I woke up shivering. The fact I was cold did not surprise me. At all. I was a freeze baby. You could also probably blame my coldness on the thin blanket I had and the lack of warmth my house held, but that was the same for every citizen of district 7.
Except maybe the mayor. I heard he had heaters installed in his house. Imagine that! A machine that blows hot air into your house. It would probably be nice to have but I couldn't fathom the amount of electricity it would use. A machine like that would most definitely use up our ration of electricity and then some.
I got out of bed and started cooking breakfast. It was the same thing every morning: hot mush and watered down coffee. I'm not complaining though. I eat a feast compared to the majority of people.
ActualIy, I can't really complain about anything I have right now. I'm just so thankful. Maybe I should explain why.
...
It was probably five years ago now, when I was eleven. It was a horrible winter, the coldest one any of us could remember.
Mama fell sick with a really bad cough. She tried to hide it at first and even succeeded. We didn't know for probably weeks that she was sick. When papa and I did find out, it was too late. We couldn't afford the medicines it would cost us to make her better.
The night she died was the coldest night of my whole life. I vividly remember sitting next to her small bed. She was covered in all our blankets, shaking uncontrollably, even though she burned to the touch. Eventually, the tremors stopped and I just sat there. It wasn't until our only candle, sitting on the bare nightstand, burned out that I moved.
"Scarlet Fever," someone called it. That confused me. I thought the Capitol said they eradicated that disease? How could it have killed my Mama? Obviously, I had been lied too. I lived the next two months in a daze, watching my baby brother Oliver get sick. Next it was my sister Fauna, then my dad.
I don't remember much after Fauna died. I vaguely remember Papa passing, but no funeral or service. I guess I blocked it all out, trying to burn every last image in my mind, like they burnt all my family's belongings. They wanted to kill this germ, but they also killed every tie I had to my family.
I was alone when Joey found me. I was sitting next to the smoldering remains of my house, crying. I didn't know where to go. Like I said, it was a rough winter and no one had time for a new orphan girl like me.
Joey took me to his house, where his family welcomed me with open arms. I started working two jobs, in addition to school. It wasn't because I was forced too, but I wanted to pay back this family in any way I could. The extra income I contributed made up for the extra mouth they needed to clothe and feed. As it was, I never let them put me before any of their own kids. I always made sure they got the new clothes and new shoes first. That their plate was filled before I took any food. The McAdams were more than willing to treat me as an equal, as their own child, but I wouldn't let them.
Overtime, I guess you could say that Joey and I became a couple. We never made it official, but there was no need to. Everyone who mattered knew. It was assumed by many that we would end up together. I never thought that far into the future. I learned the future was an unpredictable void that couldn't be trusted.
...
A pair of arms snaked around me, scaring me out of my reverie. I jumped and let out a small squeak.
"Shh, Autumn, it's just me," Joey whispered calmly. His strong arms wrapped around me tightly, bringing me to him. I snuggled into his warmth. "What were you thinking about this time?"
I laughed. He often caught me when I was lost in thought. I had the same reaction every time. "Just my family." I tried to smile, but the look on his face told me he didn't believe me.
I sighed and gathered my things to go to work. The work in District 7 is divided into three sections: growth, deforestation, and the factories. I work in deforestation. The job here is divided into three shifts. I work the first and third shift. ( I go to school during the second shift).
The first shift is the best part of my day and also the most physical. Our job is to prepare sections of the forest to be cut down. As one of the youngest workers, my job is to go into the trees and move out the animals. Other people below relocate them to other parts of the Forrest or kill them for food. At first, the job was horrible, but now I enjoy the feeling of my body working as I climb and jump through trees.
The work, hard as it was, relaxed me and I slowly was able to push the images of my family out of my head.
...
A couple days later, I left school glad it was over. It was a very tense day. I wasn't surprised though. The day before the reaping was never pleasant. The students were very solemn. It was hard not to walk down the hallway, looking at the students, and wonder what peer, what friend, would have to leave.
"Hey Autumn!" I looked up startled.
"Oh hey Allie." Allie Jones was possibly the sweetest, kindest, most generous girl that I would ever know. She was constantly upbeat, I have never seen her sad.
"Where are you headed?" Allie queried.
"Work."
"Oh, sorry!"
"Why are you sorry?"
"That I asked. I didn't know if you wanted people to know if you worked. I'd hate to offend you! Some are embarrassed that they have to go to work." Allie replied.
I loved Allie, but every now and then she got my nerves because she was so afraid to offend people. "No, your fine." I assured her. "Plenty of people know."
I arrived home from work exhausted. All the third shift did was carry the downed tree logs and branches to vehicles that shipped them off to the factories. Since tomorrow was the reaping and therefore a day off, the peacekeepers wanted us to work twice as hard as normal. They yelled and threatened us every time we stopped for a short break.
"Hey honey. Are you ok?" It was Joey, waiting for me like always did.
"I'm fine. It was just hard today, you know?"
"So you felt the tension at school too?" Joey asked me as we sat down to dinner. Everyone else had already eaten, but Joey insisted on waiting for me.
"How could you not? The tension was so thick I could barely walk!" I said with a smile.
"Oh yeah! If it gets any worse, we'll need to bring pick axes to school to get through the wall of tension and anxiety."
I laughed. "I'd like to see how the Peacekeepers react to that." Joey and I managed to keep a light banter during dinner.
As was custom, Joey's family and I sat around the fire place after dinner. Joey and I were wrapped in one blanket, his two brothers in another. Mr. And Mrs. McAdams sat in the only two chairs.
"I learned about the reapings in school today!" Jaiden, Joey's 6 year old brother exclaimed. "My teacher said really bad people tried to hurt the president and the country and the reapings is p-p-push mint"
"I think the word you mean is punishment, Jay," I corrected softly. Joey grumbled softly next to me, but I don't think it had anything to do with Jay's mispronunciation.
We were all quiet for awhile, thinking about what Jaiden learned. It wasn't until a mouse scurried by our feet that we all snapped out of it.
"I think I'm going to bed. See you all in the morning," Joey announced, scrambling to his feet. He ambled over to the bed he shared with his two brothers. He climbed under the covers, not bothering to undress, lest the cold get to him.
"I should too," I mumbled. I made my way to my tiny alcove. Being the only girl in the house had its perks. Like not sharing a bed. I sprawled myself out, thinking about tomorrow and what was to come.
I was scared, not for myself, but for Joey. He wouldn't let me take out any tesserae this year. Instead, he took it upon himself to take out all the tesserae and the extra chances at being reaped.
Joey was my rock, the person who kept me going when I couldn't keep my self going. If we were separated, would I do?
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Enjoy! -rmbell811