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I quickened my pace, my muscles in my mouth relaxing into a smile at the sight of Gale. He says I never smile except in the woods.
“Catnip!” Gale exclaimed.
“Gale!” I mimicked.
We both fell in step to the beat of the silence toward the lake to fish. Gale is an expert in the trapping area; it’s good for fishing.
Once there, I plunged right in the river. I’m better at fishing trying to fish the bear way; once you see a fish you try to catch it with your bare hands.
Gale on the other hand, prefers to catch fish with traps; it’s much more successful than my way. But I don’t tell Gale; he would rub it in my face.
After some time I call out, “You catch anything?”
“Yup about…seven, how about you?”
My face turned red with embarrassment. “Two,” I answered sheepishly.
Gale tried not to laugh but then covered it with a cough.
I rolled my eyes at this and dragged myself out of the water. Fortunately, the water only came up to my knees.
“C’mon!” I impatiently yelled out, wanting to get my hands on my bow and arrow, to prove to Gale that I am a good hunter.
Gale deliberately took his time and I set off without him. I ran to a half-hidden tree and grabbed my bow and arrows from within it.
Gale finally arrived and before he could say anything, I loaded an arrow and released it, The arrow hit my target, the squirrel right in the eye, dropping it dead without a spill of blood on it.
Gale started clapping and I bowed and I retrieved my squirrel and arrow.
“So have you caught anything?” I asked, my mouth setting into a smug smile. My eyes were full of laughter but I don’t think Gale caught that. Instead, his whole face crumpled and I didn’t know what to make of it.
But Gale laughed, not bothering to hide the amused expression on his face. Gale only laughs a handful of times and it doesn’t happen often. Often, his face is set in a stony expression but I can crack him up. I think the same applies to Gale; he never smiles except in the woods.
I shook my head and continued hunting. After about an hour, I had gathered six squirrels, two plump rabbits and one turkey.
I turned around and faced Gale’s gathering. It consisted of: one plump rabbit and three fat squirrels.
“Should we collect some berries and plants?” he asked. Collecting berries and plants were not his strong point. He knew the basics but that was about it. One wrong plant or berry and you are dead.
I nodded. “We should.”
We went toward a berry bush and I examined it. I knew what these were, Acil berries. “Safe to eat; also good for relief for inflamed skin,” I announced.
We picked some berries and after a while we were hauling our food home complete with a tiny bag full of roots, berries and plants.
Before we went home, we divided the food. I got one rabbit and four out of the nine squirrels and the half of contents of the tiny bag. We were dividing the turkey in half so we needed to visit Rooba, the town’s butcher. Gale always got a little more than me because he had a larger family to feed while I had two people to feed excluding myself.
“Wear something pretty,” he said flatly before going over the fence. I nodded and flattened myself under the fence. Before we parted our ways, he unexpectedly threw his arms over me. Only a moment’s hesitation and I hugged him back.
I absorbed as much of his body heat before I lost it. Who knew if I would be able to see him during the 73rd reaping today?
Maybe I won’t be feeling it today at all after the reaping. Maybe it’ll be the last time. But I quickly dismissed that thought. What were the chances of me being the girl tribute for the games?