Under the willow

The Rooftop

Willow had always hated the capital since she entered it for her game. Sure the lights were dazzling and the parties endless, the food was some of the best she had ever tasted and the warm water could wash away any ache. But beneath the dazzling wonder of the city, she knew just how dark it was. The secrets of the capital that no one else would ever know.

Then again perhaps she was too blinded by jealousy to see the beauty. Though Willow would never wish her life on anyone sometimes she was jealous of those capital kids. The ones who ran and played with no care who grew up with food and safety and in luxury. Who weren't worried about the games or being punished by the peacekeepers. She was jealous of the parents who could have kids without worrying they would be taken. Jealous that they could work the jobs they wanted without being forced to.  Of the little kids who got to go to school and didn't have to work the fields instead.

That was the thing that capital reaped off the fruits of the district's labor whilst leaving the districts to starve. The capital had medicine, technology, and food why couldn't they share that with the districts? Wasn't that what the first rebellion had been for to get treated equally instead it just became worse. Why were they being punished for a rebellion that occurred before they were even alive?

So maybe Willow hated the capital because of that but it was also the stifling of it. The rules you had to follow, the need to be perfect. To act mature and polite to hold conversations and never falter. The feeling of drowning in the rules the feeling of being trapped. Perhaps that was why she tended to find herself out of the rooftop. Though it wasn't the same the night sky looked just like it did it district 11.  She missed the sound of the mocking jays calling the trees that spanned on for miles. The fields of flowers in her backyard, the trees. The land that stretched on for miles that when you were a kid you could play on, run free and wild.

The air on the rooftop was refreshing and tonight just like any night she had found herself up there staring at the night sky her mind miles away from the capital. She wondered how her little siblings were, her parents. How were they handling it? Had they made terms that Rue probably wasn't coming home? Or were they coping by holding onto a small thread of hope?

The only thing she wanted was to bring Rue home but 12-year-olds never one. Rue could hide if there were trees but hiding only lasts you so long. She'd need allies and sure Thresh would protect her but maybe she didn't want Rue to win. She knew how much her heart would break if she watched her sister die but perhaps a death in the arena was better than living. The never-ending nightmares that came after the arena. Closing your eyes and being back there. Being used by the capital, having your body sold. Willow wished she had never survived that arena herself. She wouldn't wish being a victor on her worst enemies. The same was true for every other victor even the ones who once came from career districts that were so proud to enter the games were different when they no longer felt so joyous.

She could feel the tears falling down her face as she stared at the stars. She wanted to run with Rue to get her far away but that could never happen not with the security of the capital and not with her family back in District 11 trapped. Snow would take them he would torture them and kill them just to get to her. He wasn't above it. 

Willow had felt trapped her entire life but perhaps this may be the most trapped she had ever felt.