a little piece of friendship {faux oneshot}

[Knuckles]

Faux Rhodes

I work so hard for such little money. It's barely enough to keep myself alive. Many times I've gone sleep with my stomach rumbling, begging for more food. Showers are hard to come by, clean clothes, a nice bed to sleep in. Every day on my way home from working in the fields, I walk past the victor's village. The houses are nice, it's not the shack of a house I'm forced to live in, and I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside. Must be nice having a roof that doesn't leak, a shower that works, a stove that cooks - all I get is a leaking roof and a crappy bed. It barely holds the weight of my body, and the winters are cold, freezing. It's a reason why I chose to let my beard grow out. The more body hair covering my body, the warmer I'll be. It's logical at least from my prospective.

I take the money from my pocket realizing it's not enough, but I know it can provide a decent size meal, and it's one I can share. Throughout my life, friendship has gone along way. It keeps me going even through the darkest of hours. Without friends, I am nothing more than a lonely man making my way through life. Helping people out. Giving them flowers. Doing whatever it takes. Yeah, I've been told I'm loud and obnoxious before, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Normally my plans for after work are going home and cleaning up, but right now I'm hungry. I don't even know when my last meal was. It's a shame that it means money for the rest of the week won't be enough for a good meal. Sometimes I find myself thinking about life in the other districts. Looking at them in the hunger games makes me realize just how unfair the Capitol. It's rare for me to spot someone with full cheeks, and ribs not showing. I can work several hours in the fields doing slave labor, but it doesn't mean anything because it's a fixed wage. A wage that barely pays enough to survive. Affording care from the healers, finding food, all of that costs an arm and a leg, and I have neither, and I have nothing to spare.

As I make my way through the district square, I realize all I can afford is a crappy loaf of bread, and maybe something to spread across it. Maybe I can stop on the way home and gather a few plants to add to it. At least it'll work as a filler. Something to prevent my stomach from eating itself along with the rest of my body. Walking in, my head drops because I know these bakers are trying to make a living too. "Excuse me, sir, I was wanting to buy how ever much bread this will afford." Holding out my hand, I half expect the man to laugh at me. I expect him to rub it in my face that I'm poor, that I have no money, that I'll go to sleep hungry once again. But he doesn't. All the man does is sigh before taking the money I have in hand and walking away.

It probably wasn't the smartest moment of my life, but this man comes back with friendship in his hands. The bread is very burnt, but it's two full loaves. A genuine smile twists across my face knowing that tonight I won't go hungry. I'll at least have some bread to fill myself with, and I'll share it with anyone else that needs help too.

"Thank you so much, sir."

Wrapping the bread under my shirt, I run back home as fast as I can. The warmth feels so good, and I don't want anyone seeing it. All I want is to make it back and enjoy the meal. If I remember correctly, I have a few spare plants stowed away in a cabinet, and maybe with a bit of water I can make a little soup to go along with it. But that was the last of my money. It'll take several weeks to earn it back, but tonight it's going to be worth it. It's going to help me stay alive for just a little bit longer, and if I save enough bread, I'll be able to survive for a few weeks.

I sprint through the door into the old house, and I place the bread on the counter. Quickly making my way over to the cabinets, I find a little bit of plants. Just a couple slices of bread, and mashed up plants into soup will work wonders. But maybe I don't need to mash it up. I'll just make a sandwich. Yeah, I can eat faster that way. I pull off just a pinch of bread and eat it. I feel like I'm in heaven. Tonight I'll feast, and if anyone needs it, I'll pass along this precious friendship.

838 words