Daughter's Lament (A Hunger Games fanfic)

eh just something that popped to mind.

A cool Autumn breeze blew into the open shuttered windows, carrying with it a beautiful and familiar sound.

  The eleven year-old girl swiftly ran to the closest window, leaning out she caught a glimpse of her father walking past, whistling as he went.

  She called out. “Father, I helped mother prepare our meal to take into the woods.” Then she noticed he was heading up the dirt road towards town. “Are we leaving now?”

  Her father smiled, squinting as the midday sun shone in his eyes. “I’m afraid we can’t go right now, Katniss. I’ve been called to the mines.” Seeing her disappointment, he added. “Gather your bow and arrows and wait in the woods then come to the mineshaft when you hear the Mockingjay sing.” He instructed before walking again towards town, his songs echoing in the air.

  She listened to her father’s voice till it disappeared over the hill before she retreated back into the house. Fetching the soft leather boots from her room and her father’s coat from the kitchen table, knowing how cold the depths of the forest can get.

  She cast a last glance at her mother" who sat near the low fire, reading one of her many books while Prim, her little sister, played with her mother’s hair.

  Smiling to herself, she slipped quietly out of the house and ran short way to the fence that surrounded District 12. Listening intently for the low hum that meant the fence was live and electrified. She heard nothing and crawled under the chain link fence where wild dogs have dug out.

  Once hidden by the cover of the woods, she gathered her sheath of arrows from a hollowed stump and the small bow her father made just for her.

  The ground was soft from yesterdays rain, quieting her footfalls as she went deeper into the forest.

  She walked till the shadows grew thick, blocking most of the sun and warmth with every step further away from home. Never have the woods felt this somber when her father was around. She heard a twig snap, startled she pointed her loaded bow at its source.

  The creature from high up on a tree trunk, flicked its fuzzy tail almost in mockery for spooking the hunter.

 She let the arrow fly, killing the squirrel instantly and watched it fall to the ground.

As she tied her kill to her belt she realized: That was my first kill without Father hunting with me.

But her glory moment only lasted just that when another sound of approach came from the shifting shadows, and it was her this time who scurried up a tree like a squirrel.

  That’s where she stayed, nestled high in the forked tree with her father’s coat to shelter in, while the shadows haunted her down below.

  Without realizing it, she began to sing, softly" more to herself at first, then gradually louder when neighboring birds began to join in with their own chorus. Forgetting about the hidden creatures among the shadows, she closed her eyes, singing only to the birds.

 

   It’s late. She noted the moment she opened her eyes, but that wasn’t the only thing she noticed. It was the light grey bird with black striped wings that caught her attention.

  It cocked it’s head to the left, opening it’s beak to sing the same notes her father had whistled this morning.

  Quietly she laughed, returning the same few notes, watching the Mockingjay fall silent.

Sing.

Its eyes seemed to be telling her, but her father was waiting and her joy to see him overruled the Mockingjay’s request.

  She climbed down the tree with practiced grace, running down a well worn path her father used many times to walk home from the mines.

  Soon the trees began to thin, sunshine caressed her skin as she near the fence. She hid her weapons and kill under a bush knowing that it wouldn’t be long before her father would take her deeper into the woods to hunt.

  Passing under the broken fence hidden behind a scrap pile she began to run towards the mineshaft just ahead with a few miners wandering here and there before the whistle signaled for the end of work.

  Their coal smudged faces glanced at her way but they said nothing. They were too concerned about returning to their own families then to be worried about a eleven year-old wondering about.

  She sat upon a rock, waiting for her father’s blackened face to emerge from the tunnel.

A shadow towered over her and she glanced up.

 “Katniss.” The man said, coal dust on his face made his smile stand out more as he offered her his hand. “Hawthorn.” He introduced himself. “Your father is a good friend of mine. Its nice to meet you finally, your father talks a lot about you.” He leaned down closer to her, whispering. “He tells me what a fine hunter your becoming.”

  Shyly she smiled, though on the inside she was shocked on how freely her father spoke of their forbidden trips into the wild.

  “Is he outside already?” She asked, hopefully.

Hawthorn shook his head. “We’ve been down there all day trying to blast away debris from the tunnel, but it shouldn’t be much longer.”

  A small device from his shirt pocket started to buzz, and when he saw her looking at it he explained. “It’s like a communication device, although, we can only hear what the head director says.”

