The Girl in the Games (The Fandom Games)(THG,TBT,TFIOS,DIVERGENT,TWILIGHT.)

Chapter 34

     A stand amongst the other rebels gathered around a deep hole that holds Hazel's body. Edward told me that Bella refused to come to the funeral. He said she was too ashamed of herself to face everyone. Tris stands in front of an old, age-beaten podium, that someone had found in one of the other abandoned buildings, making a speech about Hazel and her life. I notice a small tear leak out of the corner of her eye and slip down her pale cheek without wiping it away.

     I look down at what I am holding in my hands. A bright pink flower. I found it growing along the fence that surrounds the cemetery and thought that I could bury it with Hazel. It's a beautiful flower. After I picked it, I noticed Katniss staring at it with sadness and longing clear on her face. I think it was just because that we are here for Hazel's funeral, but, in some ways, it seems like it was more than that.

     "I think it is time we let Hazel rest in peace." Tris adds at the very end of her speech.

     I can feel my heart beating quickly at the thought of Hazel. How I saw her dead body laying there on that cold, wooden floor. How she went out to search for the rest of us after we had been separated and brought us back together. I can't stand to not say anything about her. To stay silent like I am just a dead, rotting corpse myself.

     "I'd like to say something." I say loud enough for everyone to hear.

     Everyone freezes and looks at me in shock. I think I am already starting to get used to that look, because I walk up to the podium without that feeling of uneasiness that I would normally get. I lay the flower on the edge of the podium and the papers that I had when I ran here just a few hours ago. I grip the side of the podium to steady myself,and close my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts. When I open them I begin speaking.

     "Hazel," I begin. "wasn't strong....she was iron. She was made that way, able to withstand the pressure and weights of the world. That is something that even the strongest of us don't have. A mind and body made of iron." I pause for a moment. "When I first really saw Hazel, it was before the end of the countdown in the arena. Her and her lover, Augustus, were having some sort of conversation. I realized just what was going on. Augustus was telling her good bye. He killed himself because he knew he would keep everyone behind because of his leg, and that that would risk Hazel's life if he lived. I remember watching Hazel cry on her pedestal over Augustus, but was strong enough to continue on after that."

     "Hazel was the person you could come to if you needed help or advice. I never asked her for anything, but she always gave me something anyway. She was always the strongest of us all, even if she never stood out, she was an example. An example of bravery, strength, intelligence, honesty, lovingness, and selflessness. I think that from this day forward, we should all be like Hazel. Be that person that fights through all the weights of the world and would do anything for her friends.....and her family." I look over to Tris and Tobias who I remembered were always like family to her. "We all are strong and brave, but none of us will ever be as strong as Hazel-Grace Landcaster."

     I take my papers and the flower and step away from the podium just as a round of applause from the other rebels plays before me. I don't really feel anything. Only that Hazel is dead and in a 6 foot deep hole, lies her body. I barely even hear the clapping because of my speech as I drop the flower into the hole, where it lands in her open palm. It looks odd the way it landed. It looks like something dead, and lifeless with no beauty at all, holding onto a bit of hope. A flower. A pale pink flower with a bright yellow stem is the hope she is holding on to. It's beauty makes, even the corpse of a dead girl, beautiful.

     I step away from the grave and just walk out of the cemetery and down the road. As I walk away, I can hear what sounds like Katniss singing an old song that I remember from my days back in the new District 12.

     Deep in the meadow, under the willow

     A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

     Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

     And when again they open, the sun will rise.

     Here it's safe, here it's warm

     Here the daisies guard you from every harm

     Here your dreams are sweet and tomarrow brings them true

     Here is the place where I love you.

    I begin to break into a run just as tears begin to build up in my eyes. I disappear behind a large collapsed building and fall to the ground and just let all the saddness break out of me. This is the worst feeling I have felt in years. The feeling of loss and mourning seems to be devouring me like a dog does a freshly killed deer. As I cry, I catch the end of that beautiful lullaby that Katniss was singing.

     Here your dreams are sweet and tomarrow brings them true

     Here is the place where I love you.

     I don't think that my dreams will ever come true. Destroying the Capitol and killing our enemies seems almost impossible at the moment.

     After several minutes of crying, I just rest against the collapsed wall behind me and just stare into oblivion without a thought in my mind.