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“Katniss....he's still trying to keep you alive.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“No problem," Gale replies. "I wake up ten times a night anyway."
"To make sure Katniss is still here?" asks Peeta.
"Something like that,"...
"That was funny, what Tigris said. About no one knowing what to do with her."
"Well, WE never have,"...
"She loves you, you know," says Peeta. "She as good as told me after they whipped you."
"Don't believe it,"Gale answers. "The way she kissed you in the Quarter Quell...well she never kissed me like that."
"It was just part of the show," Peeta tells him, although there's an edge of doubt in his voice.
"No, you won her over. Gave up everything for her. Maybe that's the only way to convince her you love her." There's a long pause. "I should have volunteered to take your place in the first Games. Protected her then."
"You couldn't," says Peeta. "She'd never have forgiven you. You had to take care of her family. They matter more to her than her life."
...
"I wonder how she'll make up her mind."
"Oh, that I do know." I can just catch Gale's last words through the layer of fur. "Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't survive without”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“I had to do that. At least once.”
― Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“He tilts his forehead down to rest against mine and pulls me closer. His skin, his whole being radiates heat from being so near the fire, and I close my eyes, soaking in his warmth. I breathe in the smell of snow-dampened leather and smoke and apples, the smell of all those wintry days we shared before the Games. I don't try to move away. Why should I anyway? His voice drops to a whisper. "I love you." That's why.”
― Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“You'll never be able to let him go. You'll always feel wrong about being with me.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“The question is, what are you going to do?"
It turns out the question that's been eating away at me has only ever had one possible answer. But it took Peeta's ploy for me to recognize it.
What am I going to do?
I take a deep breath. My arms rise slightly - as if recalling the black-and-white wings Cinna gave me - then come to rest at my sides.
"I'm going to be the Mockingjay.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“Maybe I'll be like the man in the Hanging Tree still waiting for an answer.' Gale who I have never seen cry has tears in his eyes. To keep them from spilling over. I reach forward and press my lips against his. We taste of heat, ashes and misery.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“Not if we blow it up," Gale says brusquely. His intent, his full intent, becomes clear. Gale has no interest in preserving the lives of those in the Nut. No interest in caging the pray for later use.
This is one of his death traps.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“The way she kissed you in the Quarter Quell…well she never kissed me like that…I should have volunteered to take your place in the first Games. Protected her then…I guess it’s Katniss�� problem. Who to choose…Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can’t survive without.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“‎I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here and cause all kinds of trouble.”
― Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“We could do it, you know," Gale says quietly.

"What?" I ask.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," says Gale.

I don't know how to respond. This idea is so preposterous.”
― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

“Then Octavia drops to her knees, rubs the hem of a skirt against her cheek, and burst into tears. "It's been so long," she gasps, "since I've seen anything pretty.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“Gale didn't say, "Katniss will pick whoever it will break her heart to give up," or even "whoever she can't live without." Those would have implied I was motivated by a kind of passion. But my best friend predicts I will choose the person "I can't survive without." There's not the least indication that love, desire, or even compatibility will sway me. I'll just conduct an unfeeling assessment of what my potential mates can offer me.

As if in the end, it will be the question of whether a baker or a hunter will extend my longevity the most. It's a horrible thing for Gale to say, for Peeta not to refute. Especially when every emotion I have has been taken or exploited by the Capitol or the rebels. At the moment, the choice would be simple. I can survive just fine without either of them.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“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.”
― Suzanne Collins

