❛ HOPE ISN'T SOMETHING GIFTED TO YOU
IT'S SOMETHING YOU ACHIEVE. ❜
in which a small girl from district ten must
protect those she loves, or die trying.
𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙋𝙇𝙀𝙏𝙀𝘿 (UNDER HEAVY EDITING)
― oc x...
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HANDS SHAKING, I stared into the sky. The lines and contours of the forcefield covered it, only making me want to see the real sky more and to get out of this place. To see home, to see the fields of District Ten again, to see my father and it hurt me that I didn't know what was going on outside the Arena. Was the farm doing well? Was Father alright or, at least, coping? I didn't know.
I began to hear soft footsteps behind me, rustling against the sand in a slow and steady pace. A pair of blue eyes connected with mine and drifted down to the same level as my face. His feet slid slowly into the creamy shingle, damp from the slowly falling water levels. "How's your leg?" He asked, leaning back into the log.
"Fine. How's your head?" I replied.
"Good." His voice lingered in the air as if there was awkwardness floating around in the conversation.
"I got this for you, didn't know if you wanted it with you or not," he announced, pulling his arm from behind his back and revealing my Mother's necklace inside his palm.
"Thanks." I retrieved it from his hands and looped it between my own fingers, marvelling at its everlasting beauty and the everlasting beauty of its original owner. Whilst looking down, I noticed the bruised, open wound in front of me. My leg remained swollen, red at the heat of the future scar, but the Freya had sorted it out from either infecting or bleeding any longer.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, diverting my eyes away from his in doubt.
"Tell you what?" He replied bluntly, scratching the back of his neck and staring out into the teal lake.
"You left me — you ran off with Bella," I said, with a tone of jealousy hanging onto my lips.
"I. . ." His voice came to an abrupt end, though his eyes clenched on tightly to the memories and fluster of the first day, "I thought you would follow."
"I didn't."
"I know."
We left each other into a prolonged silence, staring away from one and other into the distance. He would never know how much I missed him, even though I wanted him to be with me to the end, he left without me. I can't tag along with him any more.
Returning to slip the chain of my Mother's necklace though my hands, I could feel his eyes on me, trying to figure out what I was thinking.
"What's that?" James asked, pointing towards the silver piece of jewellery laced between my fingers.
"James."
"Tell me, I want to know."
His voice sounded like a lost dog, begging to find want he wanted.
"It's my Mother's necklace," I said, holding it up into the light, reflecting a small ray onto my eye. "She left it to me in her will."
"I'm sorry —"
"No. . . don't be," I said, cutting him off from talking any more and pitying me. He reached for my hand at the sight of a tear cascading down the side of my cheek. I wanted to let go but I couldn't. There was something about James that made me protective of him; just as he was protective of me.
"I'm sorry. I really am." James' voice interrupted my line of thought and his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he pulled me in for a long overdue hug.
"I'm sorry too," I whimpered, tears rolling down the side of his waterproof jacket.
James sighed before he pulled away from the hug and opened his mouth again, "Look, I get it. My — My brother died when I was thirteen. Fell of his horse, got knocked into a coma and never woke up. He was a good guy too. Just got himself a girlfriend, worked with my Dad in the shop; God I miss him."
"What did you do?" I asked, keeping the conversation going as it tried to stop itself.
"I cried. I cried every night for a two months. He was only seventeen. Buck was my driving force, I looked up to him y'know. My parents weren't around a lot to look after us because they were always busy with their work so we hung out loads. He was my best friend and my brother."
"I guess we're quite similar then," I admitted, smiling at his watery eyes. His hand wrapped itself around mine, containing my necklace inside, and I tilted my head slightly to rest against his shoulder.
A ringing suddenly intensified behind me and I jolted away from James' embrace. As I turned around, a parachute like object landed on a nearby hedge, calling out a high pitched noise to alarm us. It was finally a sponsor.
Before racing to get it, I nodded towards James with a pleased smile painted across my face. Slowly, I climbed up from the rock, a slight limp clinging onto my leg. The distance grew shorter between the gift and I, and before long, I could eventually reach it. The metal container was cold and sharp against my hands as I screwed it open, revealing a small parchment and a tub of something. Something of which I suspected to help my leg.
Stay safe. I'm counting on you to bring this home,
Bradley
The smile stretched further across my lips. I could do this.
