Let it snow/// Blitz/// Axel

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

When will the weather ever change? I hate the winter. I hate how it's always so cold out. I hate how their isn't enough heat to go around to warm everyone. I hate it all. I want it to be warm again. It's either probably midday due to the sun that's shining brightly in the sky reflecting off the white snow that's stuck to the ground. The tips of my fingers red and aching. My breath crystallizes before my eyes with. The cold , frigid wind burns as it slices across my face, but it doesn't stop me from being outside in the snowy weather. Maybe I'll be able to someone that wants to play in the snow. Maybe someone that will want to make an ice house so I can scream at them when they mess up. Oh how much fun today will be. I place my bare hands in the snow and form a ball. My teeth chattering as I hold the ball in my hand, and I throw it not aiming at anything in particular. A roar of laughter escapes my lips. Today is my time to shine.

[Anna Banana]

The outside world was the one place where I felt like I could go to escape the world. I wanted to escape the horror that was the Games, and I wanted to escape the responsibility that was forced on me by Fawn. I was only twelve years old, why was it my job to shoulder the strains of my family, the suffering of my family, was it not obvious enough that I was suffering myself? I didn't even have the time to let my heart shatter into a million pieces like I wanted...I was too busy trying to keep everyone else's from breaking down. That's why I was out here, I was out here letting the cold, biting wind whip at my face and create artificial tears where the real ones wouldn't come. I kick at a snow drift and let the artificial tears slide down my cheeks as I look around, and my eyes settle on someone so familiar it had to be a hallucination...it looked like Storm. It couldn't be though...I had watched him die...never the less I couldn't help myself from walking towards him as if I could wrap my arms around him in an embrace.

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

The wind slices across my face burning my cheek as water droplets form in my eyes. I loved playing in the snow when I was younger. I loved being around the snow, but that'll never happen anymore. I hate the snow. I wish it didn't exist. I wish it would just go away. I'm tired of walking through the snow to find food for my mother. I'm just tired of it all. Snow shouldn't exist. It should be bleeding crimson. I shake my head watching the snow ball I threw flying through the air. I want it to land and hit someone in the head. I want to watch the little kids cry in pain. Them crying makes my day. I turn around and notice a small girl slowly walking towards me, and I can't hide the grin that grows on my face. Most would think it was a genuine I'm happy to see you grin, but this grin is laced with malice. "What do you think you're doing?" That innocence that fills my voice annoys me. I crack my neck as I look her straight in the face.

[Anna Banana]

The image spoke to me, it asked what I thought I was doing...but why wouldn't he be happy to see me...this was Storm, this was my brother. I couldn't hide the hurt that flashed across my face, the pain as I came to terms that either I was crazy and imagining this whole thing...or someone could look just like Storm. Quickly I recover and give him one of the fake smiles that seemed to be prevalent in my life these days. Despite what my mind was telling me I couldn't help but feel like maybe there was a part of Storm in him, and I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life, I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his shirt. It all seemed so right, he even smelled like Storm used to, it was all so perfect, I could almost feel normal again. In an infrequent childish moment, I rubbed my cheek on him and let out a small sigh, memories of Storm flooding back to me.

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

My chin drops to the ground when she wraps her arms around me. I don't know who this girl is. I don't know why she's even drawn to me. I want to push her away, but she buries her head in my shirt. I raise my arms into the air unsure of what to do. Surely, this young girl has mistaken me. I don't know who she is. I've never seen her before in my entire life. I slowly fight to break free from her grip. "I don't even know you. What are you doing?" Anger flooding through my veins as I break free from the grip. "Why don't you hug someone you know? It'll make life so much easier instead of hugging complete strangers." The words are harsh like they are meant to be. I fold my arms across my chest as I continue staring at her. Why is she drawn to me? Why did she just hug me? She's a stranger. I've never seen her before. She should just go away and leave me to my business. I take a deep breath slowly releasing it as I watch it crystallize.

[Anna Banana]

His words stung, they cut into me like a knife and I couldn't help but have a flashback to the moment when Storm's life was taken away in the Games. This wasn't Storm but it was Storm, I could hear it in his voice, the way he looked, the way he acted...it was all Storm. Finally those tears that have threatened to come so many times began to flow from my cheeks, the tears that I'd wanted to cry when Storm died or when Fawn abandoned me. They fell freely down my face and I collapsed onto the ground, staring at the snow and clenching my fists around it before I screamed in sorrow. I scream and sob until my throat burns and my face feels frozen from the tears that just don't seem to want to stop. "Storm left me...Fawn left me...my family is breaking apart and I'm only twelve years old, I can't keep them together, I can barely hold myself together. I want them back, I want my family back."

