「 𝑮𝑳𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑮𝑶𝑹𝑬 」
❝𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚. it is the only thing 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 than fear. a little hope is effective. a lot of hope is 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨.❞
𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎
𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚑�...
〔 GLORY AND GORE: PART ONE 〕 CHAPTER ONE — songs of the sea.
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THE TOUCH OF RUSHING WAVES IS ONE I WAS SURE I WOULD NEVER FEEL AGAIN. My toes are slipping deeper and deeper into the coarse sand as the salty sea water drifts across my feet, and the brisk seaside breeze brushes against my cheeks, sending my long hair over my shoulders with a sudden gust of wind.
I come here often, to stand at the edge of the sea and the land on which my home lies. I find it breathtaking, the way the waves crash onto the shore in such a fashion that makes me forget I'm even standing on the outer banks of District 4. The water is warm in the sense that you must be born here to find it so, and it strikes a pang of confusion within me as I wonder how this paradise could somehow be connected to the wasteland that is Panem.
I tear my eyes away from the sea, smiling softly as Coraline shouts my name in the distance. I turn to her, barely able to see her tiny figure with the setting sun casting rays of yellow, orange, and pink over the meadow behind our home. I know she is standing on the back porch, most likely jumping up and down and flailing her arms around in the way little girls do when they have not a single care in the world.
Coraline is my youngest sister. She is only seven years old, and she clings to her youth better than anyone I've ever met. I worry about her often, as she doesn't understand the standards in which our nation is built upon and what we must sacrifice as it's citizens. I try to put the thoughts of my youngest sister ever being reaped far out of my mind, as she has at least a few more years before the horrors of our world must be explained to her. I'm not sure what I will do with myself when that day comes. I don't want to think about it until I am absolutely forced to do so.
I am walking through the meadow now, letting my fingertips skim over the overgrown grass and brush that populates the land. It's truly beautiful, the streaks of fading sunshine falling over our house, the meadow, and the distant sea. I'm smiling, a genuine smile that seems impossible to put away when Coraline is near me. She is smiling too, running through the brush that is nearly taller than her, her little legs making tumbled whooshing sounds as she toddles towards me.
