THUNDER IN OUR H E A R T S }• Hazel Morgan.

It was chilly outside and a cold breeze blew from the sea. Most people would just stay inside their houses but Hazel wanted to go down to the beach. She had the whole day to herself, since her mother decided she wanted to go to town by herself and her siblings were out playing with her friends. A whole day to herself... Hazel’s lips turned into a wide smile as she closed the door behind her. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and headed for the small and secluded beach that somehow nobody seemed to know about. It was a little bit hidden and only a small path led down tot he sandy shore.

Even though she and her family lived quite a ways away from the center of town and the public areas of District Four, since her families house was close tot he ocean and the area where her dad went pearl diving it was still a long walk to reach the hidden path. Hazel didn’t mind the long walk, because she loved to be outside. She never understood the people that liked to stay inside their houses. She was definitely an outdoor person, only feeling happy when the wind was moving her hair, the sand beneath her feet or water surrounding her. When she reached the small path, she ducked down and held the bag in which she carried her towel closely to herself so it wouldn’t get caught in the low branches. After a few minutes, she reached the deserted beach and smiled. This was something like her personal spot. She had never seen anybody else here.

Hazel dropped her clothes and her bag behind a tree and stepped barefoot and in her swimsuit out of the trees and onto the sand. She could feel the little bag in which she usually collected pearl shells bouncing against her hip. Feeling the little sand corns between her toes made her smile as she walked towards she water. A wave splashed around her feet and the cold water sent a shiver down Hazel’s back. Yes it was still cold outside and not the perfect weather to go swimming but the pearl diver’s daughter didn’t care. She stepped further into the water, ignoring the goose bumps that formed on her whole body. It was always the hardest part to get into the water. Once she was surrounded by water and her body adjusted to the cold, it would feel good to be in the water. Hazel sped up her steps and threw herself into the water once it was deep enough for her to swim.

After a few strong strokes, the red haired girl took a deep breath and ducked her head underneath the waters surface. At once, all the sounds were muffled and a comforting silence surrounded the girl. She opened her eyed, ignoring the pain the salt caused in her eyes. She moved her arms and legs in perfect unison, causing herself to dive deeper until she reached the sandy bottom of the ocean. Hazel dug her hands deep into the sand and smiled as she pulled two shells out of the sand. She knew this kind of shell, since these were the shells her dad collected the pearls from. Hazel opened the bag and dropped the two shells inside. Then she started digging through the sand again, revealing some more shells, which she slipped in her bag.

After a few minutes underwater, she could feel her lungs starting to burn, yearning for oxygen. It was a pain that she had to breathe. She would love to be able to stay underwater for ever and ever, not having to surface to breathe, but that was just wishful thinking. She pushed off the oceans bottom and started to ascend to the surface. She broke the surface, taking a deep breath. Immediately, her lungs seemed to sigh in relief and the burning ceased.

The red haired girl looked around and realized, that she had swam quite a ways away from the shore. Still, she was near enough, to hear the soft sounds from a guitar. At first she thought her mind was playing a trick on her, but as she looked back to the beach, she saw a boy sitting there, playing a guitar. Her first reaction was to be angry. This was her beach; her own little, quiet place. How on earth did he find out about it? Did he follow her? Hazel frowned. How dare he follow her down here? With a few strong strokes, she swam closer to the beach, watching the boy closely. He seemed to be completely absorbed in playing his instrument. He didn’t even look up, as she swam closer to the beach. Was it possible, that it was pure coincidence that the two of them came to this hidden beach at the same time? Hazel’s anger vanished as she looked at the guitar player and listened to his song. Now that she was closer to the beach, she could hear, that he was humming softly to the tone of the guitar. A smile appeared on her face.

She stopped swimming, floating in the water just a few yards away from the boy. He still hadn’t noticed her. A smile, mirroring her own, appeared on his face and for a second, the red haired girl thought he had discovered his secret listener but he just kept on playing, still smiling contently as the wind ruffled his hair. Hazel let out a soft sigh, which seemed way to loud in the silence surrounding her. She startled, holding her breath. Still watching the guitar player, she hoped she didn’t disturb his playing.

