hurt, meaning I caused it no harm. I saved it in a way." I now started to get worried. She wasn't moving. I removed my hand from her shoulder and touched her arm.