Skinny Love

Mrs. Jennifer Greenleaf

Hello everyone. My name is Mrs. Jennifer Greenleaf. I was born on February 3, 2180, currently making me 35. I am the widow of Christopher Greenleaf, tribute of the 56th Hunger Games. My once bright green eyes are now dull and emotionless. My brown hair has gone limp. I had two girls with him. One has moved out to live with the man she loves while the other lives with me. Both of their names are still contained in that reaping bowl. It kills me to think that one of them might die in the Games that killed their Father. Despite how skilled he was with a sword, Christopher was killed with a spear to the heart. The District 4 tribute at that time had never missed. He had in fact previously killed my childhood friend, Violet. Yes, I may not have spoken to her in years but it still hit me hard. She was an amazing friend to me and volunteered for my sister, Lynn, when she was reaped. I believe that Violet knew I would have volunteered if I could have. I also believe that she knew how grateful I was to her without me saying anything. I never got to say goodbye to her because I spent the time with Christopher. He told me he would tell Violet when he got the chance.

I had my first child, Ella, at the age of 16. Then came Clove when I was 17, the same year Christopher was reaped and killed. Becoming a Mother at that young age, on top of having my name still in the reapings, was stressful. Losing Christopher is what changed me the most. Most people say it was their children but for me it was my boyfriend. I shut everyone out and barely could function enough to keep my girls alive. My parents helped with the girls until after the funeral. They then pushed me back into reality at that point. I took care of the two beautiful children I had with Christopher. To this day I have never once looked at another man or even thought of dating someone else. He was my one true love and nothing will change that. I can tell that the girls want me to find someone to spend my life with once they leave, but I just can't. I've tried to look around for someone to possibly date but all I saw was Christopher. I looked all around the District but I continued to see my dead husband in every man that I looked at. After the first few tries I realized that it was hopeless and gave up. Why should I try to get over someone if I keep seeing them places?

I am thankful to the Capitol for making an exception with me and allowing me to be removed from the reapings. If it wasn't for their generosity, there is a chance that my two girls would have been raised by my parents. They allow me to teach in the Training. To be more specific I am the medical teacher, the one that will teach the children how to take care of any sort of injury possible in the Games. During my days at the Training Center, before Ella, I would work with Chinese throwing daggers. It was difficult to work with at first but I did not give up. I refused to give up with them. Eventually I became the top of my age group from how much I trained. I do not believe that there will ever be a Games where I see Chinese throwing daggers. It is very rare that anyone would even know how to use them without getting cut up. For the past few Games I have looked for the weapons that my daughter use and rarely see a bow. I believe that Clove has a better chance at surviving than anything else.

Clove seems to be the one following in my footsteps when it comes to training. She uses throwing knives and from what I hear she never misses a target. It makes me proud that my youngest is able to use a relatively similar weapon that I had once used. Ella, on the other hand, is more like who I once was. She's carefree and happy. All she has to worry about is the last reaping she will ever have her name in and of course planning the wedding. As of now I do my best to ensure that she will be able to survive the Games if she is the one reaped. I do not believe that Clove would volunteer in that slim chance that her older sister gets reaped. If she does... I don't even want to think about it... My little girl going into the Games to fight for her life and possibly dying like her Father...