The Hunger Games ~ Peeta's POV

Chapter 6

Ch. 6

My fears about my dreams have been confirmed; nightmares, the ones that make you shake so hard that your sides ache, like recovering from a nasty beating the next morning.

Tonight, I dream about Katniss's story (obviously) and her little Avox friend. Katniss and I are in a forest, running from Haymitch. Why we are running from him, I don't know. Maybe it's because of the little incident on the train, or because of the fact that he sleeps with a knife. I have no clue. All I know is that we are scared.

We trample like elephants over some shrubs and stumble into a bright clearing. Birds are everywhere, on everything; all of the ground and the trees above are covered with them. But they're not pretty blue Mockingjays. They're fat, black, ugly crows. They all scream the same ugly note at once, like and endless fire alarm, and I cover my ears with my hands.

All of the sudden, a hovercraft pops up. A net drops down on Katniss, but she does nothing, expresses no alarm whatsoever. I start yelling and crying and pulling on the ropes frantically, trying to set her free.

"All you do is worthless right now. You just have to learn to function apart from me." Then, she smiles at me, her teeth drenched in blood, and is taken from me forever.

I sink to my knees and begin to weep, crying salty tears of sadness. Haymitch appears, grinning devilishly as he holds a machete, blackened with the crusty encasement of dried blood, over my head. "Lights out, lover boy," he says, and the world fades to black.

*********End dream***********

I wake up confused, scared, and drenched in my own sweat. What just happened? I really don't know what exactly it was that I dreamt up last night, but Katniss's words of wisdom popped out at me in 4-D.

"Learn to function apart from me," she had said, and I might have an idea of what exactly it meant. Even though it's only beginning to break dawn, my mind is moving easily enough to figure it out pretty quickly.

Solution one: I'm physic. It means that Katniss is going to die sometime during the games, and I'm going to have to live without her. It means that she cares about me enough to send me a sign that tells me to survive without her by my side, because she knows that I'll probably just commit suicide. I can't live without her. Impossible. I don't like this option very much because it involves Katniss's death, so I move on to the second one.

Solution two: We will be separated during the games, and I'm going to have to learn how to deal with her absence. The only way I can do this is to put as much space between us as possible beforehand and not to get any more attached; I'm already obsessive enough. I don't know how I'm going to do this without handcuffing myself to the leg of my bed, so I push it to the back of my head and give it no thought.

Solution three: I'm a delusional, crazy person who stands no chance in the games at all. I'm so nervous that I'm already seeing things. I guess I'll stick with this answer, even though I don't like it that much. But it's a heck of a lot better than the other two options.

I sit up in bed and glance at my bedside clock. It says 7:00, so I drag myself out of the warm hollow I made in the covers and slouch my way over to the bathroom. Some sort of machine brushes my hair for me in a very Capitol-ish style, but I don't like it. I mess up my hair how I usually wear it and smile at myself in the mirror, momentarily satisfied.

I return to my room to find an outfit laid out for me on my bed. It consists of dark jeans, a maroon shirt, and squeaky leather boots. I like the outfit, but I don't like it on me. It feels as if my individuality has been stolen, or as if it's the outer shell of someone else. Anyways, it's enough to leave me feeling weird and self conscious.