an
aand district 7! these 2 are so precious! what are your thoughts on them?
District 7
11.10 am
Liliana Melrose, 13
Dear Diary,
I have to leave to go to the Reaping in a minute but I haven't written in here in soooo long! What's new? Well, Iven came knocking again last night. We ignored him, but it was weird to see him again. The last time he was here I was 10, I think. It feels weird to call him 'Iven', but what else would I say? Pa? Father? Daddy? No, he made the choice to leave. He made his bed and now he can lie in it. Ma calls him "that irresponsible bastard" and "pathetic excuse for a human". I quite like those, actually. I think it sums him up. Have I ever told you about TIB/PEFAH? Wait, let me check.
Just flicked through, and nope, I haven't. Well, as you know Diary, Ma had me when she was superduper young, like, 19 I think? And my grandparents on BOTH sides said they wanted nothing to do with them anymore. Well they're the ones missing out! At least, Ma says that and she has to because she's my mother. But I'm okay with not knowing my grandparents. We've always been alright, Ma and I, on our own. There's always been enough food on the table, and my teachers' say I have excellent manners. Ma is very proud of that.
Speaking of teachers and school, school ended early yesterday, which was superduper cool! Probably has something to do with the Reaping, I suppose. But yeah, Fareah and I went exploring, and then we came across some abandoned train tracks which was superduper fun, because we raced each other up and down them. I won, every time! That's thanks to Ma though, I guess. We used to go for runs a lot of the time, and I got reeeeaaaaaally fast. We also did some other stuff which I thought was a bit weird, like what she called "target practice". Then one night Fareah and her Mother were round, and I overheard Ma tell Fareah's ma something along the lines of "she's the only thing I have left" and "can't lose her to those Games." So basically, I've been somewhat training. Move over District 2! Liliana Melrose is going to kick your butt! Just kidding, we haven't been out together in aaaages and. Oh well.
Anyway, then Fareah came back to mine, and then we played with Angel for a bit. Angel's my cat, as you know Diary. I still can't believe it and I got her what, 7 years ago? I'm sooooooooo luckyluckylucky, what a great birthday present! She was a kitten when I got her so she's a bit rough around the edges now, but I still love her. I superduper love animals, especially cats. Then we had dinner and Fareah went home, although she's back now for the Reaping. Her Ma's having (another!) baby, and wants to stay in bed as long as possible, so Fareah came here and now my Ma is doing her hair. She's already done mine, like I normally have it. It's getting quite long now, though - past my waist - and those waves are a right pain, so getting it in a bun is tedious. I'm wearing black leggings and a grey sweater dress. I've got my combat boots on and Ma just gave me a bronze bangle to wear, it's superduper pretty!
Ma's telling me to hurry up, but I don't want to leave and see the same old trees of Seven. Gosh, if only I lived in Four. I'd always be outside! Imagine being surrounded by an ocean... Oh, how I long to travel! Ah, get yourself together Liliana. I want to explore, and I want to become a writer in a country where travelling is strictly forbidden and the only books are facts about the Capitol. And even then those are hard to come by! I think I've read every single one. I love to read. And I love to write. Maybe one day I'll be the first published fiction writer? A girl can dream. Although, I feel like I'm doing a lot of dreaming lately. All these wishes I have! You'll never guess what I've asked for my fourteenth birthday, Diary. An easel! Ma said okay, as long as I buy the paints. I'm going to finally take up painting!
Anyway, really must go. Ma and Fareah are by the door. After the Reaping Fareah and I will probably go to the Lake, so I'll take you with me and write in you after.
Ta ta for now,
Liliana Melrose, aged 13 and 3 quarters as of tomorrow.
District 7
11 am
Grover Arbusto, 13
"And then he got fired, so that plan didn't work, although- oh for fuck's sake." Hemlock stops mid-sentence and looks at me, exasperated.
"What? What happened next?" I ask, feigning interest.
"Oh fuck off Grover, you couldn't give less of a shit." Hemlock rolls his eyes and flops back on the grass, closing his eyes and letting the weak sun beat down on his face. "Yes I could! I care! I want to know-" I begin to protest, but Hemlock snorts.
"You have a cat on your lap, Grover. I could never compete against it." I consider the statement for a second.
"Hey, that's not exactly true!" I say, scratching the stray under it's chin, and getting a satisfied purr as a response.
"You had to think about it!" We both start to laugh, but the shaky movement makes the cat promptly to get up from my legs in a sulk and instead sit next to me on the wall, flicking it's tail in annoyance.
