Whatever you do
I'll do it too
Show me everything
And tell me how
You know me something
And yet nothing to me
Gaia Hummel, 16
District 5 Female
The meadow is full of wild flowers of various red, blues, and purples. All illuminating the nature of the world we live on so beautifully. The ground hasn't been touched by human consumption. The soil is still good for plants and other natural needs.
I take a deep breath in and really take in the surroundings that I see. It's a beautiful thing nature. It's such a fickle and dangerous thing. So often we try and take advantage of her, but she is all too quick to put us back into our places.
There is a giant hill not too far from where I am and I have the sudden urge to run down it. Smiling widely, I begin my trot over to the hill watching as the sun begins to set. I brace myself to roll down the hill when a rabbit comes and stands next to me. Its cheeks are bouncing up and down. Almost like it's trying to tell me something. I bend down to pet it, and when it opens its mouth- an alarm?
I open my eyes to reveal that I'm just in my bedroom. The extravagant meadow that I had been in was all a thing of my imagination. I turn over to my side and let my hair fall over onto the pillow. It's just another day here in District 5.
There's really not a lot to do. We are one big city, but not like the Capitol. Loads of factories are on every corner. In fact, I'm willing to bet that there are more factories than actual homes in our District.
"Hello District 5 and welcome to another weather forecast with Gaia," I say getting up and walking to the shower. "Today you can expect some smog, with a light chance of more smog, followed by a cold front of even more smog."
Stripping down I get into the shower and quickly wash my hair and body not wanting to waste any of the resources that our District has.
You can call me a lot. A green freak, a tree hugger, an adult baby wearing the earth's diaper. I really don't care. The truth is this district is a landmine of greed and Capitol industrialization. The way we've treated the environment in our District is not going unpunished. Water is being poisoned, people are getting sick, some parts of the District you need to wear an air filter to block out the smog.
It's a serious problem.
After drying off I go downstairs and start my favorite part of the day, tending to my in-home garden. I have always enjoyed this because I feel like I'm doing something to keep the earth alive in a District that is hell bent on destroying it. I want to make a difference, and I don't want to take anything we've gotten here for granted.
"Hello, plants," I say.
No, they don't talk back to me. That'd be weird. I very well know that these are plants. Like I've been trying to explain, though, they're living. They're alive. If we don't take care of them they will surely die out, and that'd be shameful.
"Your hair is messy." says mom as she strolls into the kitchen with her hair in a proper bun. She works in a factory just like everyone else in the District, except my mother is an executive.
"I'm not too worried about it mother," I say flipping it to the side.
"And I wish you'd put those dirty things outside."
"We've been over this mom," I say. "We need to keep these inside because of all the pollution outside. Pollution from your factory."
"Well, whatever," she says. "I'm going to work. I expect you to come in on time today."
"I will when I'm ready," I say with a sarcastic smile. She rolls her eyes and walks off and out the door slamming it loudly behind her. Mother has always been dramatic, and it's served her well in the field that she is in, but today is a really stressful day for her.
They're introducing a new waste disposal method that will release more smog into the atmosphere. Killing the rest of what very little green life my District has left. I'll be there on time today, but what she doesn't know is I won't be there to work.
Good girls don't make history. It's time for someone to take a stand, and time for someone to do something about the rapid amounts of pollution. We've got one planet, and if Panem wants to take it out District by District that's their fault. I for one, will not go down without a fight.
I pull out my list of things I had to do today.
Shower. Check.
Water Plants. Check.
Take out the recycling. Check
Smuggle a fertilizer bomb into mom's factory today. Working on it.
Rising up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
Lenovo Cane, 18
District 5 Male
My alarm clock goes off and I slam on the off button. What a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and-
My thoughts are interrupted as someone rings my doorbell. I look at my alarm clock horrified. Who rings a doorbell at noon?!
"This is infuriating!" I say loudly as I throw the blankets off me in my bed. "I could have been sleeping still!"
I stomp down the stairs of the lavish house my parents own. My father owns five factories throughout the District. That's right folks, not one, two, or even three. Five. We're richer than the Mayor is. That says a lot...greedy bastard.
My mom is a seamstress. We obviously don't need the money, but she likes to "pull her own wait" so I mean, whatever. It's her life.
I get to the front door of my home and peep in the hole that allows me to see outside before actually opening the door. A young boy looks highly concerned with a box standing on my porch and as I'm watching him see if he is worth my time he reaches up and rings the doorbell again.
"Oh hell no," I say as I throw the door open and make him jump back. "Who the hell do you think you are kid!? Ringing the doorbell at this hour!"
