The cold air sweeps around me as I lay the last shingle onto her new roof. It's a small house, so it didn't take long. I glance at my watch as I get down off the roof, and it reads 6 pm.
Beatrice has a new home, her TV less static, a working washer, clothes line strung up in the backyard, and now a newly insulated and shingled house. I stocked her fridge with food, and she says that she couldn't be any happier. I talk to her a bit as I work.
"Beatrice- I voted to he have on last Hunger Games with the Capitol children, and I'm wondering if if should reclaim my vote. What do you think I should do?" I ask her. She sighs.
"Reclaim it. You went through all of this, your sister, all of it, to end those games. Dont bring them back." I nod.
I'm washing some of my mother's old clothes for Beatrice when I hear scratches at the back door. I open the door to find Buttercup there, and I smile happily at him. We've been just as close as he was with Prim lately, and I'm glad I didn't drown him all of those years ago.
I scoop him into my arms and stroke his matted fur as Beatrice comes around the corner.
"Katniss! Who's this?" She askd, smiling down at my cat. Buttercup gives her an uneasy glance, just as he does with every stranger.
"This is my cat, Buttercup." I say and stroke his fur. I decide to wash him later and brush out his fur, but then Beatrice takes him from me.
"Oh, he's so sweet! But- why do you have him? You've never struck me as an animal person." She says and I wince as the memory floods back into my brain.
Prim skips into the room, carrying a mud yellow cat in her arms. I scrunch my nose at it, as she holds him up to me.
"Katniss, look! I found him by the stream near the meadow! Can we keep him please? He's so sweet look!" And the cat hisses at me. I shake my head.
"Im sorry Prim. The last thing we need right now is another mouth to feed. And he's probably crawling with worms and fleas." I say but she whines.
"Please Katniss? Please?" She says. I almost say no when she interupts me. "Dad would've said yes." And that hits me right in the heart. Shes right, our dad would've said yes. He would've wanted to help this cat as much as possible. So I nod reluctantly and then turn away before she can see me cry.
"She was my sisters before she died." I say and Beatrice tuts pitifully.
"I know how you feel honey. You need to be getting home- but let me do one thing for you." And with that, she takes Buttercup into the bathroom. I hear her turn the water on and I hurry after her.
But she just washes Buttercup's fur, and when she done, she towel dries him and then I brush his fur out. The newly gleaming Buttercup winds around my legs happily.
"There. Now he's soft as silk." Beatrice says, and I pick my bow up from her table, smiling.
"Thank you Beatrice. Are you sure you don't need anything else?" I say but she shakes her head smiling.
"No, I'll just watch some TV or cook. But I'll see you soon Katniss. Thank you."
Back at my house, I set Buttercup down. I sit down on my bed, exhausted. It was a long day. But I'm glad I met Beatrice, and that I got to help her.
"Katniss!" A voice says and I jump. I turn around to see Peeta standing there, and he looks relieved to see me. "I couldn't find you- I looked all around the Seam, and I tried calling you- I was so worried!" He says and I give him him a hug.
"Why did you think you needed to be worried?" I ask him and he sighs.
"Because. I didn't mean to fight with you- I'm just angry with the decision you made. I- well, are we still going to the Capitol tomorrow?" He asks and I sigh.
This is why I left. I think. I don't want to think about this right now. But I know I have to. So I answer him.
"Yes Peeta, they're expecting us there." I say and he looks disappointed. "But- I think I'm going to reclaim my vote." And his blue eyes shine.
"Really?" He asks hopeful. I nod.
"Yeah really." I say and he gives me another hug. I breathe in his scent again, and I feel at home. I'm angry with myself for missing so much time with Peeta today, but if I hadn't I wouldn't have ever been able to help Beatrice.
"You aren't doing this because you feel forced to, right?" Peeta asks. I laugh and give him a small kiss. Always wanting to make sure I'm happy.
"No, Peeta. It's okay." I say and he nods.
"Good. I'm going to go take a shower, unless you were going to take one?" He asks, motioning towards the shower. I shake my head.
"No, I take mine in the morning." I say. And he nods, leaving. I walk downstairs and out onto our porch, where I sit on our swing. It's one of those bench sort of swings. The silence feels odd to me, so I start to sing quietly, and then slowly getting louder.
Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree,
They strung up a man, they say who murdered three
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
A dead man called out,
For his love to flee,
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
I start to advance into the song, singing to my hearts content. I don't even notice that I have an audience.
"And even the birds stopped to listen." A voice says from behind me as the song ends. I smile to myself, blushing. Peeta comes and sits down beside me. We entwine our fingers, and I look down at them, my former smile growing wider and wider.
"So what were you doing today?" He asks me, and I launch into telling him all about Beatrice, how she heard about us, how I found her and helped her, everything.
"....and then right before I left she washed Buttercup for me!" I say and Peeta smiles. At the mention of his name, Buttercup trots out, and I stroke his fur with my free hand as he jumps into my lap.
"That poor old lady." Peeta says and I nod. "Now I feel bad for texting you like crazy while you were trying to help her." He says but I shake my head.
"Dont. It's good that you did, it showed me that you care for me." I say and length in to him. He does as well, closing the small gap as always.
And when our lips meet, I swear all the stars in the sky shone brighter.
YOU ARE READING
Real or not real? (everlark)
FanfictionAfter the war, Katniss feels that her whole life has been sucked away from her. Everything she knew and loved were gone. Gale and her mother in another state, Prim and her father dead, as well as many of her friends. The only one left is Peeta, if h...
