drapetomonia - the overwhelming urge to run away.
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When Junia Beaumont, her brother and their classmates get a last assignment before the end of the school year, she doesn't know just how quickly things will change for her.
Who would have thought t...
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It’s a true miracle what a long bath and food can do to make someone feel better.
According to June, today is July 22nd — the last time Treech washed up properly was the morning of the reaping, July 4th. Over two weeks, almost three, with no shower, no change of clothes, not even an opportunity to brush his teeth.
He wouldn’t say he was naive about the way the Capitol saw the people in the Districts. But the treatment he received from Panem’s so-called elite speaks for itself. Shackled and handcuffed almost the entire time, he was treated like he was worth less than the rats roaming the zoo. There were points when he almost felt like an animal, too. Especially in the arena.
Treech knows that if he had been all alone in the bathroom, he might have spiraled horribly. It helps that, after he already got into the bath and filled it with water and soap, June came back in and kept him company. Even though she was visibly flustered, she stayed by his side and even helped him wash his hair. It took some time to scrub the filth off him, but with her fingers running through his hair and picking out the dirt, he didn’t mind.
Her fingers on his scalp and in his hair soothed his mind, but her tender touch brought tears to his eyes anyway. She’s not babying him; she’s just treating him with the amount of love that he desperately craves right now. She’s soft and sweet, and her words are kind. He couldn’t ask for much else at the moment, other than perhaps his family. But with her presence, it all becomes much more bearable.
She kept her promise from before the Games as well. She came back just like he came back for her, and she’s staying by his side to make sure he’s not alone. Even though she saw almost every single thing he did in the arena, she treats him the same as before, too. It relieves him to know that she’s not walking on eggshells around him and giving him time until he’s ready to talk. She distracts him, talks about mundane things, and when she tells him about the Coriolanus-umbrella story, he even laughs an honest laugh.
Truth be told, Treech didn’t think he’d be able to laugh and smile honestly so soon. But she calms him down and lifts his spirits in ways he doesn’t comprehend, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
When he comes out of the bathroom, he almost feels like a new person. He scrubbed off every bit of filth and dirt; his breath is minty, and even though he hates it, he finds the gown and undergarments provided by the hospital freeing. Both literally and figuratively.
It doesn’t erase the mental toll everything has taken on him, but since he at least feels better physically, it’s more bearable. He feels less like an animal and more like a person again after they took almost all of his humanity from him in the arena.
