Daughter of The Mockingjay

CH 2

I woke up that night in a bed of sweat. I realized I had just had a nightmare. Which is not uncommon in our family. My mother sometimes explained why she had nightmares or why sometimes in the middle of nowhere father would fall to the floor holding his head for multiple minutes, while mother tried to calm him down. Then he would get back up and just keep going. I never understood it. Mother said that father had been "hijacked". That during the rebellion, they tried to get rid of all his good memories and turn them into evil thoughts. But she never explained who "they" was. That during those few minutes when he would be on the floor, he was trying to keep his sanity and not think of the evil thoughts they had sent him. In which he thought were real sometimes. Mother always had to talk to him after, telling him it would be just fine, nothing terrible is happening.

When I do hear my mother scream in the middle of the night, sometimes I feel the need to run. To run to her and tell her that I am here. But I know father does a pretty good job of that on his own. Without the need  for me to come into their room. But when I do, sometimes Darius will come to me and be upset and barely know what is going on. I comfort him. Sometimes I feel the need to comfot myself, but I am not in the place to do that.

Sometimes when I have anxiety during the night, I have to think of someone who I know is always the happy person in the family, even when they are angry. Father. It was one of the things that I loved about him was that he was always the positive one in everything. And he has a great sense of humor that always makes me laugh. Even when I'm down. The stories he would tell always fascinated me. Once he told a story about Uncle Haymitch, who is a character himself. That basically the first time he met him, he pretty much threw up on them well because, he was a drunk. Still is. Haymitch is now living in the Capitol because they have an endless supply of liquor. But he comes to visit often and always expects us to feed him, and calls my mother sweetheart which always has puzzled me.

I finally decided to get up and gro grab some water to cool me off from the dreaded nightmares that awoken me. I never do remember my dreams. Mother says I am lucky because she always remembers hers, so vivd and real she would explain. When I grabbed my glass of water, I almost screamed myself. My mother and father were on the couch crying. I didn't know why but I got the feeling something terrible was happening. Really terrible. I tried to get away without being noticed. But they caught me.

"Mair, is that you?", my mother said in raspy voice.

"Yes, mom, it's me." I said. I realized that my own voice sounded fragile itself. LIke a little rabbit begging not to be shot with arrow about to be cooked for dinner. I couldn't even look at them because I knew I would start to cry myself. But I had to look. They were holding each other looking at me with hollow eyes. That really scared me.

"What's going on, what's wrong?" I said trying to put in a more normal tone of voice.

"Nothing sweetie, just go back to bed." I knew she was trying to protect me. Which I had never liked.

"Katniss, I think we should tell her." My father said. He had a bit of anger and solidness in his tone. I knew this would be out of my hands to control.

"I can't. You tell her." my mother got out quickly as if she wasn't able to handle about what he was going to say.

" We got a call from Uncle Haymitch just now, they are restarting the Hunger Games." he trailed off.

From that last sentence I blacked out.