CHAPTER ONE
The sunlight drifted through the window, revealing the dust in the crisp air. The illumination danced around on the furniture, targeting the wicker chair and then moving on to victimise wooden wardrobe. The whole affair looking a lot like an angel flying impatiently. Yet there was a strange sort of beauty to the way the sunlight shook. It was a twisted kind of beauty, but wasn't everyone a bit twisted really? The wardrobe alone could have set off a whirlwind of memories in Finnick's head... but there was no time for that. He had to get up. Finnick struggled to leave the warmth and security of his bed, the room made him feel at peace and gave him a state of utter calmness; from the curtains moving softly in the light breeze coming from the window to subtle glow of the room, not to bright so as to burn his eyes but neither too dark so that he could not see. The room smelt of salt and fresh air; it was going to be another sunny day Finnick thought.
He slowly sat up, his eyes darting to his parent's bed which was situated right next to his. His house only had three small rooms, just the bare necessities. A modest bathroom, a kitchen and one bedroom, his family was a far cry from the wealthy capitol citizens. Where his parents were was usually a clear indicator of where he was supposed to be. Finnick did not own a clock nor had any real sense of time, but if his parents were gone it was most certainly time to go. Noting this, he jumped out of bed leaving just enough time to quickly pull his patched shorts on, district four was no place to linger.
Even as he scampered across the deep oak floor he could feel his limbs aching. He shook it off, he was fourteen now; he told himself, he could handle a little manual labour. Still his arms felt like someone was stabbing him repeatedly. He approached the top of the stairs and somewhat hesitantly he ran down, his footsteps echoing. He had to tell himself the pain of running would be nothing compared to if he was late. He didn't have any time to eat, not that they had much and Finnick still hadn't gotten used to the idea of chewing fish at five in the morning. So, with no food in his stomach he ran out the white-washed front door with just enough time to see the sun rise. Although they had no money Finnick's family still liked to take pride in their house. One thing they were the most proud of was the luscious landscape surrounding the dwelling. Finnick's house was situated right on a breath-taking beach, each dot of sand so remarkable individually and yet together they had the power to form a real visual masterpiece. Teamed with the waves rolling onto the sand, the sight was hard to beat. Upon the waves stood small white boats laden with carefully woven nets and hand crafted tools. Surrounding the sea were cliffs, the whiteness of the rocks contrasting against the deep blue of the sea. This scene wouldn't have looked out of place in a painting. Unfortunately, Finnick didn't have time to admire his hometown; he had seen it plenty of times anyway. He was already dashing down the beach, his feet kicking up ripples of sand as he went.
He made it just in time, skidding into the back of the queue. In front of him stood around ten men waiting to get on the final boat. Their ages ranged from ten to sixty. All of the men were heavily tanned, though their skin glowed not with the beauty of health but rather with the sense of exposure to the sun's rays. All of the men wore simple draw string shorts, all various shades of beige and all of them were heavily muscled. Most of the men had brown hair. Not Finnick though, Finnick had a full head of blonde hair, the colour of sunlight at the brightest point of the day. Finnick's features were chiselled and well defined; some said pure evidence of a creator, as how could such a face be an accident? His eyes were a bright green, the sort of green that commandeered attention. His physique was slight although for his age he had impressive muscle definition. As you can imagine he was the object of a lot of people's eyes even at such a tender age. Although only one girl mattered to Finnick and she had never gazed up at him with wonder in her eyes as he has seen so many others do.
