Everthorne

Chapter 16

I wander down a lonely meadow, filled with the scent of Primroses. I kneel down to examine a small Rue flower, soaking in its scent and beauty. I stand back up again and decide to wander further down the meadow. I take some steps before I notice a soft sound of singing coming from behind a Willow tree.

"Deep in the meadow, under the Willow
A bed of grass, soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your eyes
And when they open, the sun will rise,"

I walk around the Willow to be met with a small girl with dark hair and eyes, her figure reminds me of a bird about to take flight.

Rue.

Before I can say anything she does her short 4 note song and disappears like a wisp of smoke.

My eyes open to the painted white ceiling. I feel sadness overcome me about the dream. I wish it could go on further, I want to speak to Rue, even if it isn't real. I gently stand up trying not to wake Peeta, strangely enough his arms weren't around me this morning. I turn back around, expecting to see Peeta sprawled out on the bed, his blonde hair in all sorts of directions, but instead I see an empty space where he should have been. The realisation hits me like a big icy wave. I feel tears forming behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.

I walk down the corridor and into the living room to see the tall muscular body of Gale asleep on the couch. I completely forgot how handsome he is. I try ignore an annoying thought jumping around in the back of my head. I still can't describe what it is. I grab an empty glass and fill it with orange juice. I open a cabinet to see a large stack of bread obviously carefully made by the hands of Peeta. I close it up in fear of bursting into tears.

"Katniss," I hear. I turn around to see Gale. I must have woken him up. "Gale," I answer.

"It's okay to cry, you can't hold it back forever," he says. I want to obey, but I have to stay strong. "You can't stay strong if you don't let it go," he says again, as if he read my mind. He comes up to me, wrapping his muscular arms around me. I would usually jump and try to wriggle away, but for some reason my body melted in his arms. I wrap my arms around his in an embrace. It was was such a small thing, but it felt so comforting, I almost forgot about all my problems.

"Mummy Catnip," I turn around to see the bright blue eyes of Prim. "Who's this mummy?" Prim asks in curiosity. I turn to Gales warming smile. "Gale, he is a good friend of mine," I reply. She runs up to him and examines him in curiosity. Her blue eyes look at Gale's grey ones, it's as if they have met before. Prim turns back to me. "Where is daddy? I miss him," she asks. I look at Gale, afraid of the truth. I don't want to tell Prim, but the truth will find its way to her soon enough. I motion Gale to come to me. He steps closer so I can whisper in his ear.

"The truth?" I whisper. "The truth." He whispers back.

RUE'S POV

I wake up to the sound of crying from the kitchen. I listen closer to realise that it is Prim crying. I instantly stand up and run up the kitchen in curiosity. The sight, it is terrible. Prim's face is covered in streams of tears and her face is red. I will never forget this sight. No happy 5 year old should be crying this much, unless they have hurt themselves, obviously.

I look up to see mum and a tall man, he has grey eyes and olive skin like mum. He watches me with pity in his eyes, like what he is going to tell me is going to scar me forever.

"Why is Prim crying?" I ask. Mum looks at me. Her eyes are filled with tears, I have never seen her cry before. She swallows then kneels down so she is face to face with me. "I told her where daddy is," she says calmly. Her calmness scares me, her own daughter is sitting next to her in tears, what can be so calming about that? "Where is he?" I ask again. Mum opens her mouth to reply but Prim interrupts.

"He is in heaven...Rue...he died," she chokes out through tears. I feel the shock hit me like a zap of electricity. If Prim weren't crying maybe I would laugh and not believe her, thinking it was a joke.

"You're joking, right?" I ask hopefully. Mum shakes her head. There are tears running down her face, she is definitely not joking. I feel tears forming behind my eyes, the lump in my throat is growing every second. I eventually burst in tears.

"You have to be joking! He can't die!" I yell through tears. I crumple on the floor, crying uncontrollably. I hug my knees, wanting to hide from the truth. Everything I do makes it worse. I open my eyes in tears. "Mum! He can't! He..." I am interrupted by another burst of tears. Mum turns away, like the sight pains her. I close my eyes, not wanting to see anything anymore. I lay there, tears dripping on the floor, imagining Peeta and his freshly baked bread, smiling at me as he teaches me how to make the dough.

I feel someone touch my arm. I look up to see the man with the grey eyes. "Rue," he says. I don't want to listen to him, he can't help me, no one can help me. However I still listen to him. "You have to stay strong," he says. I look at him again. For no particular reason I feel hope rising up in my chest, hope that everything will be better.