Let it snow? ~ Ocean [Mylee]

Bella had been looking out at the water when she felt someone sit beside her. The shift of the sand had alerted her before the person had actually spoken. She looked over at him and the first thing she noticed was his messy red hair. It almost reminded her of her brother’s messy hair, and how she always wanted to fix it. She wasn’t sure why he had suddenly decided to sit down and talk to her, but she figured it only polite to speak back. She felt like she should know him but she couldn’t honestly place him, maybe he had come into her father’s shop once or twice, she couldn’t quite remember though.

She smiled at him some “Hello, I’m Bella. Nice to meet you Skip.” Upon closer inspection of him he seemed a little younger than her, maybe fourteen. She wasn’t for sure though, for all she could tell he was fifteen and just looked young. She knew that that happened quite a bit and she didn’t mind. It was just rude to ask people how old they are, or at least that is how she looked at it. From the looks of him, and how he acted though, he couldn’t be older then her, maybe her age but she wasn’t sure.

She had no idea what to say next so she just waited for a moment while she thought of something to say, finally something came to her mind, “What are you doing on the beach today?” She figured it was the simplest conversation starter that she could think of. She still wasn’t for sure about anything. She also wasn’t sure how much more time she had out on the beach before she should head back to help her father out in the store again. It normally took her family an hour or two to stock the shelves up, so after that she could head back—and she probably would.

Bella smiled some at his comment about watching the waves. The waves were something she liked to watch even when it was cold and the wind was crisp, she came out here really to think though. She liked her thinking place, but she wouldn’t stand it when it was cold. She would never be seen out here when it was cold because she wasn’t a cold weather person; she liked it when it was warm and beautiful. She was sucked into memories of the summer time and being able to run on the beach barefoot and help her father fish sometimes, when they went fishing.

She watched Skip pick up the stone and skid it across the choppy waves—she found it impressive because of the way the waves were moving. The ocean was churning because of the cold and the weather. The ocean seemed angry and upset; the color was a dark grey-blue color, the color that sometimes scared her. She watched him wade into the water and thought about stopping him, as he could get sick with how cold the water is. She watched him reach down and pull out a shell, he then came back with it laced on his shoe string and handed it to her telling her Merry Christmas. She looked down at it and smiled some. “Thank you” She said quietly. She was grateful for the thought and it was very sweet of him to give her a gift even though they had known each other a total of four minutes probably. He was sweet but she still wasn’t sure how old he was. In giving her the gift it made her wonder if her wasn’t that old at all, “but I can’t accept it.” She said holding it back out to him, “because I don’t have anything for you in return.” Her parents had always taught her it was better to give then to receive and she would never accept something without having something for the person in return.

Bella held on to the necklace as he wouldn’t take it back. She put it in her pocket not sure at all what to do about this. She wasn’t sure how to react to him giving her this. She listened to what he said and how he said it—like he actually believed it. Did he honestly believe that he would be drawn for the Hunger Games? There was always a chance of course but it was unlikely. She looked at him trying to decide what she should about him. She sighed deeply not sure at all what to do. Finally, she slowly stood and looked at him before thinking about it for a moment. She finally decided she should as how old he was because he did have the ideas of a younger person then herself. “If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” She didn’t hesitate when she asked because she needed to know. She also wasn’t sure what he wanted her to follow him for but she humored him and walked with him “And where are we going?” She added as she walked.

Bella sat down next to him on the cool grass covered snow. She thought about dropping the subject for that exact moment. She didn’t want to but the way he had reacted to the question had turned her off the subject, she knew he would only get more upset with her if she continued on it, but she just couldn’t seem to drop it. She figured that he was younger than her—the defensiveness was a big sign of it; he was insecure so he was defensive. She stayed silent looking out at the waves sighing deeply. She placed her head in her hands before looking over at him. “I was just asking because the way you think makes me think you are thirteen or fourteen.” She said this while looking at him waiting for his answer. She knew she was probably right, because believing he was going to be drawn for the hunger games enough that he would want a complete stranger to remember him, and then being defensive about the age was also almost a dead give-a-way. Lastly, giving a present to a complete stranger that he met on the beach could also show signs of youth and innocence. She didn’t mention these thoughts to him though, she didn’t want to upset him anymore then she obviously had. She hoped that he wouldn’t get upset with her for just saying her thoughts, though it was possible.

Bella sighed when he told her his age. He was just a child still, and he believed that he would be in the Hunger Games and be able to take out all of the Careers. She didn’t know what to say or how to say it. She thought about it silently for a moment on her own. She didn’t want to say something wrong and have him get upset with her. She finally looked at him and sighed, “Honey, you have to understand that you probably won’t be in the Games.” She told him quietly and gently hoping that he would understand what she was saying. She hoped he understood that living in this world was not a death sentence, and that it is possible to not think that it is, but remember that it is possible that you can be harmed by this world. It is just hard to believe that all the time you would end up dead, it would drive you insane.

Bella sighed when she heard him say this. There was nothing she could really say, sure she felt bad that this kid felt like he had to do something he was obviously scared of doing, and of course she wanted to help him. She couldn’t tell him not to do it because he may want to and if he didn’t want to then why would he train so hard? She waited for a few moments looking out at the docks trying to decide what in the world she could say to this kid who was so worried about something like this. She finally decided on something. ”You don’t have to do what you don’t want to, if you don’t want to be in the Games, let someone volunteer, there are lots of others who want to” That was what she said and that was what she thought was best to say to him, what else could she say?