Chapter 2: Avis

Soliciting in work grounds was not allowed in district seven. it was not allowed in any district. It was considered trespassing, and it was punished by whipping. Avis did not care. Nor did any of her friends. They would spend hours at a time wandering through the large trees of the lumber forests just talking or sharing stories. Sometimes they would climb the trees and spend their time talking in the treetops. Avis liked this time. She preferred it to being home. At home, her only comfort came from a book on her windowsill. it was her drawing book. She would draw her family like she wished it was.

Avis' favorite part of her walks was always the end. She loved making it to the end because like a book, she got to see it unravel. She had made it to the end of this walk and was particularly happy. On many walks, Avis and her friends would run into peacekeepers. They would have to hide and wait for the district guards to leave before they could continue walking. On this day there were no peacekeepers in sight. She and her friends were able to walk the entire way without disruption. Avis walked home with a smile.

Avis hated home. As soon as she stepped inside, her smile disappeared. "I'm back," she said. There was no response. "I know you're here."

Avis' father looked over from his chair in the other room. He had been drinking. "Who are you?" he said.

Avis spat. She got this reaction every day. "I hate you."

"Hey," Avis' father got up, "Treat me like your father. I want respect while you are in my house."

"I would if I had a father."

Avis stormed to her room with her parent yelling behind her "You're a piece of crap! You know it!"

The girl had only grown up with one parent. From the day she was born, he would make himself a stranger. He sat in the same chair every day with a different form of alcohol as entertainment. When Avis went through school, she never saw her father do more than drink, sit, and yell. She dropped out when she was twelve to get a job. They could not lose their house but if her father died, she would be on the streets without the money. Because of this, she became a carpenter's assistant.

Avis' father had estranged himself from her for a single reason. he had no will to live. Sixteen years ago, the year Avis was born, he was selected to participate in the games. No one volunteered for him even though he had a newborn child. He went into the games at age eighteen and survived, going home to raise his daughter. He never raised her, however. The games had scarred him for life. He had witnessed so much death that he gave up on life, and he resorted to drinking.

Avis took her book off of the windowsill. She opened it to a blank page and drew. The drawing started off with a straight line. It went down the center of the paper. Then it curved. It became an arm. She was drawing her father. He was a lumberjack. He had large muscles, and was wearing a wool knit cap. It protected him from falling twigs and sawdust. He had an axe in his arms, as though he was ready to swing and cut down the next tree. She erased the axe. She instead drew a hammer. She was very talented with hammers. She would use them every day at work. She chose this as her father's accessory because of its importance to her. Realizing what she drew, a connection to her father, she closed the book and put it back. It was late, and her mind was not in place to draw.

...

Avis dreamed she was in a grassy field. It was nighttime. A boy was running next to her.

"Come on," he said, "She's behind us!"

Avis began to run. As though it was out of her control, she spoke. "How much longer?"

"Only about thirty seconds. There's a river we can hide in until she passes through."

Avis looked behind her. There was brush rustling. Someone was indeed following them. Avis slowed down. The boy turned. "Hurry!"

Suddenly, a girl jumped from the brush. She sent a spear hurtling towards Avis' chest at full speed. "Daddy!" Avis screamed to the boy. She was in the Hunger Games. The spear impaled her. Blood poured from her chest. The boy took one last look at Avis, and disappeared into the trees ahead. The last thing Avis heard was a cannon.

...

Avis sat up in bed swiftly. She was soaked in sweat from head to toe. Breathing heavily, she got up. She walked over to the door, and creaked it open. There was glass strewn all about the hall. In the corner, her father was unconscious. He was sitting in a puddle of what seemed to be whiskey. Avis sighed, and went to her father to help him up.