Real or not real? (everlark)

2

These characters as well as the original story belong entirely to Suzanne Collins.

The cold morning air rushes into my house as Peeta shuts the
door behind him. I sit at the table, drinking coffee loaded with sugar and cream as I watch the news play on our hologram. I turn it off when I see Peeta.
"Cold?" I ask, and take a drink of coffee. Peeta moves to stand behind me and he opens the hologram back up. But before he turns it on, he brings his cold hands up to my face and I shriek at the sudden cold.
"Peeta!" I say and he laughs, running upstairs. He knows what he did. I shake my head as I put the coffee cup in the sink. When Peeta comes back down, I'm still annoyed.
"Katniss, let's do something today, I'm bored." Peeta says and I shake my head.
"Tomorrow. I heard the weather report today, it's really cold." I say and he nods, sighing. He looks sad and disappointed. "I have an idea."
I lead him into the living room and turn my radio on. Then I walk over to the large shelf full of these old music things called CDs. They were what people used to listen to music on a long time ago. I grab a dusty one from some girl my mother adores called Taylor Swift, and pop it in. One of her songs rings out in the room.

I remember tears streaming down your face,

When I said I'd never let you go,

When all of those shadows almost killed your,

Light,

I take his hand and we start to spin around the room as the music plays from my small, old stereo.

Just close your eyes,

The sun is going down,

You'll be alright,

No one can hurt you now,

The morning light,

You and I'll be safe and sound.

He smiles at me, a tear forming in one of his eyes. We spin slowly, his hands on my waist and mine on his shoulder. I smile at him as it continues.

Dont you dare look out your window,

Darling everything's on fire,

The war outside your door,

Keeps raging on,

I start to sing the words softly as we dance longer, and he tilts my chin up to look into his eyes while I sing. Then he starts to sing the song too. All to soon, the song comes to a close.

Just close your eyes,

You'll be alright,

The morning light,

You and I'll be safe and sound.

"I like that one." I say and walk over to turn the radio off. Peeta hugs me from behind.
"I do too. Maybe that can be our song." He says and I smile to myself. I love this boy. "And thank you. Your idea was better than any place we could ever go."
I turn around, his arms still encircling me. I lean forward, and rest my forehead on his, just brushing his lips. Smooth and baby soft, it kills me not to embrace them. But he closes the gap between us, moving his hand up to my face. He traces patterns into a small part of my face with his thumbs, working his mouth on mine. My hands lock behind his head, and I move them up into his hair, and his smooth hair becomes ruffled at my fingertips. He tastes like oranges, and when I breathe in, I smell them as well as a hint of something spicy. Cologne maybe.
He breaks away and kisses my neck, and I arch my head back. My eyes flutter closed and he kisses my neck softly, brushing his lips onto my skin. Eventually I take his face in my hands and he lifts me right off my feet, the two of us smiling into the kiss. When we finally stop, I look down at him, my hair hanging around us. It's Peeta who finally breaks the lovely silence.
"I love you Katniss."

I walk into the cluttered guest room. Where is it? I know I left my sweatshirt in here somewhere. I shriek as I trip over a tote on the floor. As I fall to the ground, my hand knocks a stack of papers that fly up around me.
Great. I think as I pick myself up. I kick the tote on the ground angrily, ignoring the stabbing pain that explodes in my foot.
"Violence is never the answer." Peeta tuts from the doorway and I roll my eyes, bending to pick up the fallen papers. Peeta comes over to help.
"What are all of these papers for?" He asks as we stack them neatly.
"I had this idea to make a memory book for all of the people we lost, but... I'm not very good at drawing. So I never got to it." I say and Peeta smiles at me.
"I love that idea Katniss. Why don't we go work on it?" He asks and we take the papers and a clip board back into our bedroom.
I snuggle up beside of him as I watch him start to draw out our first page. I grab out another clipboard and start to write out the information.
His pencil strokes are soft and steady, but confident. I watch, and he draws out the hair of little Rue. I title my page.

Rue

Smart and brave. Rue saved my life, pointing out the tracker Jackers above my head. I don't know what I would have done without my Rue. She had beautiful curly hair that was short and puffed out. Her smile could light the entire world. Clever and thoughtful, her words held traces of wisdom. She worked hard for her family, and made the end of shift call sound from the birds. She was a friend to me when I needed one most, guiding me and helping me in the games. She died in my own plan, and though she died for a horrible reason in a horrible way, I can't help but think fondly of her. My brave, beautiful little Rue.

I look up towards Peeta just as he draws the last stroke of her mouth. It's parted in a beautiful smile, and he made her eyes look alive and real. He reads my words as I study his work of art.
"This is beautiful Katniss." He says and I look down at what I've written. My untidy scrawl splattered in ink across the fine paper.
"Thank you. How did you make her look so real?" I ask, and he looks at his work too, just as I did with mine, surveying it.
"Practice. I could teach you to, if you would like." He says and I grin.
"Can't wait."

The buck bows it's head to the lower plants and berries, and I position my bow. The pointed arrow seeks it's target as I pull the string back. Breathe in, breathe out. I release the string.
Then it's my first kill from the games, and the arrow sinks into his heart as he falls to the ground with a loud thud. I scramble from the bushes, desperate. I can help him, save him, something.
As I reach him, it's not my first kill. It's Prim, blood seeping out, staining her crisp white blouse. Her golden hair fanned out over the dead leaves and dirt.
I stumble backwards. Prim.
"Katniss! Katniss help me please!" A voice hollers out.
"Dad?" I yell and start to run. Is he trapped in the mines? "Dad! Dad!" But when I reach the mine elevator, it isn't my dad, it's Gale.
"Katniss! Their gonna blow up the mines just like we blew up the-" BOOM.
The force of the explosion throws me backwards, and I land at a Peacekeepers feet. They pick me up by my arms and tie me to a pole similar to the one the Gale was whipped at.
"Let go of her!" A voice shrieks from beside me, but then the person screams. I look sideways to see Peeta, a bloody gash now seared into his back.
"One more word, and your dead boy." A Peacekeeper growls, but Peeta objects.
"Let her go-" and then the gun fires. My ears ring at the deafening sound, and my mind momentarily blanks. No. Not Peeta. I can't see him, the Peacekeepers block my view, but the sound is enough to tell me what happened.
"Peeta! Peeta!" I scream. Tears drip down my face into the dirt. I struggle against the ropes that tie me to the pole, but I can't get out. I take in his crumpled figure on the ground. "Peeta!"
I sit up, palms sweaty in my bed. I look around, looking for him, for his comforting embrace, for him to tell me that everything is alright. But he isn't beside me.
"Peeta! Peeta!" I get out of bed and scamper down the stairs, hopping the last step. A tear trickles down my cheek. Was that all real?
"Katniss what's wrong?" Peeta emerges from the bathroom. I run and jump at him and he falls, his prosthetic leg still upstairs.
"You-you were d-dead." I sob into his shoulder. He kisses my forehead and strokes my long brown hair.
He takes me to our bed, and, still holding onto me, starts to sing a song softly. I know that song. It's our song. How he knew the song would comfort me, I don't know, but it does. He wipes the last of my tears from my face.
"Its okay Katniss. I'm okay. We're okay."

Hey guys! So the song I wrote is by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars called Safe and Sound, and it's amazing, and I would definately recommend listening to it. I hope you guys liked my latest chapter!!
- Skylar