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

The tears start rolling down her face. I've never like people that cry; it grows old extremely fast. It takes all I have to not laugh as she collapses onto the ground screaming and crying. I love the way her fist pounds the ground. A young girl having a tantrum in front of me. She mentions names of people who left her, Storm, and Fawn. I don't know them, but I do. I know that Storm died in the arena. I couldn't help but laugh as he died. I need to be I'm the arena. I need to be the tribute that brings home the victory for the district. Nobody else has the courage to do so. I laughed so hard when I watched the blade pierce his delicate skin. He deserved to die. He wasn't the worthy contender for the district. I will be. I look down at the little girl throwing one of those crazy tantrums in front of me. Laughter escapes from deep within. It's the best day ever. I kneel down next to her placing my head next to here's. I like my lips slowly as the words form in the tip of my tongue. "Who the hell is Storm? Who is Fawn? They mustn't be important if they left you. They left you, you should just grow up and move on. It'll make life ten times easier. Just forget about them, and all your pain will go away."

[Anna Banana]

His words stung me again as I could feel the tip of the knife blade twist into my heart, and yet I could see the truth in some of the words he was saying. It would be so much easier to let them go...I wouldn't feel pain anymore if I just let them go. After all they had left me...how much could they really care about me if they had left me to live like this, they had all abandoned me. I should grow up and move on, I should do what this fake Storm was saying, he was absolutely right. I stand up slowly and drop the snow that was clutched in my hands, clenching and unclenching my now empty hands as I think over what he said. Finally I look up from the ground and stare into those eyes, the eyes of Storm, the eyes of my brother. "You aren't my brother Storm...you're in imposter, or some sick joke from the Capitol meant to make me fall apart...well it won't work. I'll forget them all, I'll forget you, I'll forget Storm, I'll forget Fawn, I'll forget my whole family...they all left me...I want the pain to go away."

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

The words that fall from her are shocking, I didn't expect her to react like this, I want her to be mad at me. I want her to be crying in pain. I don't want her to agree with me. I don't want her to think she's capable of being pain free. Pain will always exist no matter what. Pain will always be living inside people. It's how one chooses to live with it that makes life better. I will never forgive my father for what he did to me. I'll never forgive the endless lies that he shared. His promises were empty words. Not a single thing he told me was true. I believed him. I believed everything about him, and I'll never forgive him. I'll never forget him. This girl is so full of pain and anger. She just needs to let it out, but she can't call me Storm anymore. That's when it clicks. The guy that died in the games is her brother. The stupid idiot was a disgrace. A training score of two. He died. He didn't live. He died just like everyone predicted. The large grin on my face grows larger. I click my tongue as I look into the sky. "No, I'm not Storm. I'll never be Storm. I'm better than him. That stupid idiot couldn't even defend himself in the games. People think he did well, but he's a disgrace. You know what that means?" I look at her for a moment hoping she takes in every word I say. "If he's your brother, your a disgrace too. Your whole family is a disgrace. The entire district doesn't need you, or your family. They should just rid them of you all."

[Anna Banana]

I pondered how I was going to run away, how I was I going to run away from it all, this imposter had given me a means of escaping. It was about the only good thing that he had done for me, it wasn't like he had treated me very nice along the way, but maybe he wasn't so bad after all, maybe he was trying to help me. It was just as much a dream as me believing he was Storm though, it didn't take long for him to recover and get back to that rude side. He told me he wasn't Storm...that he was better than Storm...that he was s disgrace as was my family and that the district didn't need us...didn't need me...didn't need my family. That was all I could take, I snapped and I threw myself at him, knocking him to the ground and bringing my fists smashing down into his face over and over and over again. "My family isn't useless, they shouldn't get rid of us...they need us...you're useless, you need to die, you're nothing but a mockery to what Storm was, you need to die and I'm going to kill you myself." I can feel the tears flowing down my cheeks again as it's not the rude boy I'm hitting anymore, it's Storm, I'm hitting Storm. There's no one left to comfort me, maybe I am better off dead, I've failed them all, I couldn't save them.