Apparently he didn’t hear her sigh, because he kept on playing. Either she was too far away for him to hear of he was so caught up in his playing that he forgot everything around him. Hazel never learned to play an instrument and she doubted that she would be any good at it, since her hands used to digging for shells in the sand and getting cut up by their sharp shells. For sure they weren’t any good for the delicate and accurate movements that were necessary to play an instrument. And even if they were, her family would never have the means to afford an instrument. Yes, they were way better off than the people in the lower districts, but life was still hard work and food or money didn’t just appear out of nowhere.

The soft tunes of his guitar mingled with the sound of waves hitting the sandy beach and Hazel though she also heard the boy humming softly, but she wasn’t sure about that. Maybe that was just her mind playing a trick on her. Either way, it was wonderful just floating in the water and listening to the music. For a moment, she forgot where she was. She forgot about Panem or the Hungergames or school or working afterwards. For one moment, she was absolutely content and happy.

As the last note of his song faded away, Hazel got pulled back into the real world. She looked around if there was something, that caused him to stop playing, if he maybe realized that he had had a secret audience listening to his music, but he still didn’t notice her. Perhaps she should have just started swimming again, since it was rather rude to lurk around and spy on him but she was eager to hear him play again, so she remained where she was. She watched him set his guitar on the beach and reaching for his bag. He pulled out a piece of crumpled paper followed by something small, probably a pen, before he reached for his guitar again. It took Hazel a second before she realized that he must have been writing the songs he played himself. He started to pull the strap of his guitar back around his shoulder when he looked up and his gaze fell upon her. Hazel froze and her face must have looked as if she was caught doing something illegal. She actually felt that way, too.

Looking straight into his face, she could see that he was angry. She couldn’t blame him as she would have been angry herself if she had caught somebody spying on her. Hazel had to resist the urge to take a deep breath and just disappear underneath the waters surface. Good thing she didn’t, because after a few seconds, his face turned from an angry stare into a grin. Hazel furrowed her brows and eyed him suspiciously as he put his guitar back on the ground, got up on his feet and walked closer to the water until the water hit his shoes. He took them of and Hazel wondered if he was about to dive into the water and swim out to her. Was he mad at her for listening? But why would he grin if he were angry? Or was he just startled as he discovered his secret audience and she had mistaken this for anger?

He must have decided not to get himself wet, because he remained standing at the waters edge, calling out to her. “Why don’t you come back to the shore?” , he shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth as if to make sure she would hear him. Hazel shrugged. Why not, she would have to get back to shore sometimes anyways since her clothes and her bag were there. She sighed quietly before she started swimming in his direction. When she reached the beach, she got back to her feet and looked at him with an apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to disturb your playing nor did I want to spy on your even though that must have just looked like it. It was just that your music was really nice and you know how rare music is in District Four and…” Hazel took a deep breath to stop babbling. Her cheeks turned light pink. “Anyways, I’m sorry.”

The pink faded from her cheeks when he said she should not worry about it. "It’s nice knowing someone enjoys my music." His face seemed less serious and less intimidating once his lips parted for a smile and Hazel couldn’t help it and smiled back at him. “Where did you learn to play like that?” , she asked without hesitation, forgetting that he was a complete stranger to her, that she was normally shy when she didn’t know somebody and forgetting that she was still soaking wet with salty water dripping from her body.

Hazel watched him as he walked back to his guitar and his bag and sat back down in the same spot where he had been playing the guitar. She still remained standing where she was as he started rummaging through his bag. “And I always thought girls were the ones that have to dig through their purses to find anything.” , she thought smiling. A second later, he revealed a towel from his bag holding it in Hazels direction. It was really cute that he offered her his towel, she thought while she walked towards him and took the towel out of his hands. She held it in her hands for a second, looking at it as if she didn’t know what to do with it. “Um… thank you… Cade.” Her voice sounded a little shy and her cheeks turned red again. That was another reason why she hated being so extremely pale: She flushed so easily and with her almost white skin, the red cheeks stood out. Hazel wrapped herself in the towel. She breathed in and the scent of fresh washed laundry reached her nose. He must have packed the towel just this day and didn’t carry it around in his bag forever.

