Author: admin

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?” I know every word of the song, since I learned it for Lenore Dove’s birthday last December. It wasn’t that hard, it being what she calls an earworm, meaning it sticks in your…

I give my head a slight shake. “A miscalculation on my part,” Plutarch says. “Take it out, Tibby. I’m sorry, Haymitch.” An apology? From a Capitol guy? Then I see it for what it is: another way to manipulate me by pretending I’m a human being, worthy of an apology. I don’t even acknowledge it….

I watch, both fascinated and sickened by the flawless transition from Maysilee’s drawing to Wyatt’s and mine. Not even a hint of Woodbine’s shooting or the turmoil that followed. And there’s my name, and there’s me, and there’s Ma gasping, Sid crying, Lenore Dove with her hand clasped over her mouth. “That’s not what happened,”…

W? That’s yours. W for your name, Willamae, and flipped around it’s an M for Ma!” And Ma always looks pleased, because when does she get anything nice, let alone something so fine as her own set of stars? It’s all about her giving things to us. I pretended not to see her bring in…

Drusilla pretends to draw a name. “And the first gentleman who gets to accompany the ladies is . . . Wyatt Callow!” In some strange replay, I watch Wyatt, as impassive as before, go by and obediently take his place on the stage. Drusilla’s hand hovers over the ball, then removes a slip with surgical…

If anything, the McCoys are more stony-faced than before. It’s not confusion; it’s a blanket refusal to put on a show for the Capitol. “Cut.” Plutarch rubs his eye and sighs. “Take the girl to the train.” Peacekeepers whisk Louella into the Justice Building as the McCoys finally crack, crying out her name in anguish….

“I don’t need help from anybody who said my sister uses coal dust for powder,” Louella tells her. Maysilee smiles a little, remembering. “She got a lot cleaner after that.” This reminds me of when I was six and got chiggers and Maysilee nicknamed me “Itchy Itchy Haymitchy.” Nobody would come near me for two…

Peacekeepers’ boots tramp through the audience as the soldiers grab anyone marked with gore, including Otho, and push them into the nearby shops to conceal them. “We need another boy! That dead one’s no good!” says Drusilla, clunking down the steps into the square. There’s a high-pitched keening followed by Peacekeepers barking orders. Then I…

“Happy birthday,” she says when we come up for air. “Didn’t expect to see you until after.” She means the reaping, but I don’t want to talk about it. “Hattie let me go early,” I tell her. “Gave me this, too – a present for my big day.” I pull out the bottle. “Well, that…

“Well, I didn’t see you,” she said. “Me you either. Toss us down some, would you?” In answer she stood up on her branch and began to bounce up and down, showering us with apples. “Hang on, I’ve got a sack with my bow.” Burdock ran off. She scooted down the branches and swung to…