Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 45

Time passes hazily, almost drowsily, as the hot sun beats down upon me. I whistle to Katniss lazily every once in awhile, her whistle getting further and further away. This work is both pointless and tedious. Who would want to eat roots and berries if there was fresh meat to be eaten anyway? Provided that Katniss actually hunts down some food, all my hard work will have gone to waste.

I feel a stinging sensation on my neck and groan, straightening up and stretching, wincing as the burning sensation on my neck grows. I touch it gingerly, knowing that I'll find a sunburn, and sure enough, when my fingers come into contact with the delicate skin, I almost cry out in surprise.

I feel as if I need to cool my heated skin down a bit, so I hobble around, heading towards where I'm pretty sure the stream is. Before I leave, though, I tuck the remainder of our food under the shade of a bush. Katniss would kill me if I left it out in the open for someone to stumble upon.

I'm not even sure if I'm heading in the right direction, but I let instinct guide me. I take a left here and a right there, bending the branches every few steps so I can retrace my steps if I get lost. Sure enough, my gut feeling is right and soon, I can make out the soft whisper of the water swishing through the rocks.

Gratefully, I splash water onto my face, letting it cool down, before splashing it onto my burns. Clumsily, my hands fumble around for something that can act as a towel for me to press to my aching neck, but all that I come up with are leaves. I finally settle for a plant growing in the shade of some rocks I instantly recognize as Aloe Vera. If there's anything my mom's taught me, it's that Aloe is dead useful. “It can be used in any medicine, any food, and the fibers on the leaves are so tough,” she used to say, sitting in her chair and lecturing me about things that I previously found boring. Right now though, I'm just grateful that I remember this one lesson she taught me.

As I near the plant, however, I see that it is much larger than the type we have at home, but upon closer inspection, it bears all the signs of being Aloe. It could just be a plot to poison me that the Gamekeepers have hatched, and I waver above it for a few seconds before the pain of my burn gets to the better of me and I decide that the alternatives would be better than the burning pain I feel right now. I have to wrestle to break a leaf off the plant. Now, I truly appreciate life the way it was before the reaping. Ordinary objects like a knife seemed so unimportant and trite to me back then, but now, as my fingers start bleeding from being cut on the unyielding leaves, I finally realize how useful they can be. After a few minutes, a leaf finally comes off, its edges jagged and sap slowly oozing out of it. Without a second thought, I slap it onto my neck, and within a few seconds I am rewarded with a cooling sensation as the gel eases the pain and drips slowly down my back.

I slather the gel all over myself before going down to the stream to wash my hands, realizing how filthy they are. Dirt is caught under my fingernails from digging for roots, and I carefully get it out before, finally satisfied, I turn my attention to the bushes beside me. They are short and squat, unlike any that I've seen before, and their berries are plump and round. My mouth waters just looking at them and I rip off a branch of the bush before heading back to camp.

My journey is quick and easy as I follow the trail I left behind for myself, though I can't help but frown at my thoughtlessness. Sure, I was smart to leave a trail in case I got lost, but what if someone else had followed it and caught me unguarded? However, nothing bad has happened so I put my uneasy feelings to rest and kneel down by the bush where our food stash is hidden. Carefully, I peel the berries from the stems of the branch and set them down next to the cheese. When I am done, my hands are stained a purplish pink, and I wipe them on my pants before going over to finish digging up the root I was working on before. A few more swipes at the loose soil, and the root comes out, covered in dirt, but edible nonetheless. I place it by the berries and then stand up so I can get some more.