I think about going to the lake, but I'm so weak that I barely make it to my meeting place with Gale. I sit on the rock where Cressida filmed us, but it's too wide without his body beside me. Several times I close my eyes and count to ten, thinking that when I open them, he will have materialized without a sound as he so often did. I have to remind myself that Gale's in 2 with a fancy job, probably kissing another pair of lips.

When I ask Plutarch about his absence, he just shakes his head and says, "He couldnt face it." "Haymitch? Not able to face something? Wanted a day off, more likely," I say. "I think his actual words were 'I couldn't face it without a bottle,'" says Plutarch.

One of the most memorable things I hear is when someone tells me that my books got a reluctant reader to read.

Most rats read. Our frustration is, we cannot hold a pen to write.

Peeta smiles at me, sad and mocking. "Okay. Thanks for the tip, sweetheart.

People don't need wings to survive" "Mockingjays do.

I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.