Catnip

This is on the reaping day when Katniss and Gale decided to run away.

My eyes flickered open as I heard the distant call of a mockingjay; a faint whistling melody, growing louder and louder as it is carried my way. The towering trees of the district 12 woods loomed peacefully in our presence, and the inhabitants of the outdoors were already awake, if perhaps cheerfully going about their business. The early morning sun was breaking its way through the trees as I rubbed my eyes and peered at my surroundings. The body to my left was stirring.

Gale, who was only just waking up, glimpsed at my amused face and laughed.
"Hey Catnip, did you have a good sleep?" I grinned back.
"The best,"

It was true, we had often gone hunting with each other well away from our homes in the midst of nature, but never before had we slept the night, and I loved it.

The day had started, as usual, with Gale and I meeting at our rendezvous point before the time we woke today at this early hour. With our game bags, snares and arrows ready, we crawled under the district 12 fence that was never actually wired up with electricity. We would then march into the woods and a whole other spell came over us. Gale and I moved as one, as if we could read each other's minds and filled our bags with animals that we could proudly put on our family's table. Gale would set snares, and I would shoot any animal that dared come near us.

Instead of foraging for wild plants, we journeyed further into the woods and came across the lake that my father and I used to swim in. It was a clear, still pool of water that glistened in the sunlight. Gale began to gather the plentiful Katniss roots that I was named after, but I obviously wanted something different.

I placed my bag on the ground in eyesight then careful began peeling off layers of clothing until I was left with only my under garments on, a short shift dress that allowed me to move without restraints. Before waiting for his signal, I dived headfirst into the water and swam gleefully back and forward.

"Come join me!" I called out to Gale.

There was no need for an answer. Gale dived right in with me. And for a while, all we did was splash about in the shallows. I was still amazed at how well Gale could swim, he powerfully cut through the water with his strong arms and could hold his breath just as long as I could – I have been swimming for most of my life, and he only learnt two years ago.

Mid afternoon, after the thrill of the hunt, we both decided to rest under a weeping willow by the lakeside and feast on mint tea and wild blueberries.

"Gale?" I asked.

"M?" I got in reply.

"I miss Prim," He looks at me sympathetically. "It's better this way,"

This I know. The pain I felt as I left my family was unbearable, but then I realized Gale was feeling the same thing. I turned over to face him.

"I – I realize that." My voice was shaky now. Gale slipped his hand into mine.

"Katniss," he said softly. "They wanted us to go, but they wouldn't know how to survive here, and they believe that,"

I rested my head on his shoulder, until finally, Gale arose. "We're still too close to home to start a fire, so we need to have some shelter," He was still looking shaken but he brushed this off as he became more like himself. Before long, after the shelter was built, I drifted off to sleep with mu head resting in Gale's lap.

Now it was a new day, and like any other morning, we were up and about quickly.

"Where are we off to now?" I ask him, somewhat drowsily.

"We need to get away, far, far away," he replies. "Are you game?"

I needed to be strong, for Prim, for my mother, for Hazelle, Vick, Rory and little Posy. I needed to be strong for Gale, and I needed to be strong to survive. So I lift my chin, look straight ahead and reply. "Oh I'm game," I whip around to him. "It's who I am., It's in my blood." My fathers blood.