Cade moved over a little, offering Hazel a place next to him on the ground. She sat down, still keeping a safe distance. She didn’t want to be rude; she just didn’t warm up to people easily. “Well, I usually go here when I want some quiet time just for myself.” , Hazel said, answering his question. Cade had probably thought about this place the same way, judging by the look on his face when he first discovered her in the water. “I always thought I was the only one who knew about this place, but I guess you just proved me wrong.” Thinking about it now, it was silly to think she was the only one who knew about this place. Hopefully the red from her cheeks had faded again. She always thought it was extremely embarrassing that she turned red so easily. Then she remembered, that while he told her his name, she still owed him hers. “I’m Hazel, by the way.” , she said, smiling at him.

Hazel tried not to stare at him, but she couldn’t refrain from running her eyes over him. She had seen his chocolate brown, middle length hair from the water while she listened to him playing but she only now saw his dark brown eyes. They were darker than her hazel colored eyes and were the kind of eyes you could get lost in. With a slight shake of her head, she forced herself to move her eyes away from his. Hazel bit on her lip and pulled a strand of her red and still very wet hair behind her ear. His skin was a lot darker then hers and he showed the nice bronze colored tan that most District Four inhabitants had and that Hazel was so jealous of.

Her eyes moved to the pen and paper that he had put next to his guitar in the sand. “Do you write your own songs?” , she asked surprised. This guy that not only played the guitar but apparently also composed songs fascinated Hazel. She wasn’t creative at all. Hazel couldn’t draw or write poems or play an instrument. She was good at swimming and diving but that was about it. Arts just never were a part of her life, even though she loved listening to music, which was why Cade amazed her.

„I taught myself“ , he said with a smile while he shrugged his shoulders. “That’s amazing.” , Hazel admitted and returned the smile. Most people in the districts couldn’t afford a teacher for learning fun stuff like playing an instrument. That was something that the kids in the Capitol did. Well, at least Hazel thought that’s what Capitol kids did. What else would they do the whole day other than enjoy fun pastimes? Unlike the people living in the districts, Capitolites didn’t have to work hard to afford even the most basic things like food or a roof over one’s head. They had a fun life with perfect homes and full fridges and no threats caused by the hunger games. But that again was just the Capitol as Hazel imagined it. Of course she had never seen the big city herself and hopefully never would, because if she did, than that would mean, that it was her name, they called in the reaping. And it would mean she would never see District Four and her beloved ocean again. She didn’t give into the illusion that she stood any chance against the other tributes if she got reaped. Getting reaped would equal being dead. The thought caused a shiver to run down Hazel’s spine. She shook her head briefly. Thinking about the Games on a day like this wasn’t exactly the thing she wanted to do, so she banned those thoughts to the back of her head and looked at the boy again who was sitting across from her. “How long have you been practicing?” , she asked him to force her thoughts to go in a direction other than the Hunger Games. “I bet it takes a long time to play this good” , Hazel added. As soon as the words left her lips, she bit herself on her tongue. What was she doing here, complimenting a complete stranger on his abilities to play a guitar? It sounded so awkward to her. Was she flirting with this guy? Oh my, she was absolutely flirting with this guy, with this complete stranger. With this guitar playing and, to be honest, good-looking stranger. Hazel bit her lip again and flashed red in an instant. That was so embarrassing. Hopefully he didn’t notice, that her face turned red again.

"Same here! I thought only me and my sister knew about this place. We found it when we were running from my brother. Ever since I was in grade school I have came down here to get a break from the world." , he explained. “It’s strange that we always missed each other.” It was strange. She didn’t come here all too often but she had been going to this beach for quite a few years same as him. The odds of never meeting him or his sister here were almost zero. But that was the trouble with the odds: They were mere numbers and you couldn’t quite count on them. Again, Hazel’s thoughts wandered to the games: May the odds be ever in your favor. The words echoed in her mind. Just a few more games and her name would be out of the reaping. Just a few more games and she would be old enough. “Not now!” , she thought but it was easier to say than to do. The Games were such a huge threat and it was so hard not to think about them. Hazel looked at Cade, who was staring at the ground in front of him. “I usually come down here when my mom gets too overwhelming and I just have to take a break. It’s just so quiet and peaceful down here” , she admitted in a soft and quiet voice while she was looking at the horizon. When she realized what she had just said and how wrong he could understand that, she quickly added: “Don’t get me wrong: I love my mom, she just can be a little bit too much sometimes, you understand?”

