This story is set in the bunker of district 13. Katniss and Prim go to Gale's area and Posy is scared. I don't own THG. Review please! NB: It is a bedtime story for Posy, not the story of her life.

It's Prim who suggests that we go see the Hawthornes.

Our mother is out, working in the medical bay, and we are talking about nothing, because there's nothing much to talk about. The lights are on fairly brightly, so it's a good time to walk around and talk to friends. It's also not a good time to play Lets Annoy Buttercup By Shining The Torch On The Wall Where He Can't Reach. So I suggest we go for a walk, and Prim follows up by saying that we should go talk to Gale and Rory. I don't really feel like talking to Gale at the moment, but I have no good reason to disagree, so what can I do? Besides, it will be good for my sister to talk to someone her own age and I don't want to sit by myself. Even less do I want to sit there with Buttercup for company. So I walk with Prim to area 47.

Hazelle smiles warmly when she sees us, calling out a welcoming hello. I'm not sure whether to be pleased or not, because its partially my fault we're down here anyway. Also, it means that I can't exactly hide from Gale, not that I would be able to anyway. Prim explains that our mother has gone to the medical bay and we were getting bored by ourselves. "Well, she was getting bored. I was getting scratched to death by the cat." My voice turns scathing at the mention of Buttercup. Then I wonder if that would sound ungrateful to Gale for helping my sister down into the Bunker. But he just laughs and pats the space on the bed next to him.

We take a seat. It's a bit squishy, so I end up pressed against Gale. Prim and Rory start talking, with Vick joining in the conversation sometimes. The lights dim slowly, until we can barely see each other. Posy whimpers and I feel guilty again. Gale's sister climbs onto my lap and hides her face in my hair. She whimpers a word that I can barely hear. Then I realise she asked me to sing. But I don't want to sing! Not in front of all these people! What would I sing anyway? "I know, Posy, how about a story?" She looks at me with tear stained, puppy-dog eyes.

"But Kaaaatniss, we don't have a book!" Prim, Vick and Rory are listening now. Gale gives me a smile that is almost apologetic.

"This is a disaster." I say seriously, humoring her. "Well then, I'll just have to make one up, won't I?" She sniffles and nods. Gale reaches out and brushes a strand of hair out of my face. It's oddly comforting, and I push Peeta out of my head. Hazelle and even some of the native people from 13 around us are listening now. I think for a second, and then start.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl called... Mathilde. She lived in a beautiful palace on a hill." I begin.

"Was she a princess?"

"No, Posy. She was a slave girl. She had to work hard all day, and the only food she was given was the scraps from the table of the actual princess, who was called... Solane." It tool me a second to come up with the name. "One day, Solane was turning ten. So she was going to have a huge birthday party with lots of dancing and food, and all the people who were friends with the king and queen were invited. Mathilde wanted to go and see all the people dressed up in their beautiful dresses and things, but she had to stay in the kitchen and scrub the tables." Gale slides an arm around my shoulder, holding me loosely.

"The day before the party, Mathilde was helping Solane put on her dress."

"What did the dress look like, Katniss?" Posy wants to know.

"Forget the dress, what does the princess look like?" Prim asks me.

"Well, Solane had long brown hair and green eyes. Her dress was... orange, like the sunset. It was long on one side and a bit shorter on the other. When she spun around, the skirt flared out very far, because of the folds on the stitching. Anyway, Mathilde was helping Solane try on the dress. It fitted perfectly, so after the princess practiced dancing in it, she took it off and went outside to do princessy stuff. Mathilde was alone in the room with the princess's ballroom dress. She really, really wanted to wear something beautiful, but all she had were her grey working clothes and her apron. So, she tried on the dress and put on the shoes. She even did her hair up. And then, when she looked in the mirror, she looked like a real princess."

"Then, Solane came back into the room and saw the servant girl wearing her party dress. Mathilde was scared that she would be angry. But she couldn't run out of the room, because everyone would see her, and it would look like she was stealing the princess's dress. So she just stood there, frightened." Posy's eyes are wide. This is a different story from the ones she normally hears, which are mainly Cinderella and Goldilocks, among others. "But Solane wasn't angry. She just asked Mathilde if she wanted to go to the party. Mathilde said she did want to go, and so Solane said that she would ask her parents. She did, but they said that a slave girl couldn't go to the party. But Solane was a nice girl, and she knew that Mathilde really wanted to go to the party, so they swapped places." I see Gale's eyebrows go up, but he doesn't object if he thinks that I'm putting stories into Posy's head. "So Mathilde wore the dress to the ballroom dance and she got to see all the people from around the big hill wearing their fancy clothes, and she got to cut the huge cake and be a princess for a day. And then, when everyone went home, she swapped back with Solane and no one was any the wiser. And that's the end of the story."

Posy asks me questions about what happened to the princess and the servant from the story, but I handed the reigns over to Prim and turned to Gale. He kept his arm around me, but a bit tighter now.

By the time that Prim was meant to go and help out at the medical bay, I was fast asleep.