Katniss's POV
I'm turning it round and round in my palm, the locket that Peeta wore in the Hunger Games. Its solid and cold and sharp-edged in my hand, reminding me of so many things at the same time. Its frame illuminates with a golden burst of light everytime sunlight falls on it, making it look it's on fire.
Fire. I still can't forget.
I flip open the tiny filigree top and find Prim's face smiling up at me. Those gorgeous locks of hair brushed around her cheeks. Her face lit up with an unassuming grin. I rock myself back and forth, trying to let go, trying to breathe through the constriction in my heart, tears choked in my throat. I flick the locket shut, not wanting to overwhelm myself again.
'Katniss, c'mere!'
'What happened little duck?'
I skip lightly across the ground to where Prim is hunched. Her hands are full of green leaves, which she uses to tenderly wipe the blood off a wounded rabbit, lying in a clump of grass.
'Whoa!' I gasp audibly, startled with the suddeness of seeing what I was, and almost fall backward. Seeing blood and hurt etched on someone's features is something I'm not used to yet. 'Prim!' I could not condone her for showing me such a sight. 'Daddy and Mom will know what to do with it, Prim. That's, if you can..' I hesitate.
'Take it to them?' Prim finishes; gently huddling the rabbit into its cozy basket of leaves and picking it up.
'Yeah..I mean..Just go on, okay?' The contrast of the red blood spattered on the rabbit's soft white fur is making me squirm. I almost want to puke.
'Katniss' Prim says my name, and slightly shakes her head, as though she might be wearily amused with my actions.
'Oi little duck; don't laugh!' I say, trying hard to sound angry but failing pathetically._
And now Prim laughs openly, as she runs towards the road that leads to our house, her hair streaming behind her, yelling- 'Katniss, you're so incredibly funny!'
'That's not something you go telling everyone!' I say, grinning widely, as we run for quite a distance, finally slumping down next to Daddy, who's hanging the wet clothes on the line. He smiles at our camarederie, and assures Prim that the rabbit will be fine.
In a few days, the rabbit looks healthy and fit, and Prim wants to release it in the woods.
That is bizarre, because she usually tends to keep the animals she treats with her. 'Prim, why do you want to leave the rabbit in the woods?' I ask, curiously.
'Because when I picked it up, I could see its mother in the thicket. Her small round eyes, they were telling me to bring this' -here she cradles the rabbit in her arms- 'straight to her. The mother rabbit must really be missing her baby now. We have to give it.'
I am touched, heartened. I gently brush the hair off her face. Prim is such a darling. But before I can say anything, Daddy swings Prim up to his shoulders and says in a conspiratorial tone- 'I know just the place, girls.'
Prim and I giggle as I set off after Daddy, ignoring Mom's warnings about not eating breakfast. Prim, being the good girl, asks Mom to wait for some time, and urges Daddy to run on ahead. We trek for quite some time, and I keep asking Daddy where we are going, in short puffs and pants. Prim is riding on Daddy's shoulders like a Queen, and I have half a mind to be lifted up too. But I know she deserves it more than I do anyway.
'You can leave it here, Prim' Daddy says finally, letting Prim and the rabbit down. 'Bye bye, little one' he mutters, as Prim lets it go. I can still see its miraculously white fur, as it bounds away into the nearest group of trees, healed to perfection.
