Heat. Destruction. Death. (Nyte :: Drought Plot)

The heat that beat down upon my pale skin was deadly. It felt as though if I stood under it for much longer my flesh would simply melt from my bones. Hastily I bring up my left hand up to shield my eyes from the harshness of the sound rays. How long had it been like this now? The endless heat beating down on all of the inhabitant of the district? I couldn't quite remember how long, but I knew that it had been too long. The fields no loner were laced with the colour and vibe f life but painted with a brittle dryness and death. The district in which had only been flourishing not to long ago was now turning as dry as the fossils of long dead cattle.

Today was the day though, the day the district was to receive the help it so desperately needed. Why had it taken so long, though, for the Capitol to switch on and see that we were genuinely in trouble? Sighing I push the thoughts to the back of my mind, my feet carrying me down the narrow path that would lead me to my slowly dying animals. There was cattle, sheep and monkeys, all calling my small- once full of life- paddock there home.

In my free hand I hold a rather large- but not large enough- bottle filled with water. It was all I had, the only source of liquid that I could supply for my rescued animals. My feet break the brittle pieces of grass that I wander over until I am staining in front of a small but study wis fence. Usually I would smile, taking in the image of all my beautiful animals… but today I only give a small sad nod before climbing over the low fence. Tiger lazily lifts his head in greeting but by the looks of it the movement was energy consuming and I feel my eyebrows knit into a frown.

Cautiously I walk over to my favourite baby, my eyes glassy with tears. He looked so sad, so broken… Just like the day when I saved him. He had been so close to death back then, so close to falling away into that never ending darkness… He looked like hat now. The back of my throat begins to burn as I place a shaking hand onto the dry pelt of my cow. “It’s going to be ok, Tiger. Help should be arriving any minute now.” I sooth the old animal, before unscrewing the lid of the battle and gentle coaxing some liquid into his parched mouth. “It will all be okay, you’ll see.”

Suddenly Tiger was on the ground, his legs collapsing from beneath him. Instantly I am on my knees beside the young cow, my hands searching his coat. His eyes slowly begin to close and I could tell by his faint small shallows breathes that the constant heat was taking its toll on him. A small moan scales his lips before they clap together. I pull the bottle away from his mouth only to see the water that I had tried to make hi drink, fall to the bone dry grass. Almost instantly it is absorbed, like water on a sponge.

“Tiger?” My voice is no louder than the gentle heat filled breeze that dances around us. I watch as the small animals’ head collapses onto my lap where it stays, not even flinching when a hungry fly lands on his cheek. Hastily I swipe at the fly, tears filling my eyes. I remembered the time when I had found him. The fire had enveloped the barn he was tucked away in, and it took all I had to get him to of there breathing. His coat was covered in smoke and his whole body was shaking like a leaf in a wild wind. Now I could only wish for his body to start to shake- to start to do anything. “T-Tiger? Tiger!” My voice is pleading as I repeat his name- almost like a chant, hoping that the sound of my voice will bring him closer to me and further away from the greedy grasp of death. “Tiger- tiger just hang on a bit longer, please. Tiger, please, don’t- don't leave me. Not yet. Hold on…” my voice trails off, my body unable to summon anymore words as I watch his small chest take its last breath before collapsing into a deathly stillness.

Tears roll down my cheek and off of the edge of my chin in a endless stream. In the distance I see one of the older cow glance over at us, and I could see that it knew, that it knew that once again we had lost one of our family members. “Tiger…. Tiger… Please, please come back, dont leave me... please...” I could save him once, I could do it again, I could save him. I just needed to try harder- but what more could I do? I had given everything up to protect him, I had given up seeing Milo, for caring for my mother, everything in the hopes that I could prolong the life of the animals that I had saved.

Slowly I begin to ran a shaky hand over his head, in a way a mother would to loth her sick child, almost in a way to make his path to the next life easier. Silent sobs begin to tear through my body, and it takes all I have not to cry out loud, holding back the protesting tears until I just sit, shaking, with the head of Tiger in my lap. I close my eyes and lean over so that my forehead was resting on his cheek.

He was gone.

He was gone, and this time there would be no way for me to save him.

"Tiger..."