I have to sit on the wall, because I still haven't gotten the hang of crossing my legs. Though, they're not my legs. They're not even legs. They're bits of wood shaped to look like legs. But they're alright! I've gotten pretty used to them, and even if I have to use crutches, it's way better than no legs, at least! I think I'm lucky, it could have been worse. I could have died, alongside my father.
When I was eleven, my mother was home sick. She couldn't go to work, so instead it was me who went to work alongside Father. I did that normally anyway, but it'd just be little jobs like clearing twigs out of the way or fetching axes and the like. This time, I went further into the forest, with Father and the rest of the workers. It was cool! They were all laughing and joking, and they were all tall and muscular and could swing around an axe like it was just another part of their arm. I mainly sat at the side and watched, not really doing much but occasionally someone would let me have a go at chopping at a tree!
And then...the accident happened. A tree fell, which was nothing new. But lots of us had turned to walk back for lunch. The worker tried to give the warning but we were all talking, and nobody heard him. Four people died, including Father. I was stuck there, the trees on my legs in the worst pain I've ever felt, and it can't have been more than twenty minutes before the tree was rolled away, but it felt like twenty hours. My legs had to be amputated. Hence, the crutches and wooden legs.
But it's okay! It's fine, I can easily go about my life. Well, not easily. But still! I can still do things. And other boys might be horrible and call me a cripple and take my crutches away on purpose, but at least I have Hemlock. Hemlock's fourteen, and lives a couple of houses down. He doesn't have many friends either, he has a wicked temper but I've never been on the receiving side. Instead, he directs it all at the bullies who like to make my days hell. But, again! I'm okay! I have a loving mother, who is maybe a bit over protective but she has her reasons, and I even have my own cat! He's old, but I still love him. His name is Shadow and he sleeps on my bed at night, and then sleeps on the porch all day. What a life!
Hemlock and me are quite different, I suppose. He's very pessimistic and he has said on more than one occasion that he hates my "positive attitude all the fucking time! Really Grover it's annoying." but he doesn't mean it. He's just grumpy all the time. I like to look on the bright side of things, what use is living in despair all of the time? I could have moped around the house and felt sorry for myself when I got my new legs, but I didn't. As soon as I was able to I was outside, testing them out. You have to be positive, otherwise you'll begin to notice everything bad. And when you live in an outer district, that's a lot of the time.
But, I'm glad to live in Seven. Aside from my new, deep fear of being around trees, it's great!
The Capitol
9.10 am
Tatiana Decimus
I'm hoping for good tributes from Seven this year. The older tributes never fail to disappoint, most start work in the trees and using axes in the early teen years. Strong and able to use a weapon well, recently there has been a spike in career tributes from Seven. Rumors have begun to spark about possible Training Academies planning on being built.
Last year's Victor was from Seven, and he was in the Career pack. Beheaded them all with his axe.
Seven's escort is forgettable, your typical Capitol citizen. He's on trend too, blue hair and blue skin. God. He introduces himself - Maxy? Matty? - and then starts babbling on about what an honor it is to be here! After Ylana got upgraded to Four, we had to get a new escort in for Seven. I make a mental note to ask whoever ran the interviews why in Panem Maxy/Matty was chosen.
"Liliana Melrose!" he calls.
A girl steps out from the thirteen year old section. My heart sinks. Dammit. Probably a Bloodbath. But as the cameras zone in on her face, it shows that it's expressionless. Her stone cold exterior takes away from her attractiveness, she has high cheekbones, big sea-green eyes and blonde hair. In the distance, a girl begins to wail. Maxy/Matty (or was it Mikey?) claps excitedly, but he's the only oe. "Very good! No tears from you, eh? That's what we like to see! Anyway, time for the boys."
"And our lucky lad is... Grover Arbusto!"
A horrified silence sweeps the Square, and then a tap tap tap sound of wood against concrete is picked up by the cameras. A boy, thirteen, with tanned skin and brown hair makes his way to the stage. His legs are covered by his jeans, but by the way that he walks stiffly, and the fact he's using crutches, it is obvious that this boy has an issue with his legs.
Matty/Maxy/Mikey(Marky?) puts one hand over his mouth and the other over his heart, but he makes no effort to help the boy get onstage. "Oh poor you!" he coos, and then takes a deep breath, as if he's being the bravest man in the world for being this boy's escort.
Well, Happy Hunger Games, Liliana and Grover, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
an
again, not checked. i will one day, promise.
