The flame will burn forever {Leticia's funeral}
Mar 6, 2017 14:24:51 GMT -5
Post by Sleepy Fluttershy on Mar 6, 2017 14:24:51 GMT -5
Aileen Wheeler.
I am standing in front of my sister's mangled body. Three broken bones, one huge blood stain in the place where her heart was supposed to be beating right now. This heart deserved to be beating more than anyone else's in that Arena.
Since the very moment when I saw her face change after that boy volunteered I have known that she didn't go up that stage by choice. I don't know who he is and why she cared about him so much. I can still remember her calling that guy an idiot when she stood there next to him. I don't remember much after that. I think I was crying and trying to punch one of the Peacekeepers in the stomach by one of my twiggy elbows until I was dragged away by my mother. I don't know what I was trying to change when her choice was made already. It was probably just a tantrum.
I remember those last five minutes we spent together, though.
“I am sorry! I really am! But I had to do it! Luke, just trust me, I had to, okay?”
And a desperate look in the eyes. I don't know if she realized that I know why she had to yell the two words that changed the life of our family forever.
“I am sorry about being such a jerk, sis! I really love you! Please, take care of them! Stay safe, okay?”
You had never been a jerk, Leticia, you were just never afraid to be yourself and express your feelings openly – something I have never been capable of...
It all began in a few days and in the first few seconds of the Games her leg was broken by some guy from district one. Maybe he didn't mean it, but my only sister was injured and barely escaped from the Bloodbath. If her ally wasn't there to help her, she wouldn't have made it until the next day. I was feeling so grateful to that dark haired fairy from district ten and even believed that together they could manage anything, but only for a while. My sister was in pain and there was no one there to actually treat her injury and deep bruises all over her body...
After she bumped into the two other tributes, one of which was trying to lay her hands on the bracelet I gave her, my heart sank. In a few minutes I saw another bone cracking in Leticia's leg. After I saw her throwing my gift at the greedy district one, I couldn't endure this any longer. I ran to my room and locked the door. I took the paperclips I had saved to make a birthday present for my mom and started making another bracelet. When the last rose was finished, I tucked it into my pocket and sat on my bed, crying. Leticia's room was next to mine in that attic and now I was left alone...
Another day came and my sister could survive then, if she just ran away when she saw those tributes. But Leticia was never running when someone she cared about was in trouble. And the reward she got for trying to help another boy from our district, whom she didn't even seem to know before the Games, was a red spear in her chest.
When it happened, tears flooded my mother's shoulder as I buried my face in her arms. But before that, I saw her lips moving and could only understand one word that escaped her mouth – Marcus. Was she in love? Or were they just close friends? It is hard to tell now. Maybe that guy won't even live to tell his district partner about Leticia's death.
I make another step towards my sister's corpse, take the new bracelet out of my pocket and put into the middle of the red spot.
“I am sorry, sister. I promise I will tell him if he comes back,” - I whisper quietly. Was it all even worth it? The tears of sorrow and regret are streaming down my face. Maybe that blond boy is not who she had thought he was. Maybe when she was drawing that picture of him on the floor, he wasn't even thinking about her. I saw him kill a girl after Leticia passed away. I wouldn't think he could be anything but selfish and ignorant if my sister didn't give everything she had to go after him...
Yes, it was worth it. It definitely was. We will never see her again. But the last thing she did was showing us that nothing could break her. She didn't kill anyone and only fought to protect the ones who needed it, forgetting about herself. She never lost hope. She never stopped believing in the people around her.
She signed her death sentence by trying to protect her district partner and her own loyalty might have killed her, but it also made her who she was – my sister, my friend, my one and only brave hero. And I will never forget this. I wish I could at least be a little more like Leticia. I will try my best to live like I am both me and her, to always do the right thing, like she did. She might be dead, but a memory of her will never disappear.
Mom and Luke are standing behind me. They are the only family I have left now. Leticia always did her best to make Luke's life as good as it could be for someone who will never walk again...
"I love you, sister. Don't worry, I'll take care of them for you, I promise," - I whisper, kissing her on the cheek.
And then I burst into tears, sobbing quietly. I have to accept that she is not here anymore, but it is too hard to make myself think that everything will be all right.