Off-topic note: I could tell from the form that Leila was submitted by a younger and probably new submitter. That's why I added the part about her regretting her mistake. We all start out young, and we all have a Tribute we look back on and laugh about (though Lilei's far from terrible and I've gotten way worse). It's nothing new, so don't feel bad, Nyan.

OOPS sorry it's Lilei! I had a Leila once and I'm just a little dyslexic. I also had a Lilith and a Lily.

Appaloosa Stockholm, District 12- 17

I could see Bay at the edge of the Reaping clearing. She was twelve, so she was barely old enough to be here. She got bullied a lot. I knew that because I saw it happen. I saw red, like I always did when someone was being a tyrant, and I stepped in to help. I thought people would like me after that, but that wasn't how it went. Some of them were mad, but most of them were scared, like Bay. I didn't see what the big fuss was. I only broke two of his ribs, and we all knew he deserved worse.

Demi had gotten better over the years. When I first saw her, I absolutely despised her. She was just another Capitol bimbo, as dumb as socks on a rooster, as my grandmother would have said. It disgusted me how Capitolites were so brainless. They had every opportunity. They had endless resources and access to boundless information every second of the day, and they wasted it. They sat around in piles of money eating peaches and cream and their only contact with us was to watch us die. But Demi changed from her first impression. When I saw the Reapings air, she was the only one that seemed to really regret picking the names. She always did it with a minimum of pomp and circumstance, and she wore darker clothes than the others. If she didn't watch herself so carefully, I'd think she was rebellious.

You should just volunteer. It wasn't a real plan- more of an intrusive thought. It popped in out of nowhere and I almost laughed. Me, volunteer for the Games? I didn't even eat meat. I threw a fit after my father butchered my pet goat Libby and hadn't touched the stuff since. My goats were strictly for milk. Obviously I wasn't quite as tenderhearted with people, but killing twenty-three kids wasn't my style. I didn't like bullies, but I wasn't a killer. Even if I was, I had no reason to think I'd win. How egotistical would that be?

You got nothing worth staying for. That was sort of true. I wasn't sure where I was going to go to school, since I'd just been expelled. Most of the people my age thought I was some sort of monster. My relationship with my parents, especially my father, had been strained ever since Dad slit Libby's throat while I screamed. Twelve wasn't exactly a joyride for anyone, even the well-adjusted people.

That is stupid. That is really stupid. I've had some dumb ideas and done some dumb things, but that is over the line. No, no, no.

"Out female Tribute is Appaloosa Stockholm!"

Well what do you think of that?

Dayley "Day" Harrvis, District 12- 13

Summer was the best time of the year. I didn't have to worry about collecting discarded newspapers so I wouldn't freeze to death, and it didn't take so much energy just to stay warm. People were more generous, too. They had more spare coins for my little dances and shows, so I both ate better and needed less food. I didn't have to find shelter and could just stretch out behind a row of garbage cans and go to sleep. I only wished it would last forever.

It was a lovely, sunny day. On days like that, I felt like no one could stop me. I didn't need a house or a family to get along in life, and I didn't need money to have a good time. There were plenty of kids like me, and we watched out for each other. Most of us lost our parents to Black Lung, but a few of us had cooler stories about explosions or escapes. I never talked about my parents, though. Probably we all had things we wished we'd done differently, and we had different ways of expressing it. Some of us talked about it all the time in order to make the pain wear off from repetition. Others, like me, kept it to ourselves and hoped we weren't cursed.

Everyone had something to be sad about, but I didn't let that keep me down. Bad things happen in life, but life goes on. You move on and you start again. I got up from my trash can bedroom and searched the cans for anything useful. It was mostly just a ritual, since no one had thrown anything away in the night. There was nothing edible, which meant I'd have to try something else.

Sometimes I paired up with one of the other street urchins, but mostly I worked alone. Everyone who had ever gotten close to me had died, and I didn't want to test the theory. I picked a cardboard box out of the alley and took it with me to find an opportune spot.

Through experience, I'd found the best place to work was in front of the tesserae station. It sounded funny, since the people going in and out were the poorest of all. Everyone had pride, though, and sometimes the poorest people were the proudest of all. It was humiliating to have to admit you needed tesserae to live. The people going into the station knew everyone else knew what they were doing, especially the ones pulling wagons behind them. Seeing a dirty street kid let them say they weren't the worst. They said to themselves, "At least I'm not as poor as that kid". I gave them back the luxury of pitying instead of being pity. They rarely failed to toss a single, low-value coin into my box when I danced. It wasn't for my benefit. They wanted everyone to see they were rich enough to give money to the poor. Nobody wanted to be the poor.

That was a lot of philosophy, most of which was beyond me. I didn't care about people staring at me. I liked dancing, and I liked coins. I had enough for another meal, and that made me happy. Things were bad sometimes, but the past was the past. You gotta live going forward.

Appaloosa: Chestnut hair to her waist, Emerald eyes. She has a round face and high freckled cheekbones, and a long straight nose. Although she's pretty, she has a resting bleep face. Appaloosa's skin is tan. She has a muscular but not stocky build- around 140 lbs. She stands at 5'11".

Dayley:Kinda has that typical Seam look. Dark brown hair, almost black, with grey narrow eyes. His skin is tanned from him being outside so much. About 5 feet and 4 inches in height, but seriously skinny, almost malnourished. He does have slight muscles in his arms though.