Omri Rakesh (18) D6M

Hm. Today's the Reaping. Better get up early. I rolled out of my bed as soon as the thought crossed my mind, rather than lying there and basking in the pleasure of being hardly awake for a couple of minutes. Normally I had plenty of time to waste a couple of minutes before I got up, but on Reapings, I always made sure to be up with the sun. Mom and Dad were high-strung as it was, and I had to try and make a hard day easier on my family.

I stood in front of my window for a few seconds, trying to make sure my appearance was acceptable. There was no point in going downstairs with a semi-done look just to have my mom make me do it all over again. I made sure there was almost no dirt on my dark skin, and I made sure my brown hair wasn't too ruffled. My mother always made such a big fuss about my hair. I didn't think it was too big of a deal. Nobody was looking at hair on a normal day, much less a Reaping day. Still, if it made her happy, and if it was that simple, I could do it.

Finally, I deemed myself acceptable. I went downstairs and started making breakfast. Today's a Reaping. Mom won't mind if you use eggs, I thought to myself, trying to remember what I had made last year. The family had liked that. I made one egg for each person, because we only had six, and there were five of us. I fried them the way I remembered us liking them, leaving them so that you could crack the yolk open with a fork. Then I buttered some bread and put it in the oven, making it the way that my brother and sister liked it best. I preferred crunchier toast, but I wasn't the one that needed cheering up.

While the eggs were cooking, I started setting the table. Our plates were all cracked, but I chose the least cracked ones. I was stopped three plates in to flip the eggs, and then I could finish setting out the dishes. My mother got up just as I finished setting the table, and she smiled at me.

"You should be asleep. I was going to make breakfast today," Mother said to me, but I knew her heart wasn't in it. She was still drowsy, and she had slept longer than I had.

"You just got back from an extra shift at the junkyard. I only had one yesterday. Fair is fair," I said, leading Mom to her place at the table. I set an egg on her plate and gave her one of the five pieces of toast I had made. Then I walked off a couple of feet, to not spook my mother, and yelled, "Breakfast is ready!"

Soon the calmness of the morning would be gone.

Althea Fender (16) D6F

"These flowers are particularly beautiful during the summer. You see, during winter, you need roses. Those clash with the snow for an exciting look. But during the summer, everything's so pretty that you don't need to clash! I tell everyone they should get sunflowers. They're happy, and they actually mesh nicely with the rest of the world," I said to the customer I was helping. She was trying to find a bouquet to brighten up her room, and sunflowers would definitely do that. Sunflowers and daisies were the happiest of flowers.

"Oh, thank you. I think I will take these after all. Can you ring me up, young lady?" the woman I was serving asked. I grinned at took the flowers from her. Mrs. Citroen was a regular, so I knew how to match flowers to her mood pretty well.

"Great choice! Here you go, and here's your change," I said, handing the elderly woman her flowers. She smiled.

"Such nice young people they have working here. More children should be like you." I knew Mrs. Citroen was just saying that because she thought anyone who smiled was a nice young person, but I still appreciated the compliment. I didn't have time to reply before she was out of the store.

"Hey, Dad?" I asked, noticing that all of the customers were out of the store. "The Reaping's today. You know what always brightens my mood a little?" I didn't have to explain any further. My dad knew what I meant.

"You want me to tell you about your mother again? I'm never going to get to stop telling the story, am I?" Dad replied. I laughed.

"Not as long as I'm around!"

"Let's see... Your mother was a beautiful woman. Second most beautiful in the District, actually. You're the first. She was the most kind and caring woman I ever met. She could brighten up an entire room just by smiling. The problem was, she got bored pretty easily. She couldn't be tied down to one place or one man. So she left. She left me with a wonderful goodbye present, though. One that won't leave for quite a while." My dad hugged me while he spoke, and I hugged him back, squeezing him tightly.

"Why do you say that so nicely? She just left," I said. I didn't have anything against my mother for leaving us. I never really knew the woman, so to the best of my knowledge, she might have been insane or something. My dad did, though. I could see in his eyes how much he missed her, and how much he loved telling me that story. That was one of the reasons I asked about it so often. That meant he should have hated her for leaving, and he could have insulted her, but he never did.

"Because it's the truth. I don't know why she left, but she's still a wonderful woman. You got that from her."

"I got that from you."

Two notes! First of all, about the April fools chapter: That whole thing was a joke. Ginger's in command, Draco is her best friend. It was confusing, and it's best to clear things up

Second note: All of you should go to MR. PANEM's Games, BLOOD AND WATER. He seems pretty new, and I have skin in the Game, so go submit.