Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Epilogue

10 Years Later

Willow

"And as I start to leave
He grabs me by the shoulder and he tells me,"What's left to lose? You've done enough. And if you fail, well, then you fail, but not to us. 'Cause these last three years—I know they've been hard. But now it's time to get out of the desert and into the sun; Even if it's alone." -The Format

I was 15 when I finally learned what happened to my mom and dad. Every day, I waited and waited for an explanation. In Grade 6, my teacher introduced us to the concept of the Hunger Games. I was never allowed to be in the room when they did. A principal always came to escort me out of the classroom.

In the hallway the other kids would whisper things about me, about my mom and dad, about how different I was because of my parents. I begged my parents to tell me. Neither of them would budge. Eventually, my dad was easier to crack. It was my mother who would prove to be a challenge.

My father, sensitive but strong, gentle but meaningful, always understood my anguish at the situation. My mother, however, insisted on waiting until I was ready for sure. My mother and father, while often-times overprotective and pushy, were the only solid in my life. Of course, my little brother Rye was there too, but he's a pesk. And Finn was there by his side. Rye and Finn were practically brothers, despite the age difference. I was usually left out of the mix, except the time when Finn and I were little and thought we fell in love.

Our parents smiled when they found out we had our first kiss out by the lake in the woods. I was 8. Finn was 11. It was stupid, looking back on it, but we thought it was real. I remember telling my mother those very words, that it was real, and her face turned white as a sheet. She quickly distanced herself from the conversation and left. I always wondered why she would do things like that.

There were days that she couldn't come out of her room. Dad would nurse her back to normalcy, bring her some sort of medicine, and let her stay in there as long as she needed. Still, her smile rarely wavered around me and Rye. It seemed like we were all she was living for. She loved us deeply. I always knew she wouldn't ever leave us.

And then, there were days when I would come home crying from school when the kids were unbearably mean. She would always let me bury myself in her. She would let me sob into her chest until I had a headache. Then she would get me a glass of water and hold me as tight as she could.

There were days where I would give her a hug, and I could practically feel every bone in her body. She was small and seemed frail. I never realized that she was as tough as they come.

--

On the day they tell me, my father asks Finn, who is 18, to take Rye out on a walk in the woods. Rye is 10, and my parents don't want to tell him too young either. After they leave, my mother and father sit me down in our living room.

My heart pounds in my chest, because I am too smart not to know what's coming. This is it. This is finally when I learn what really happened.

Mom and Dad sit with me. They start from the beginning, alternating who says what. It's like they've rehearsed this over and over. They trade off parts like they already know what's coming. Mom tells the stuff Dad can't, and Dad tells the stuff Mom absolutely can't.

"There was a rebellion, years and years and years ago, long before your father and I were children. The Capitol was the heart of the country, it stole all of the districts' power and all of their food and supplies. Everyone in the Capitol? Filthy rich. Everyone else? Poor. My family was starving. Your grandfather died in a mining accident when I was a little younger than you. I took over the whole family from that point on. Your father's family owned a bakery. They were lucky. They could eat," My mother tells me.