  In that same instant a voice crackled over the speaker.

“Commence fire in: 3...2...1.” 

 “Get down.” Hawthorn commanded, before a ground shaking explosion erupted bringing with it a large cloud of coal dust from the entrance, covering everyone and everything within its reach.

 She coughed, the coal dust threatening to choke her. Beside her Hawthorn swore, wiping his face clear of the dust with an equal looking dirty rag. “Those idiots! They know the support beams in Tunnel C are not strong to withstand that much gunpowder" ” That was all she heard before he ran off into the mineshaft.

 “Daddy!” She screamed, running towards the mine entrance, but a woman caught her roughly by the arm just as another shudder under the ground began.

 “Go home!” The woman shouted, the siren ringing so loud that it almost blocked out her words. “Go home!”

 She ran. Not towards home where she should have went, but back into the woods. Grabbing her weapons and leaving the squirrel for the animals. Her only thoughts were to run. And run.

 She stayed hidden until the night swept in, and even then she let the night consume her, afraid of the truth she might find if she left.

The creatures of the night didn’t scare her, nothing could be more terrifying than the truth she knew.

 But as the night dragged on the need to see her mother increased. She felt utterly alone, more than she’s ever felt before.

 Stumbling in the dark she managed to make it back to the meadow just outside of her house, and looking across the meadow the house looked as dead as she felt.

 She was about to stow away her weapons when a song echoed from the trees.

Her heart skipped, eyes scanning the underbrush, waiting for her father to emerge from the darkness and tell her everything was alright.

 Only when the song came again did she see its source: a Mockingjay.

Half-way through its song it shrieked, dropping dead to the ground. The arrow through it’s heart glinting in the moonlight.

 “You told me he was waiting for me!” She cried for the first time since the incident. “You lied! You said he was waiting for me!” Throwing her bow and arrows into the brush, she ran to her house. Leaving the dead Mockingjay where it laid.

 The front door stood wide open, no firelight filled the windows, and it sent a chill down her back.

In the moonlight she saw her mother outside talking with someone, even from here she could feel her mother’s sorrow. From the doorway Prim stood crying, afraid to come out into the dark.

 She picked her sister up, holding her close while silent tears ran. Usually she would of sung a lullaby to calm her sister down, but she knew that just like the Mockingjay she could never sing again.

Author's Note

Okay I know that there is a lot wrong with this:

#1. It stinks I know.
#2. That Katniss was at school when the explosion happened.
#3. She may of been twelve at the time I don't know or remember.
#4. Hawthorn may not be correct. :P
#5. It's really bad. -_-
#6. Gah! Can I not write a story under twelve hundred words!!?? This story was fifteen hundred! (If only i could write that much during a school report -_-)

Please tell me how I need to improve and what mistakes I made.


I TAKE NO CREDIT OF THE CHARACTERS! THEY ALL BELONG TO SUZANNE'S WONDERFUL BOOK: THE HUNGER GAMES.

I fell to sleep listening to the CD one night and I woke up listening to this song and thus this story began to play in my mind.

Reviews

[JadeForever]

that is so good!! it feels like im reading it right out of the book. :) you are truly talented.

[The Scholar]

Love it, and well done.
All I'd say is modify the first few sentences. Anything having to do with "a cool breeze carrying some scent or sound or feeling" is rather overused.

Other than that, I really enjoyed it! You have a true gift for writing. Nice fanfic.

[13ReasonsWhy]

Oh my gosh I really liked this!! It's not bad at ALL. I LIKEY I LIKEY. :D it was very creative and painte a wonderful picture!

[Just Another Writer]

You should be confident! this was written very well!! Your imagery was great.

[Ami N.]

Very interesting. Well written Breeze :)

[SuicidePact.]

This is really cool! I suck at fan fiction! but you did a fantastic job, don't doubt yourself

[Wren]

This fits perfectly into the story:) another amazing write Breezy!!!!

[RachelKim]

Beautiful(:

[Tai Ryens]

Coming from a fellow writer who has read the whole series, I'd say you made a very good fan fiction. If Katniss wasn't at school, I'm very sure that this may have actually happened. Wonderful job, keep it up!

[Susanna F]

I haven't read the books yet (planning on it), but don't knock your writing - this made me hold my breath, it was heartrending. Really well written!