“A secret band?” , Hazel asked, repeating the quotation marks movement with her fingers. “Too bad it’s sectret, I bet a lot of people would love to listen to your music.” “Well, I would love to listen to your music” , she added in her thoughts. There it was again: She was flirting and she couldn’t even help it. A shy smile appeared on her face and she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes over the way she acted. Sometimes she had the feeling that she was like an open book, ready for everyone to read. He must be thinking she was just some stupid little girl who fancied the boy with the guitar. Great! Not!

“How do you swim like that?” His question caught her off guard. She had never thought about the way she swam. She just did. She always had. Hazel never thought about the fact that somebody would think of it as being something special. She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I never really thought about it, to be honest. I have been swimming ever since I was a small child, with my dad being a pearl diver and all that” , she said, her voice trailing off. “Do you swim?” she asked. What a stupid question to ask. He was from District Four. Of course he knew how to swim. Everybody did, right?



(ooc: I was gone last week Sorry for the late reply!)

A smile crossed the girls face when Cade started telling her about how kept coming back to his teacher over and over again to borrow the guitar so he could keep practicing. She could so picture him being all excited about playing that he would spend extra hours in school just to get his hands on a guitar. “Well all these extra hours in school were well worth it.” , she said with a smile. Hazel was still looking at Cade, who was drawing lines in the sand in front of him, as if he was avoiding looking at her. “I’ve never actually touched a guitar before, let alone any other music instrument. Instruments just seem so… I don’t know… fragile. I think I would be afraid to break them.” , she admitted. It would be terrible to break something so beautiful let alone the money it would cost to replace it. Money, that she didn’t have and that she could probably never afford.

Cade took a breath and his eyes met hers again. “It’s another way of expressing how you feel.” , he said. “I say it’s easier to express who you are through your music without people judging you.” Hazel nodded. He did have a point there. It was easier to express emotions if you wrapped them into rhythm and a tune. She wasn’t sure about the statement, that people didn’t judge you, if you expressed your thoughts through music. There were so many old songs, that the Capitol banned because the ideas these songs carried offended their beliefs and their ideology. So there was some way of judging the people singing these songs. “Well, music is in any case the most beautiful way of expressing feelings I think.” , Hazel added and now it was her who was avoiding Cade’s gaze and who was looking at the sand that surrounded her. Her eyes followed the trail of wet spots on the sand that she had left when she walked out of the water and towards Cade.

Hazel’s eyes wandered across the water, where the sunlight broke into millions of sparkling dots that made the ocean look like it was covered with millions of diamonds. The soft breeze coming from the sea sent little waves towards the beach that broke on the sandy shore. Down here she always felt like nothing was ever going to harm her. Here, the world was perfect. No trouble at home, no hard work until she was exhausted, no games, no worried. This little piece of Panem was what Hazel would call closest to paradise. Before today, she had always thought that this little piece of paradise was hers and hers only but now she had somebody to share it with, which made it even more perfect in her eyes. Who would want paradise all to himself? She turned back to Cade. “I’m glad we met.” , she blurted out, the words leaving her mouth before she was able to stop them. Her face turned bright red, into a color that could well compete with her hair. Hazel bit her lip and smiled shyly.

When the smile was washed from Cades face, Hazel knew at once that she must have said something wrong, something that offended him in some way. He fell silent for a second before he said in a quiet voice. “My mothers dead.” After the first moment of shock, Hazel felt the sudden urge to get up, sit down next to him and just wrap her arms around him but she stopped herself from doing so. She didn’t know if he would appreciate the gesture or push her away instead. So instead of holding him in her arms, Hazel reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.” , she said in a soft voice. She really was. It was not easy to lose someone close. Living in Panem and knowing the world she grew up in, Hazel knew that it was close to a wonder that she still had her whole family around her, even though she didn’t show appreciation for it. She was fighting with her mother almost every day and she was saying a lot of bad things about her but she still loved her mom and would be devastated if she lost her. She should tell her mom more often how much she meant to her and that she loved her, Hazel thought to herself. You never knew when it was too late.

