Fic: On Fire
Title: On Fire
Fandom: Hunger Games
Characters: Katniss Everdeen
Rating: PG-13
Words: 443
Warnings: mention of war (well, more than mention, but nothing graphic), spoilers for all three "Hunger Games" books
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: Since the bombing of her district, Katniss has had a hard time determining what is real.
Author's Notes: Written for this picture prompt for Challenge 108 at great-tales. Thanks to musical_lottie for very fast beta'ing! :-)
Comments and criticism are always very welcome! Enjoy! :)
My name is Katniss Everdeen and I am seventeen years old. I survived the Hunger Games. They used to call me the girl on fire. I used to live in District 12, too, before the Capitol bombed it to the ground.
Sometimes recounting the facts helps to bring order to the chaos inside Katniss’ head. These are the good days; on them she can talk to her best friend Gale, to her mother and to her sister Prim almost as if nothing had happened. As if their home were still standing and they weren’t refugees in District 13.
Sometimes - most of the time, really - it doesn’t help. Then Katniss descends into darkness and all she finds there are flames and smoke. Her village is starting to burn. Screaming people run for their lives. She can see Gale gather some of the survivors, trying to lead them to safety. None of them will make it. District 12 is covered in coal dust and a little spark is enough to let it explode.
“A spark left unattended may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem,” she hears President Snow say. Katniss almost laughs because it’s just so wrong. Because of course Snow meant the spark of their rebellion, not the spark that will ignite District 12. After all, he’s the one who issued the bombing; he’ll only be too glad to watch them burn. Suddenly, Katniss chokes on a cloud of ashes whirling up and her laughter turns into sobs.
Then the flames reach Katniss. They don’t kill her, though, barely play around her body. Instead they start licking at her home, her family. Katniss reaches out to save them, but she cannot move. Slowly the fire eats everything away: Prim, her mother, her bow and arrows, her father’s hunting jacket, the family book of plants… - No! Not the book! That can’t be right!
Katniss forces her eyes open. Her clothes are sticky with sweat and her throat is hoarse. She must have screamed. But there are no flames or smoke and she isn’t in her home town. She’s lying in a clean white apartment in 13. And when she reaches out for the chest of drawers next to her bed, she finds the book unharmed. Which means Gale, Prim and her mother are safe, too. Katniss takes a deep breath and falls back on the bed. Then she clenches her hands into fists.
My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. The Capitol thought they could stop our rebellion by burning down my district. But they haven’t taken me into account. You cannot burn a girl already on fire.
Fandom: Hunger Games
Characters: Katniss Everdeen
Rating: PG-13
Words: 443
Warnings: mention of war (well, more than mention, but nothing graphic), spoilers for all three "Hunger Games" books
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: Since the bombing of her district, Katniss has had a hard time determining what is real.
Author's Notes: Written for this picture prompt for Challenge 108 at great-tales. Thanks to musical_lottie for very fast beta'ing! :-)
Comments and criticism are always very welcome! Enjoy! :)
My name is Katniss Everdeen and I am seventeen years old. I survived the Hunger Games. They used to call me the girl on fire. I used to live in District 12, too, before the Capitol bombed it to the ground.
Sometimes recounting the facts helps to bring order to the chaos inside Katniss’ head. These are the good days; on them she can talk to her best friend Gale, to her mother and to her sister Prim almost as if nothing had happened. As if their home were still standing and they weren’t refugees in District 13.
Sometimes - most of the time, really - it doesn’t help. Then Katniss descends into darkness and all she finds there are flames and smoke. Her village is starting to burn. Screaming people run for their lives. She can see Gale gather some of the survivors, trying to lead them to safety. None of them will make it. District 12 is covered in coal dust and a little spark is enough to let it explode.
“A spark left unattended may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem,” she hears President Snow say. Katniss almost laughs because it’s just so wrong. Because of course Snow meant the spark of their rebellion, not the spark that will ignite District 12. After all, he’s the one who issued the bombing; he’ll only be too glad to watch them burn. Suddenly, Katniss chokes on a cloud of ashes whirling up and her laughter turns into sobs.
Then the flames reach Katniss. They don’t kill her, though, barely play around her body. Instead they start licking at her home, her family. Katniss reaches out to save them, but she cannot move. Slowly the fire eats everything away: Prim, her mother, her bow and arrows, her father’s hunting jacket, the family book of plants… - No! Not the book! That can’t be right!
Katniss forces her eyes open. Her clothes are sticky with sweat and her throat is hoarse. She must have screamed. But there are no flames or smoke and she isn’t in her home town. She’s lying in a clean white apartment in 13. And when she reaches out for the chest of drawers next to her bed, she finds the book unharmed. Which means Gale, Prim and her mother are safe, too. Katniss takes a deep breath and falls back on the bed. Then she clenches her hands into fists.
My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. The Capitol thought they could stop our rebellion by burning down my district. But they haven’t taken me into account. You cannot burn a girl already on fire.