"Dad" I yell as I run towards my dad, not knowing what I am doing I fall to his side an try to push the enormous tree that has not only fallen upon my father but skewered him through the stomach. I then realize that moving this log would cause my father to be injured even further. I look up desperately as I see the other men; one stood puking away from the scene another frozen in shock and another man has run to find help. The fourth is on the other side of the log frantically trying to remove it from the top of my father, I know he is trying to help but he is making it worse. "Stop it, you're killing him!" I yell. Tears have started to produce in my tear ducts. I look at my father laying there, I try my best to lift the log as to reduce pressure but also do my best not to move it. "Dad..." I say but the dryness of my throat cuts me off.

"Aspen…" he says I move in closer and place my head on his chest, he places his hand on my head "Aspen… you are going to have to be there… for your mother..."

"Dad shut up, you're not going to die I won't let you!" It's a promise I cannot keep, I feel him strain his head and places his face in my hair

"I love you Aspen… tell your mother… tell her I love her"

"I love you dad" I say as I give up my frantic hopes to save him and try to enjoy the last moments I have with him. He grabs my hand

"Son… today is reaping day… promise me… if you… if you're reaped… try to win" I sit there stunned by the reality of the situation, not only is it reaping day, my father is dying in my hands as he tells me his last words. "Dad… Dad, NO…DAD"! I scream, I feel arms picking me up by my armpits, everything is in slow-motion as I'm dragged away I see other lumberjacks and medics rush into the scene, I kick and yell and claw at these evil arms that drag me away from my father.

"Aspen" I hear, I break away from the arms and turn around to see my mother running towards me. "What in the hell happened"!

"He… Dad… the tree… mom… he's" I say, choking on my tears.

"No… No… NO" my mom gets up to run towards the scene but I grab her "Mom no"!

"Don't" I say, we stand there trying to understand why, why of all people and of all days. "It's my fault… I distracted him… he's dead because of me" I say in realization.

"Aspen Charles Washington"! She says "Don't you dare try to blame this on yourself, it was nobody's fault, it was a terrible accident and you know that"! I realize that she is telling the truth and not just trying to cheer me up, but I just can't shake the feeling that it was my fault.

"What do we do now…?" I ask. I honestly don't know what to do, what is there to do. We don't have time to mourn, the reaping takes place in an hour and I now have bloodstains riddled upon my shirt.

"We go home, we eat, we get you prim and proper then we get you to the reaping ceremony". She says with a stern look. We clasp hands and walk home where I take off my clothes and rinse the grease from my brown hair that has grown just below my ears. I wash the dirt and wood chippings from my body and rinse off the trails of tears from my face. I dry off with the towel that is sitting on the dingy sink. I walk over to the mirror and look at my own face, my now shiny brown hair, my hazel eyes, and my somewhat tan skin. I brush the hair out of my face as I swoop it the right, I resist the urge to just altogether put it behind my ears to get it out of the way but then again I would definitely look a little feminine if I did that. I wrap the towel around my waist and walk to my room and see that my mother had laid out some dress clothes for me. I put on some underwear and slip into my dress clothes; I put on my socks and slip into some shoes. I walk into the kitchen to see my mom sitting in a chair at the table, sleeping with her head resting on the table.

I nudge her little "Mom, mom wake up". She wakes up and sees me standing there .

"Aspen, you're dressed, oh I just had the most horrible dream, where's your father"? I stare at her with pain in my eyes and she realizes that she wasn't dreaming, she had just been dunked in reality head first. "I'm sorry" she says as she gets up.

"No it's fine".

She looks at me and arranges my clothes to look neater, "You look so handsome" she says with a smile. I walk outside, my mother close behind. We walk as far as the line in which the fifteen year olds are lined up getting there blood, finger print, and name taken. She hugs me closely "Good luck Aspen, I love you".

"I love you too mom" I say as I let go of her.