Bluebell Hawthorne was too young. To young to provide for her mother and four younger siblings. Too young to take care of the Everdeen siblings and their mother, whose father passed in the same explosion that took Bluebell's. Most of all, she was to...
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Bluebell Hawthorne ran through District 12, towards the fence she was told would keep her safe. There was rarely a day that Bluebell was inside the fence, despite the dangers lurking outside it. And, of course, the death penalty for passing the fence, not that such a threat had ever stopped her.
To Bluebell, the fence woods outside her small town meant food. It meant she and her family could eat. They could trade. They could survive. The woods were her salvation. Some mornings, the eldest of her younger siblings, Gale would come with. He knew better than to try on the day of the reapings.
Panem's annual celebration of the hunger games had begun on the one year anniversary of her father's death. Though her father was a quiet man, Bluebell had learned everything from him. She learned to run, to sing, and hunt from him. Though he was a quiet man, Bluebell's father was a wonderful listener. He would smile at his eldest daughter as she prattled on about her day, watching his coal-stained fingers form intricate knots in the snares he taught her to set.
"Katniss," Bluebell spoke softly as she ducked under the fence into the woods. Though it was common knowledge that Bluebell hadn't wanted company on that particular day, she would never have turned away the young girl lurking as near to the fence as possible. After all, the twelve year old girl's father passed in the same mine explosion that took Bluebell's father's life.
The sixteen year old would never forget the look on young Katniss, and her seven year old sister, Prim's, face as their mother stood, unanswering to the Mayor. He presented the medal of valor to Katniss, who accepted it as a weight on her shoulders. The weight of keeping her family alive. The same weight that rested on Bluebell's own shoulders.
Katniss did not appear to have heard the older girl's call as she picked dandelions from the meadow. Bluebell smiled fondly as she rested a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, causing Katniss to jump and swing at her. Bluebell was well practiced with Katniss' behavior, and dodged away with a light giggle.
"Careful, catnip, you'll take my eye out."
"Don't sneak up on me then," the twelve year old scoffed, but her small arms wrapped around Bluebell's waist.
"I called for you, you just weren't listening." Katniss squinted her grey eyes at the motherly girl. They could be related. Katniss had straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes, common for their small town in District 12. Bluebell's hair was a few shades lighter, a warm dark brown. But they had the same olive skin, same light colored eyes. One could confuse them as siblings. But they're not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way. There were even some old legends about inhaling so much coal dust that you start to resemble it. Bluebell had never believed it.
"Why are you staring at me?" Katniss asked the Hawthorne girl, who smiled tenderly at the girl.
"You remind me of myself," Bluebell answered her. At the raise of Katniss' eyebrows, she explained. "This is your first reaping. You're so young, and yet you're out here finding food for your family. The things we do for the people we love."