The awkward mood between the two passed as they returned to talking about music. Hazel raised one eyebrow as Cade offered, that she could be the manager of his band. “Me? A manager? That would doom the band…” , she said jokingly. But as Cade continued, her eyes started to sparkle. ”Are you offering to teach me how to play?” , Hazel asked, looking at him with a mixture of wonder and excitement. She had never had the chance to learn how to play an instrument and, for that matters, never had the means to do so. She didn’t even know if she was any good at it. Hazel looked at her hands and a crease formed on her forehead. Her hands were callused from the numerous cuts she got while diving for pearl shells and opening them up afterwards. There were definitely not the hands you needed for playing an instrument, were they? She shot a glance at Cade’s hands but didn’t really get a good look at them.

“You know, we could make a deal.” , she said after Cade told her he never went pearl diving before. “You show me how to play a guitar and I take you out pearl diving.” Her face turned light pink again. Not as bright red as she had been before because she wasn’t embarrassed this time. It was more the excitement of meeting him again and spending time with him and somehow also the worry that he might decline her offering that made her cheeks turn pink. “And since you know how to swim, we wouldn’t have to start at the very beginning as far as my part is concerned.” , she added with a smile.


Word count: 1036

„My brother thought I was insane, staying after school every day. He would have to stay back with me because I wasn’t allowed to walk home alone.“ A grin appeared on Hazel’s face while Cade told her about his past and how he learned to play the guitar. “The teacher would make him clean.” , he went on and now Hazel burst out laughing. “I would have hated you for it.” , she said jokingly. Nobody liked to stay at school longer than necessary. All students ran for the doors once the final bell sounded and were glad to get out of this building. Well, not talking about Cade because he was obviously an exception to this rule.

Hazel watched Cade as he softly touched the case of his guitar like it was the most precious thing in the world. Maybe he didn’t even notice but Hazel was fascinated by the gentleness of his touch. “You look too graceful to break something like an instrument.” , he said and Hazel smiled, a little hint of sarcasm crossing her eyes. She? Graceful? The red-haired girl tried to remember when someone ever called her graceful. She couldn’t think of it. She would have probably never called herself graceful. It just didn’t seem the right word to describe her.

When Cade asked her if she felt uncomfortable, Hazel blushed even more. “No, no you don’t. Not at all! It’s just… well… I’m usually not this straight forward, telling people I like spending time with them and such…” She had to stop herself from ranting on, before it got more embarrassing than it already was. Hazel felt like running away. Why was she acting like this? Where was all the self-confidence she usually showed? It seemed to have gone, vanished into thin air. ..I am glad we met too…” , she heard Cade say and her thoughts focused again. He was happy too? She couldn’t help but smile and the redness in her face finally started to fade away.

Cade looked up, his eyes leaving the spot on the ground they were staring at. “You didn’t know.” , he said before telling her how his mother died while giving birth to his youngest brother. Things like that happened in Panem. Medical treatment was rare, even in the more developed districts like District Four. Of course in the Capitol, they could have saved her, they would have given her some kind of medication and everything would have been fine and Cade and his siblings could have grown up with their mother by their side. But the districts didn’t have access to this kind of medication and so mothers had to die while giving birth. The world, Panem, was a cruel and unfair place and in situations like this it became even more evident. Hazel bit her lower lip, forcing the anger against the Capitol down. It wasn’t the right time to start a speech about how bad the Capitol was. Silence unfolded between the two of them. It wasn’t this kind of uncomfortable silence that made you frantically search for words. It was that kind of silence where more words just weren’t necessary. Hazel stretched out and put her hand on his. She squeezed it gently and just waited for the silence to pass.

The silence did pass as they got back to the subject of him playing the guitar. “Well sure I want to. I know a few things.” , he answered her question if he offered to teach her how to play the guitar. A smile appeared on her face again, which got even broader when he agreed to her deal and held his hand out. She took it and shook it once. “Deal.” , she repeated his words and smiled a broad smile. Hazel didn’t know what made her more happy: The fact that he would teach her how to play an instrument of the fact that this deal meant she would get to spend more time with him. It was probably a little bit of both. She tilted her head thinking about how nice it would be if he kissed her and then forcing herself to stop these thoughts at once. She barely knew him, she had only talked a few sentenced with him. And yet it felt like she had known him forever. It just felt so right to be around him and she couldn’t even tell why. Hazel shook her head a little, forcing herself to stop dreaming.

