Nickel didn't like waiting. When he
wanted things, he wanted them at that very moment. That didn't mean
he threw temper tantrums whenever he didn't get something he wanted.
No, his parents would never stand for that. He'd been taught not to
complain about what he did or didn't have. If he was told he
couldn't have something, he'd wipe it from his mind, and it would be
forgotten. Tell him he could have something but at a later date,
however, and he would be on edge until the moment he finally got it.
Nickel didn't appreciate the anticipation. He didn't understand why
some people, such as his sister Dani, seemed to enjoy it. He wanted
things to happen immediately. What was fun about waiting?
That's why he had his bags packed for
their trip to District 2 a whole two weeks early. He wanted to get
on the train immediately. He just wished his parents could be
convinced to do the same. Katniss was a bit shocked to come upon him
stuffing his socks into the only available space in his crammed
suitcase.
"Nickel?" she questioned from
the doorway. Nickel spun around quickly as if he had done something
wrong. "It's a little early to be packing, isn't it?" A
part of her wondered if she should be praising her son. Didn't most
parents have trouble getting their children to pack at all? But she
just couldn't fathom why it was neccessary to be packed two weeks
early. Chances were he'd be needing quite a few of those things she
saw squished, very unneatly, in the suitcase.
Nickel stopped packing and sat on the
bed instead, where Katniss joined him. "I'm ready to go now
though."
Katniss laughed a little at his
earnestness. "Honey, we can't leave yet. Your father's got
work," she cut Nickel off before he could speak. "And no
he can't just leave the bakery in the hands of his workers two weeks
ahead of time. Plus, you and Dani still have school."
Nickel offered his mom a meek look.
"We could always make up the school work later..."
Katniss let out a laugh, but her voice
was stern when she answered. "No. You're not missing school.
Two weeks isn't that long of a wait. It'll be over before you know
it."
Nickel's suitcase recieved a dejected
look. "Can I at least leave my things packed, so I don't have
to later?"
"Sure," Katniss smiled. "But
you might be needing some of those clean clothes." She directed
a pointed look at the almost empty closet that was wide open on the
opposite end of the room.
"Well," Nickel's face
scrunched up in thought. "I'll just pull them out of here then,
if they're needed. I'll see how much I can keep packed." The
boy's face lit up as if he'd just challenged himself to something.
Katniss mentally reminded herself to make sure he was wearing clean
clothes each day until the trip.
"You might want to try and make it
a little neater too," Katniss said. "Otherwise you're
going to be wearing some pretty wrinkly clothes in District 2."
She noticed that Nickel didn't look too pleased at the thought of
folding all of his clothes.
"Two weeks," Nickel sighed as
Katniss left the room. He turned to his messy attempts at packing
and unhappily pulled out some shirts. He might as well have had to
wait an eternity.
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