Lucy Gray Baird

It had been six years since she had left Coriolanus.

Six years since she had left the Covey.

Five years since Isadora Coral was born. Her daughter.

She remembered how she had built this cabin with her own hands six years ago. It had been hard work, but it had been worth it. Now she had a home, even if it didn't always feel like one. She still missed the Covey, especially Maude Ivory. She missed the performances at the Hob, the people from District 12 who had loved her for her music. And even if she didn't like to admit it, she missed Coriolanus.

But when she thought of him, she remembered what he had done. What he had done to him. Back then, she had been afraid of ending up on the hanging tree just like Sejanus Plinth. At the hands of Coriolanus Snow.

Now she was sitting here. In her warm wooden hut, in the deep woods of District 12. The rain pattered calmly and evenly on the roof, which was now thick again. Not so long ago, a heavy branch had fallen on the roof during a storm in the middle of October. It had made heating quite difficult. 

Lucy Gray continued sewing the light blue dress she had been working on for a fortnight. It wasn't easy to survive completely without money, but she would get through it.

The candle on the wooden table flickered as a cool breeze drifted through the shuttered window. Lucy Gray looked outside, but she couldn't see anything, it was already too dark. She sighed softly and closed the window again.

"Ma?" a soft voice suddenly asked. Lucy Gray turned round. Isadora Coral was standing at the door of her room. Her blonde curls fell gently to her shoulders. "What's going on?" Lucy Gray asked, putting the dress she had started to make to one side. Coral ran to her and climbed onto her lap. "I had a bad dream. There was that deer chasing me again." Lucy Gray gently stroked Coral's curls. Since her encounter with the deer, Coral seemed to dream about it almost every third night. But the deer had only looked at her briefly and then run away again.

"Shall we sing?" An old tradition that Lucy Gray had grown up with, when the younger members of the Covey had slept badly, there was always singing. There was never a set song for it, often Lucy Gray would sing something new for Isadora Coral, but sometimes she would sing one of her older songs. "Yes, but I want to listen, not sing along, otherwise I won't get tired." She smiled at her daughter's intelligence.

"Come on, off to bed." Isadora ran back to her little room. Lucy Gray blew out the candle on the wooden table and followed her five-year-old daughter. As Isadora Coral lay in bed, Lucy Gray began to sing. Not one of her new songs, but one from the Covey era.

,,Everyone's born as clean as
a whistle
As fresh as a daisy and not a bit crazy
Staying that way is a hard row for hoeing
As rough as a briar, like walkin' through fire
This world, it's dark, this
world, it's scary
I've taken some hits, so no
wonder I'm wary
It's why I need you
You're as pure as the driven
snow
Everyone wants to be like a hero
The cake with the cream or the doer, not dreamer
Well, doing's hard work, but it takes some to change things"

By then, Isadora Coral had already fallen asleep smiling. Lucy Gray admired this quality.But the next moment she felt her heart tighten. The song she had written for Coriolanus. She got up quietly and left Coral's bedroom. As she closed the door, she entered her room.It was true. There were times when she missed him. So much that it really hurt. But she didn't miss Coriolanus from the lake. She missed the Coriolanus from the arena, the Coriolanus who had returned to District 12 for her. Not the Coriolanus who had left his friend hanging. In the truest sense of the word.

There were also days when she wondered how he was doing. How his family was doing. Whether he had found someone who meant more to him than she did. Whether he was thinking about her too.

Lucy Gray fought back the tears that were welling up. She couldn't cry because of him. It would be stupid, pointless. Instead, she touched her shoulder blade. Where his bullet had grazed her. The area was scarred and healed, but it hadn't been easy to heal the wound, build a hut and find a place for it. She had walked for several days, running at first, until she was finally far enough away.

Far enough away from the lake. Far enough away from District 12. Far enough away from her memories of Snow.

In the beginning, she had found it difficult to find food in the forest. But relatively quickly, Lucy Gray realised where the perfect traps were set, where there were eatable berries and where she could get fresh water. When Coral turned seven, Lucy Gray would teach her these things.She hadn't told Coriolanus about Isadora Coral, she didn't even know about her at the time. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if he were here. With them.And sometimes she wondered how he would have reacted.

Lucy Gray dropped onto her creaking bed. She didn't know if there were any Hunger Games left. There probably were. Coriolanus would lead them on with all his energy, she was sure of it. Maybe he hadn't really been lying when he said he had killed his old self. Because that was true. But Sejanu's death had been completely different. Why had Coriolanus done that? She didn't understand. He said she could trust him. She would never make that mistake again. Who knows who else he had on his conscience.

Isadora Coral didn't really help either. She looked a lot like him. The light blonde hair, the pale skin. But her eyes were dark blue, not ice blue like his. She was constantly reminded of him.

For Lucy Gray, it was clear that Coriolanus had crossed the line. The line to evil.But he could come back, it wasn't too late.To calm herself down, Lucy Gray drank some more water. A short time later, she too fell asleep. She had always been so sure that she had done the right thing back then.But now she was no longer so sure.