“Our rocky ledge overlooking the valley. Perhaps a little less green than usual, but the blackberry bushes hang heavy with fruit. Here began countless days of hunting and snaring, fishing and gathering, roaming together through the woods, unloading our thoughts while we filled our game bags. This was the doorway to both sustenance and sanity. And we were each other's key.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“I don’t stand a chance if he doesn't get better. You’ll never be able to let him go. You’ll always feel wrong about being with me.��
“The way I always felt wrong kissing him because of you,�� I say.
Gale holds my gaze. “If I thought that was true, I could almost live with the rest of it.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“Me pilló completamente por sorpresa. Después de todo el tiempo que había pasado con Gale, de observar cómo hablaba, se reía, fruncía el ceño, cabría esperar que supiese todo lo que había que saber de sus labios. Sin embargo, no me había imaginado el calor que desprendían al unirse a los míos. Ni que aquellas manos, las manos que podían montar la más intrincada de las trampas también pudiera atraparme a mí con la misma facilidad.”
― Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“So well intended, and yet so insulting. - Gale Hawthorne”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“Greta is great, but he's a little...extremely...moody. Take my birthday last year. At the stroke of midnight, he appeared at my door.
"I wrote this poem for you," he said, shoving a piece of crumpled paper into my hands.

'The world must burn.
Lava exploding into faces.
Their skeletons are screaming now.
No survivors.
- From Greta'

"Oh...uh...wow..." I began.
"Don't bother thanking me," he said. "I just wanted to comfort you for being one year closer to the grave. Of course, I failed miserably, because comfort doesn't exist in this universe.”
― Bratniss Everclean, The Hunger But Mainly Death Games: A Parody

“A wind that howled like a drowning man.”
― Kevin Ansbro, Kinnara

“Двамата с Пийта се сближаваме. Все още има моменти, когато той стиска здраво облегалката на някой стол и не я пуска, докато бързо мяркащите се спомени приключат. Аз се будя с писъци от кошмари за мутове и загинали деца. Но ръцете му са там, за да ме утешат. А накрая �� и устните му. В нощта, когато изпитвам отново онова усещане �� гладът, който ме завладя на брега, �� разбирам, че това така или иначе щеше да се случи. Че за да оцелея, ми е нужен не огънят на Гейл, разпален с ярост и омраза. Самата аз имам огън в изобилие. Нужно ми е глухарчето през пролетта. Яркожълтият цвят, който означава възраждане, а не унищожение. Обещанието, че животът може да продължи, независимо колко тежки са нашите загуби. Че може отново да бъде хубаво. И само Пийта може да ми даде това.”
― Сюзан Колинс, Mockingjay

“Siamo creature stupide e incostanti, con la memoria corta e un grandissimo talento per l'autodistruzione.”
― Suzanne Collins

“Just as I made a turn into my driveway, a gigantic quadrilateral of swirling neon colors—reds, purples, and hot pinks—appeared out of nowhere right smack in the middle of the street. It created a gale that blasted the neighborhood. Trees uprooted and flew into it, along with a couple of cars, a bicycle, and one yodeling cat.”
― Pamela K. Kinney, How the Vortex Changed My Life

“All of a sudden a strong wind from the west came to visit them. For a short duration, sand blew in the air and filled the eyes of anyone stranded outside, blinding him, the leaves on the trees strived to tear away from the branches that held them so tenaciously, and the trees swayed dangerously hither and thither. The wind swept in with a howl and people huddled in their quilts were beginning to wonder if the tents that sheltered them were indeed pitched solidly. Or how because of the way the wind blew so wildly, could it possibly be carrying some missive?”
― Mukta Singh-Zocchi, The Thugs & a Courtesan

“The Taranis Cèilidh by Stewart Stafford

Lightning's jagged spear,
Burning the horizon bright,
Silhouetting empty tables,
No picnics by the waterside.

Waves sloshed against jetties,
A displaced bath on all sides,
Flailing tree chorus genuflected,
To the foaming vat beside them.

The roar of the gale rose and fell,
Tempest's tongue agitated potently,
Leaves surrendered in droves to it,
Sleep deepened in the storm's fury.

© Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Winterland by Stewart Stafford

Obelisk columns of a wintry afternoon,
Bony fingers of nascent green in June,
Pink snow clouds kissed by fading sun,
Dark gold streets, hurry home as one.

Shared body heat tenderises life so tough,
Fusion shelter from gales so rough,
Windows scream, a voyeur's peek inside,
Lovers dismissed with wailing to chide.

Darkness claims stragglers of day,
Wrestles all an eye sees, stealing it away,
Sleep whispers drowsy promises in our ears,
We two, melding - strangers from our fears.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford