Glass Eyes || Gale Hawthorne

00.

~*~

I'm stepping on something soft. My feet are crunching against it. The other children are singing, and laughing. Not me. I'm walking away from them. I want to be in that place where I can hear the birds sing.

The meadow is the only place where I can be myself. And I like to go there sometimes during recess and lunch. It's the only place where I feel like I can forget about the troubles of Panem and District Twelve if only for a moment.

It isn't until much recently I learned that the Peacekeepers, and the Hunger Games weren't the only thing to be afraid of. 

"Come play with us, Maggie!"

Maggie. My real name is Magnolia, like the flower, according to my father. The other children could never say my name right, so we decided to shorten it. I don't like it, but I don't complain either since it stops the other kids from making fun of it.

But it doesn't mean that the teasing hasn't stopped.

I'm standing still. The whispering, and giggling were all around me, and I couldn't tell who was who.

On purpose.
They did that on purpose.

This isn't the first time. There is always a next time with them. They think I'm an easy target just because I'm blind.

"We're going to play tag with the boys," another girl says. "Come with us."

I can't run. I won't know where to go. I can't play hide and seek. I won't be able to tell where they are. I'm not that good at sensing where people are yet.  It's an unfair game. I don't want to play, so I ignore them and continue walking.

The group of girls won't let me walk away. They are still blocking my way, and pushing me around. 

The stick that my father made for me is knocked out of my hands. I cry out, and my face smacks against the soft grass. I can't get up. My hands are brushing through the grass, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

All I hear are the giggles, and the teasing, and I can't focus without my cane. I want to cry, the tears are already welling up in the eyes, but I don't want them to know they've made me cry. If they know I cried, then they won.

"Hey, leave her alone!"

"Don't you have anything better to do!?" A girl's voice yells.

There's pressure on my body. Someone's arms are around me, stopping me from moving. An odd, pleasing smell engulfs me, like the flowers from the meadow.

"Are you alright?" The girl's addressing me now.

I hesitate. Her voice is familiar, but we don't know each other. We've never spoken to each other before.

"Is she going to be okay, Madge?" A new voice approaches us, breathing heavily. I recognize it. The girls kept giggling about him. I've heard him talk in class a few times. He knew his history well.

Madge's name is familiar too. And I couldn't place why. I don't think we're in the same class, otherwise I would have known exactly what she sounds like.

"I'm fine," I say, and try to get up. But whoever's near me, grabs my arm before I can do anything and lifts me up. I hate it. I've always had to smile and pretend like it didn't bother me. But it does. "I didn't need any help."

"Come play with us instead," Madge says. " I always see you walking around, but I never know where you go!"

It's because I don't want to be found. I don't want anyone to find the one place where I can be happy. It's my place.

They're not laughing at me. Their voices are not as annoying as the other children. But I still don't trust them.

"Sorry about your stick," the boy says. 

What? What was wrong with it? He places it in my hands, and I feel the roughness of it against my fingers as I rub it until I reach the center. It falls apart in my hands.

"It kinda broke," he continues.

It's all I had left. And now it's gone.

"Wait, don't cry! We can make you a new one!"

I don't want a new one. I want that one back. Nothing could replace it.

"Do you want to be alone?" The girl, Madge, her name is Madge, asks once she calms down the panicking boy. "We could leave you alone if we're bothering you."

Did I want them to go away? No. They helped me. And despite disliking the help I receive, I don't hate them at all. They're not the ones I should hate. I should dislike the other children who broke my cane...only, I don't hate them either, no matter how hard I try. 

I shake my head from side to side.

"My name's Maggie," I  introduce myself softly. I don't know why. They should already know me from class.

"Oh, you're the girl with the weird name!" The boy shouts, and she winces.

I'm oddly disappointed. He should know me. We were in the same class. Maybe I'm just really that forgettable after all. 

"Gale!" Madge whispers harshly to her friend. He makes an odd noise of pain. Did she hit him? "It's nice meeting you, Maggie, I'm Madge!"

"I might need some help walking back," I mutter, but I think it's loud enough for them to hear. As much as I hate this, I'm not used to walking around without my cane.

"Don't worry, Maggie, we'll be your eyes, okay?" She says. Her voice is so soothing like a mockingjay when it sings.

I'm okay with it for now. I can trust them. I hold my hand out in front of me, and someone grabs onto it right away. Another person takes my other hand, and we slowly make our way back to the school like this.

It isn't until much later that I realize the first one to grab my hand was Gale.

~*~