Hunger Games 1

Chapter 44 The Fox Face and the Wild Fruit (1)
I really want to dive headlong into the stew and gulp it into my mouth and eat it all in three bites.But Peeta stopped me. "We'd better take our time with that stew, remember our first night on the train? I ate so much I felt sick and I haven't even felt hungry since."

"You're right, there's no way I'd eat all of this!" I said regretfully.In fact, we have no regrets, we are very rational.Each of us ate an egg roll, half an apple, and rice stew with the size of an egg.I ate my stew - they even brought silverware and plates

—Let's savor the food slowly.After we finished eating, I was still staring at the food with greedy eyes.

"I still want to eat."

"Me too, so let's wait an hour, and if we're still hungry, we'll eat more," Peeta said.

"Agreed, it must be a long hour," I said.

"Maybe not that long," Peeta said. "What you said before the food came, it was about me...no competition...it's best for you..."

"Those last words, I don't remember saying them," I said, hoping it was dark enough for the camera to miss my blushing.

"Oh, yes, that's what I was thinking," he said. "I'm freezing over there."

I make room for him in the sleeping bag.We leaned against the cave wall, my head resting on his shoulder, and he put his arms around me.I can feel Haymitch saying - stay in this position. "So, there were five of us, didn't you notice the other girls?" I asked him.

"No, I've seen almost every girl, but you've left the most lasting impression on me," he said.

"Your parents must be surprised that you like a 'Sandwich' girl," I said.

"It's a little bit, but I don't care. Anyway, if we can go back, you won't be a girl from The Seam, you'll be a girl from Victory Village," he said.

That's right, if we win the game, we'll each get a house just for the winner of the Hunger Games.Long ago, at the beginning of the Hunger Games, the Capitol built twelve beautiful houses in each district.Of course, only one house in our district is occupied.

Speaking of this, I feel very disturbed. "Then, our only neighbor is Haymitch!"

"Ah, is that good," Peeta said, giving me a tight hug. "You, me, and Haymitch, it's cozy. Picnics, birthday parties, and we can sit around the fire on long winter nights and tell Hunger Games stories."

"I'm telling you, he hates me!" I said.Haymitch has become my new friend, which is ridiculous.

"Sometimes he might be, but when he's serious, I don't hear him say a bad word about you," Peeta said.

"But he's never serious!" I objected.

"Yeah. Who am I talking about? Oh, yeah, Cinna likes you mostly because you didn't run away when he lit your fire," Peeta said. "As for him, Haymitch... umm , if I were you, I would also avoid him, he doesn't like you."

"I thought you'd say I was his favorite," I said.

"He hates me more," Peeta said. "I don't think he fits in with most people."

I know the audience loves that we make fun of Haymitch.He's been in the game for so long that, for some, he's an all-too-familiar face.He has become a household name since his fall from the stage at the Harvest Festival ceremony.At this very moment, someone must have dragged him out of the control room for an interview about us.I don't know what kind of nonsense he will make up.He's at a disadvantage because most instructors have partners who can help each other out, but Haymitch has to be ready for a fight.Kind of like when I was alone in an arena.I wonder how he manages to drink, stay sober, and try to keep us alive.

It's funny, I don't get on very well with Haymitch in private, but maybe Peeta is right, we're very similar, and I seem to agree with him on many things: such as the time control of giving gifts, after his delay When I'm not given water, I know I'm near water, and cough sleeping syrup isn't for Peeta's pain, and the romance I'm supposed to be acting on now.In fact, he didn't put much effort into communicating with Peeta. Maybe he thought that to Peeta, a bowl of broth was a bowl of broth, but I could see why.

It occurred to me that I was amazed how long this question had been on my mind, maybe because I hadn't been curious about Haymitch until recently.

"How do you think he did it?"

"Who? What?" Peeta asks.

"Haymitch, how did he win the race?" I said.

Peeta thought for a long time, but didn't answer.Haymitch was strong, but not as big as Cato and Thrash.He wasn't particularly handsome, either, and he wasn't the type to get a lot of presents from his patrons.And he has a surly temperament, it is hard to imagine anyone willing to be with him.There's only one way Haymitch can win.I just said why, and Peeta blurted out too.

"He's smarter than the others," Peeta said.

I nodded and said nothing more.Privately I wondered if Haymitch was awake long enough to keep Peeta and me alive, because he thought we were smart enough to survive.Maybe he wasn't always drunk.Maybe, when he was the instructor at the beginning, he really helped the players, and slowly he found it unbearable.Mentoring two children and then watching them die was painful.I realized that if I could get out of here, then, year after year, this would be my job too.Guiding the girls in District [-], I was reluctant.I am determined not to think about it.

After about half an hour passed, I decided I needed to eat something.Peeta himself was too hungry to argue with me.We scooped out two spoonfuls of rice stew and were about to eat it when the national anthem rang out.Peeta peers out at the sky through a crack in the stone.

"Nothing to see tonight," I said, far more interested in the stewed rice than in the aerial images. "There will be nothing, and we won't hear the cannon."

