Голодные игры
Chapter 24
Thenobediently,asiffollowinginstructions,wecrosstothelakeandfillourwatercontainers.
Ifrownattheshrinkingsun."Wedon’twanttofighthimafterdark.There’sonlytheonepairofglasses."
Peetacarefullysqueezesdropsofiodineintothewater."Maybethat’swhathe’swaitingfor.Whatdoyouwanttodo?Gobacktothecave?"
"Eitherthatorfindatree.Butlet’sgivehimanotherhalfanhourorso.Thenwe’lltakecover,"Ianswer.
Wesitbythelake,infullsight.There’snopointinhidingnow.Inthetreesattheedgeoftheplain,Icanseethemockingjaysflittingabout.Bouncingmelodiesbackandforthbetweenthemlikebrightlycoloredballs.IopenmymouthandsingoutRue’sfour-noterun.Icanfeelthempausecuriouslyatthesoundofmyvoice,listeningformore.Irepeatthenotesinthesilence.Firstonemockingjaytrillsthetuneback,thenanother.Thenthewholeworldcomesalivewiththesound.
"Justlikeyourfather,"saysPeeta.
Myfingersfindthepinonmyshirt."That’sRue’ssong,"Isay."Ithinktheyrememberit."
ThemusicswellsandIrecognizethebrillianceofit.Asthenotesoverlap,theycomplimentoneanother,formingalovely,unearthlyharmony.Itwasthissoundthen,thankstoRue,thatsenttheorchardworkersofDistrict11homeeachnight.Doessomeonestartitatquittingtime,Iwonder,nowthatsheisdead?
Forawhile,Ijustclosemyeyesandlisten,mesmerizedbythebeautyofthesong.Thensomethingbeginstodisruptthemusic.Runscutoffinjagged,imperfectlines
