Dani stared out the window at the murky
clouds hiding the sky. It was a dreary spring day, and there had
been nothing but clouds and rain all day. A rumble of thunder could
be heard in the distance, although Dani hadn't noticed a flash of
lightning, not surprising considering how much her mind had been
drifting. Dani couldn't spot one living thing that wasn't rooted to
the ground. That was one thing Dani found fascinating about nature:
how every single animal seemed to know exactly when they should seek
shelter from a coming storm. If only humans would pay that much
attention to what was happening around them. Those weather people,
who were wrong as often as right, wouldn't be needed.
Of course, there was a lack of humans
outside as well. A small group of kids could usually be counted on
to be running around at any given point in the day, but today they
had apparently taken their playing indoors. This included Dani's
brother, who had brought his best friend Colby over several hours
ago. They were currently doing something in Nickel's room while
being suspiciously quiet. Her parents had made themselves
comfortable in the house today. Dani knew that her father was in the
next room. He'd decided that cookies were just what they needed to
cheer them up on this gloomy day. Katniss had followed him into the
kitchen. Dani could usually expect to find her mother close to her
father's side if she wasn't in the woods.
Dani hadn't even realized that it was
odd for her parents to be almost attached at the hip so much until
Jas pointed it out to her. They'd only been seven at the time, and
Jas had asked innocently why her parents never seemed to leave each
other. After asking what her friend meant, Jas had told Dani that
her own parents were often going places without the other, and Jas
saw them together maybe a couple of hours a day. After hearing this,
Dani had closely watched all of the other adult couples she knew, and
she had discovered that her parents' seeming inability to function
after long periods apart wasn't exactly normal. Of course, she'd
learned more about the truth behind this, but she'd found it
incredibly fascinating as a young child. She'd been convinced it was
proof that her parents loved each other more than any other couple on
the planet. Dani still believed this, even if it was naive of her.
There was no way any other couple could beat her parents.
This thought made her move towards the
kitchen. Dani was careful to quietly poke her head around the
corner. Hopefully she would be able to observe her parents without
them realizing she was there. She liked to catch them having little
moments together sometimes. It made her daydream about having that
same relationship with someone of her own some day, although she
wasn't sure she could ever love someone as much as her parents loved
each other.
Her parents were by the counter on the
opposite side of the kitchen from the door Dani was peaking around.
All they were doing was standing side by side as they worked on
making some type of baked good. They were standing as close to each
other as they could be without touching. Even with the lack of
contact, Dani could tell how much the other's presence relaxed them
from the look on their faces. Peeta had a small smile that Dani was
used to seeing on his face whenever he was around anyone in the
family. Her mom, as usual, had a straight face, but Dani had become
very good at reading the expressions on her mom's face that others
often believed to be all the same. Dani was one of the few people
who would be able to tell you that her mother's face was as relaxed
as it could possibly be at the moment. It was an expression that
most people never got to see on Katniss.
It became more and more obvious to her
the older that she got that her parents weren't exactly "fine"
the way most people were. They were fine in the only way people who
had been through what they had could be fine, but it most definitely
wasn't the fine that Dani herself felt. There was constantly a part
of her parents that most wasn't fine and never would be. Yet her
parents seemed to be at their best and happiest when they were
together. Dani was sure her and her brother had a similar effect on
them, but Dani loved watching her parents together. They couldn't
make each other whole again. That was impossible. But together they
were able to tape the pieces back together as good as was possible.
Dani noticed Peeta stealing a quick kiss before sticking a pan into
the oven. Yes, Dani couldn't think of any couple more perfect than
her parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment