d5 . matilde gingham

Sunflowers, you think, are one of the purest flowers out there. You once read about how without sunlight they die. When there's none around them they'll turn to one another and use their friends and family to be their light for them. There's something beautiful about reaching for the people you care about and leaning on them and relying on them to keep you going. It's what family is all about; keeping one another strong, making sure no one gets left behind.

You've always cherished family, always wanted to do better for them and make and everyone of their lives shine a little brighter. There's nothing more perfect in life than seeing your brothers and sisters smile. So, you make it a goal- each and every day, to pull a smile from frowning lips. It's a gift of yours you've honed and grown to perfection, built from the skin up and carved into flesh as you give piece after piece of yourself away. It doesn't bother you, to you, you're built from stone and chipping pieces away is simply part of the process to create something new.

Birthday's are by far the best part of every year. With the number of siblings that fill your house you're constantly on your toes. Each and every one of them has been memorized, imprinted in your brain down to the the house or moments that might separate one adopted sibling from the other. Most of your siblings aren't the biggest fans of celebration, some of them even forgetting it's their birthday until you surprise them with a cake.

But you truly believe that it is a day worth celebrating with a hundred smiles and kisses. Everyone deserves to have a day that tells the world how special they are. Your love for each and everyone of them hidden within the layers of cake and icing and shining through the candles you put on top. Maybe you can't give them presents, fill their day with trips and surprises, but you can give them love. You can fill their life with smiles and hugs that make them laugh. You might not have much but you have hands that are gentle, hands that write birthday cards dedicated to every good thing about them, scarves or gloves knitted with care.

You can make them smile and hopefully remember that they are special- even if only to you. There's one person in this world who will love them and hold them and protect them no matter what. You're wrong, though, your parents are just as sweet and gentle built from the same cut of cloth as you are. You know where you get it from and you hope that the warmth of your embraces can mirror their own.

You're a homemaker and a carer, in love with the comfort of cleaning and cooking. Baking in the kitchen is one of your favourite things, filling the house with delightful smells that make your nose sing. One day you hope you can find your own family, build it strong and make it stand in front of the world with your proud name. You know that whilst the world is as broken and battered as it is, you will do no such thing. Your selfish desire to have your own family cannot beat your selfless will to let anyone else suffer.

Panem is not a world you want to create a family in. Reaping after reaping you feel a little more broken, unable to help another kid being led to their death. Part of you itches, fingers yearning to shoot into the air and call out your own name. You could stand before this world and save another life, but the fear coiled in your belly glues you to the spot. Your name caught in your throat as you watch every year as another girl disappears. They come home in a box. If you cannot build your own family maybe one day- one year, you'll be strong enough to stop another one from falling apart.