“What’s step two?” , he wanted to know while removing his leather blazer. Hazel started laughing. “Well let me think. I don’t exactly have a manual: Pearl diving for beginners, but I’d say I would have to teach you how to hold your breath for more than, let’s say 30 seconds.” Holding ones breath for more than a minute let alone for around four minutes, as Hazel was able to, took weeks if not years to practice. But with the right technique, it was at least possible to stay a little longer under water than you usually were able to. “Wanna go for a swim?” , she asked with a smile, not even trying to hide her enthusiasm, while standing up without waiting for his answer.

For one moment the only thing that was heard besides the crashing of waves on the sandy beach was the sound of laughter. It was one of these rare and perfect moments in District Four. “Oh my brother hasn’t forgotten. He has got me back on too many times.” Cade replied and Hazel nodded. “I bet he did.” She would have done the same. No matter how much you love your siblings, if they were the cause you had to stay in school more than usual and the teachers forced you to clean, there had to be some revenge. Hazel wondered if Cade had always laughed about the ways his brother had gotten back at him. She was almost sure he didn’t. “Good thing my sister is more of an outdoors-swim in the ocean-person, because I don’t mind looking after her when she wants to go swimming.” , she added with a smile. Even though her sister was five years younger than Hazel was, the red haired girl enjoyed the time she had with her sister and the fun they usually had when they went to the beach together.

“Same with me. I am usually very serious.” , he said and Hazel raised an eyebrow while trying to figure out if he was being serious about being serious or not. She looked at his face and it seemed just a little bit too straight and sure enough, his lips started to curl upwards while she was looking at him, before they broke into a smile. And sure enough, Hazel couldn’t help but smile in return. The embarrassing feeling she had a few moments ago was gone and she was thankful, that he made feel better.

Cade seemed to feel the same way about keeping the silence as she did, because he was just sitting there, looking at the ocean. He didn’t move his hand or pull it away underneath her touch. He just left it right were it was. She didn’t ask any more questions about his brother. He would tell her more about him when he felt ready for it, she was sure and she on the other hand would be listening. She knew that sometimes the most important thing to have was just somebody who listened to what you had to get off your mind. “Thank you..” , he said with a soft voice that was almost too quiet for her to hear. Hazel offered him a little smile and squeezed his hand. The red haired girl knew that the moment had passed and that it was time to release his hand again but she held it just a tiny bit longer, just because she liked to hold his hand.

“You can borrow my guitar.” , he offered and Hazel smiled thankfully. “To be honest: I was kinda planning on it because I have no idea where I could borrow one. “ , she said and a little bit of pink appeared on her cheeks. “The music teacher certainly doesn’t like me enough to let me borrow his.” , she added and now she flashed a broad smile. She was excited to learn how to play.

But first it was time to teach Cade a little bit more about pearl diving. “That’s a pretty long time. I don’t know if that is even possible for the human race.” , he replied as Hazel told him she wanted to teach him how to hold his breath for more than 30 seconds. She laughed out loud. “I said 30 seconds, not 30 minutes.” , she clarified and laughed a little more. “And if it was impossible for a human to hold his breath for more than 30 seconds, that would definitely make me non-human.” , she added with a big smile. A quick moment, she thought about telling him how long she was able to hold her breath but she stopped herself from telling him. She didn’t want to show off. “Let’s just say I am a pro and be done with it.” Cade started to joke around. “Before I declare you a pro, I wanna see if you’re really that good.” , she joined his joking.

Was he blushing? Hazel wasn’t sure, because his olive skin didn’t show it like her fair and almost white skin did. And why on earth would he blush. She had just asked him if he wanted to go for a swim. Hazel tilted her head and looked at him. Did he have a problem to go swimming with her? Why would he? Hadn’t he just said that he knew how to swim? So where was the problem? Hazel couldn’t really understand him. Still looking at him, she could see him nod before ruffling through his hair. He stood up and offered her a hand to help her get up as well. She took it and he pulled her onto her feet before he started to remove his clothes. Hazel bit her lip and forced herself to not stare at him, even though he sure was something to look at. After he dropped all clothes, he said: “Ok. Now the water.” , before smiling at her. Hazel rolled her eyes, smiling back at him. “Oh come on, it’s just water. It’s not going to hurt you and I’ll take care that you’ll make it back to shore alive.” , she promised and held out her hand for him to take.