"Katniss," Peeta said softly.

"What? Are we going to split another egg roll?" I asked.

"Katniss," he repeated, but I still didn't pay much attention.

"I'm going to split one, but I'm saving the cheese for tomorrow," I said.I see Peeta just staring at me, "What?"

"Sarish's dead," Peeta said.

"He can't," I said.

"It must have been a cannon when it thundered, we didn't hear it," Peeta said.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's pouring rain, I don't know how you see it," I said.I pushed him away from the edge of the stone and looked out into the dark rainy night.For about ten seconds, I saw a distorted image of Saresh, so to speak, he was really gone.That's it.

I sat down beside the stone wall in a daze, temporarily forgetting what I was doing.Salish is dead.I should be happy, shouldn't I?There is one less opponent, a strong opponent.But I wasn't happy, all I could think about was Saresh letting me go, for Lulu, the girl with the spear in her belly.

"Are you okay?" Peeta asked.

I shrugged, confused.I crossed my arms and stayed close to my body, trying to hide my true feelings as best I could.Otherwise, who would sponsor someone who mourns the deaths of other contestants?Lulu is something else, we are partners.And she is very small.But at this time no one understands my grief for Saresh's death.One word popped into my head: Murder!Thank God I didn't yell, or it wouldn't do me any good in the arena.I faltered, "Actually, if we don't win... I hope Saresh wins because he let me go, and Lulu."

"Yes, I understand, but that means we're closer to District [-]." He pushed a plate of food into my hand, "Eat it, it's still hot."

I gulped down the stewed meat with rice, pretending not to care, but the rice swirled in my mouth, and it was hard to swallow it.

"That means Cato will come to us."

"Maybe he's getting his supplies again."

"He's probably hurt too, I guess."

"Why do you say that?" Peeta said.

"Because Saresh must have had a hard fight with Cato before he went down, he's so strong and they're in his turf," I said.

"The more Cato is injured, the worse it will be. I wonder what happened to Foxface?"

"Oh, she's fine," I said angrily, still indignant at the thought of her hiding in the Horn of Zeus, which I didn't expect, "maybe it's easier to find Salish than to find her."

"Maybe they find each other, and we can go straight home," Peeta said, "but we have to be extra careful when we're on sentry, and I've dozed off a few times."

"Me too," I admitted, "but not tonight."

We finished our meal in silence, and Peeta offered to watch first.I got into my sleeping bag and lay down next to him, closing the lid to block the camera lens.I need a little privacy, to release the expression on my face.Underneath the lid, I silently say goodbye to Salish and thank him for saving my life.I secretly made a wish that I must remember him. If I win, I will help his family and Lulu's family.Then I drifted off to sleep, my stomach full and the warmth of Peeta by my side.

I smell cheese all of a sudden when Peeta wakes me up, holding up half an omelet with white cheese and apple slices. "Don't be silly, I still want to eat, this is half of yours."

"Oh, good," I said, taking a big bite right away.The rich cheese tastes like the cheese made by Prim, and the apples are sweet and crisp, "Oh!"

"We make cheese a lot in the bakery, and apple tarts," he said.

"It must be expensive," I said.

"It's too expensive, and our family can't afford it, unless it's been stored for too long and it's stale. In fact, everything we eat has a long shelf life." Peeta said.He pulled the sleeping bag up, and within a minute, he fell asleep.

Ha, I always thought shopkeepers were having a good time.Yeah, there's always enough food for Peeta, but stale bread, the kind that's dry and hard and nobody wants to eat, sucks too.As for us, our food is brought back on a daily basis, so most of the time what we eat is freshly made, but we don’t know if the food will be available the next day.

When I was on guard, the rain didn't fall slowly, but stopped suddenly.The downpour has stopped, only the water dripping slowly from the branches, and the stream rushing around us.A full moon rises in the sky, it is beautiful, even without glasses, everything around can be seen clearly.I couldn't tell if the moon was real or just an image created by the contest organizers.I think back to the night before I left home the moon was full and Gail and I watched it rise as we spent our final hours hunting.

How long have I been away from home?It's been about two weeks since I've been in the arena, plus a week of preparations in the Capitol, maybe the moon will be full again.Somehow, I'm particularly eager that the moon that hangs high in the sky at this time is our home moon, the same moon I saw in District [-].In this way, in a surreal world where everything is an imaginary arena, there is finally something real.

There are four people left.

For the first time, I contemplated the possibility of coming home myself.I thought of honor, I thought of wealth, I thought of my own house in Victor Village.Mom and Prim can live there with me.There is a new freedom in not having to worry about going hungry anymore.Then what? ……How about it?What will my day-to-day life look like?I used to run around for three meals a day, but now it has changed. I don't know who I am and what my identity is.Thinking of this, I felt a panic in my heart.I thought about Haymitch, he was rich, but what about his life?He was alone, without a wife or children, and he was drunk most of his waking hours.I don't want to be in this situation.

(End of this chapter)