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

This little girl had believed I was giving her a nice way out, but I ain't nice. I don't have anything inside me that wants to be nice. Loud roars of laughter erupts, but it's quickly ended. She slams into me knocking me down. I land hard on my back knocking the wind out of me. She rains punches onto my gorgeous face. I can feel my lips splitting open as blood starts pouring down my face. A loud crunch fills the air as a fist lands square on the bridge of my nose. My eyes immediately start swelling making it near impossible to see. Damn, she can pack a punch. The horrible taste of metallic forms in my mouth as she tells me she's going to kill me. More empty words are being spoken to me, I hate people that lie to me. I hate people that think their better than me. The blood that's pooling in my mouth spews from my lips spraying her in the face. "You stupid little bitch. You think your brother is the best thing that existed. You think your family is, but you're wrong. You're very wrong. Go ahead little girl. Kill me, the peacekeepers will be swarming you before you can scream. Try me. I dare you," I fight to keep my eyes open.tears forming in my eyes from the broken nose. I will make her pay,

[Anna Banana]

How could he think I wouldn't kill him, did he think I cared if the peacekeepers came and got in my way, did he think I cared about any of that...it was too late now. I had nothing left to live for, I wanted to die, I wanted to be taken away, I wanted to see my siblings again, I wanted to have Storm back. I could feel fresh tears sliding down my cheeks, carving terrible patterns into the blood he had spat into my face, the blood that was pouring out of his face from the impact of my fists...how could I stop though, I wanted him dead. I kept hitting him until I could hear one last crunch of one of his cheeks breaking under the constant impact of my fists, and I get up from his body, shaking. I look over my hands, at the blood covering them, his blood, the blood of the boy who provoked me. This wasn't me though...I hurt him...I broke him...it wasn't me to do that...but here was his blood on my hands...pooling around his face.

[10th retro gm | paxton hayes]

The blows continue over and over. I can feel the bones cracking in my face as she continues to rain down the punches. Another blow to the nose causes me to scream at the top of my lungs. A little girl full of anger and rage. She's doing what she needs to do before it kills her. She's so tiny, yet she packs an amazing punch. I can't see anything as my eyes have swelled shut. Maybe I deserve this. I raise my hands trying to fight her off me when another loud crunch sends agonizing flames pulsing through my body. The pain is unreal. The pain is far worse than any pain my father ever put me through. I feel the weight of her rolling off my body. I roll over hopefully facing way from her as blood pours from my face covering the snow making it bleed crimson. I take a deep breath before spitting onto the ground. A couple teeth flies from my mouth as tears roll down my broken face. The world starts spinning around me. I fight to hold on. I fight to stay awake, but the pain is too much to bare. "Disgrace." I mutter as loud as I can. I want her to hear me. I want her to know she's a disgrace to the entire world. My entire body seems to be hovering above the ground as I fade into nothingness.

[Sage]

She wants to go home
but nobody's home
that's where she lies
broken inside

My boots crunch on the ground as I pad through the district. Where is Violet? She was supposed to be home earlier and the way she'd left home, I knew she was upset. The sound of yelling draws me towards a scene that makes me want to pass out, Violet, sweet gentle Violet, beating the brains out of a boy only a little younger than myself. Blood spatters on the ground and I feel my eyes widen. Violet, what are you doing to this kid? I wonder before I hear some of the things the boy is muttering. My anger sparks but I also feel tears in my eyes, it's true, I haven't been there for my little sister when I really should have been. I shouldn't have run off just because Storm had died and I shouldn't have abandoned my little sister. Ice forms in my veins as she gets up, the boy, almost unrecognizable with the blood covering his face, is unconscious. I approach my younger sister carefully and feel the urge to wrap my arms around her small frame. "Violet, are you alright?" I ask softly, not knowing if she'll be able to forgive me. Blood spatters the snow like raindrops on white and I feel nausea rise in my stomach. How did my little sister do this? I never knew she was so angry. Maybe, if I'd paid more attention, I could have stopped this.

[Anna Banana]

I look down and unclench my fists, looking at the blood that covers them, and I can feel a wave of nausea growing in me as I realize what it is I'm capable of. I was always the innocent child, I was always the one that hated violence and was sheltered away from it all, kept safe from the terror of the world. What had I done though, I had broken this boy...I had shattered his face and his blood was splattered across the snow, a reminder of the monster I was becoming...had become. Through the red haze that was clinging to my mind I heard a voice that was so familiar to me, a voice that used to sooth me at night when I had nightmares...it was her voice, the voice of an angel. Slowly I turn around and look at her, the blood still covering my face, I had to look like an animal standing there, blood covering my face and hands. I couldn't help myself though, I couldn't help but run into her arms and bury my face in her chest, sobbing for all that I had lost and all that I had become.