"Uh," he says. "My name is Richard."
"Listen here, Brick," I say getting his name wrong on purpose. This child is very rude and it's disappointing. "You can't just go parading around a neighborhood and ringing people's doorbells. That is not only disrespectful but absolutely infuriating! You are lucky I was already awake, otherwise, we'd have some serious freaking problems."
"You were awake?" he says giving me an up and down glance quickly.
"That's it!" I say grabbing him by the shirt collar and bringing him into the house.
"I don't really think that this is appro-"
"Shut up!" I say as I lead him into the kitchen and throw him in a chair at our table. He looks around the house as I walk over to the refrigerator and getting some milk to go with my cereal.
"You have a nice house." says Richard nodding in approval.
"We aren't here for compliments, Robert!" I shout giving him an ugly look. I walk over to the pantry and grab the box of cereal and then reach to the higher shelf to grab a bowl. To my dismay, there are no clean bowls and I throw my head back and groan. "Can this day get any more depressing!" I say going to the silverware drawer and looking for a spoon. Also to my dismay, there was none of that. "Alright, Lenovo, you can do this," I say as I put the box to my mouth and pour a spoonful in my mouth. I then open the milk and pour a mouthful of that into my mouth and chew and swallow. I repeat the process a few more times and then walk over to the table to sit down.
"Now, Raymond," I say
"Richard," he says
"Woah, sir, you can speak when given permission," I say as I hold my hand up dismissively. "You're in my house. Don't be rude."
"Yeah, like about that," says Richard. "Why am I in your house?" he says nonchalantly.
"Holy crap, Robby," I say face planting into the table. "You just don't know how to follow instructions do you?!" I clear my throat and compose myself as I pull my face up from the table. "My dear, Rodney, there seems to be a problem. You see, I'm a man of simple things. Sleep, food, and relaxation are a few of the things that keep me going. When you interrupt that cycle of things, it really ruins the mood of my mojo. Are you picking up what I'm throwing down?"
"But isn't bringing me into your house, like, breaking your mojo too?" he ask me confused as he reaches into a box and pulls out a chocolate bar. He unwraps it and begins to eat it. "I'm like, no expert, but I'm pretty sure that if you're still asleep at noon, that's like, lazy?" he says
"Rocco, you're like seven types of stupid," I say as I bring my hands to my temples and massage them. "For your incompetence, you will be my servant for two days. You may leave when the reapings are done. Start cleaning my dishes immediately, and for lunch, I want a parmesan chicken." I say as I get up and begin to walk out of the kitchen.
"Uh, I think I'm going to have to pass on that one?" says Richard with a confused voice. "I still have to sell these for my class? And I have to convince someone to pay double because I just ate one?" he says. Why does he put a question at the end of everything?
"Oh my gosh, you're a special snowflake," I say as I drop my jaw. "Look, I'll buy your candy bars. Get to cleaning. I expect this done within the hour."
"I mean, am I getting paid?" ask Richard questioningly
"Randall, do I look made of money to you!?" I say angrily.
"I mean you have a nice house?" he says looking around.
I storm out of the kitchen with my hands in the air. "I expect this all done within the hour!" I shout again.
I can see there's so much to learn
It's all so close and yet so far
I see myself as people see me
I just know there's something bigger out there
Gaia Hummel, 16
District 5 Female
The factory is almost modeled like a hotel. Well, minus the room and board, and also in the sense that the top of the factory is decorated lavishly. Everything looks fancy and new for when a Capitol worker comes into the District, and on the bottom, it's like a sweatshop.
Even though I'm a low employee on the totem pole, I have access to all the main offices due to my mom being who she is. It shouldn't be hard to plant the bomb in the target spot, the janitor's closet on the third floor.
It was easy enough to make a bomb. As an avid reader, there is a whole other world when you go to the library. And if you know where to look in said library, it makes it a whole lot easier to find things that people wouldn't normally want you to find. The truth is, Panem did it's absolute best to censor the Districts after they took over, but the problem with that is there will always be people who don't accept censorship.
There's a whole floorboard of books that could be taken as "rebel propaganda", and I know it sounds weird that there is a floorboard full of books, but I found it completely by accident. Call me lucky, or call me clumsy. Either or it provided me with the ideas that I'm doing today.
Now, I'm also not heartless, and I know that I can't set the bomb off with people still inside. So I decided to pull fire alarms. At least I think I did? I need to check my to-do list again. I'm always struggling to remember stuff.
I use my keycard to open the elevator and I press the third-floor button on the wall panel. The bomb is located on the inside of my right arm jacket, and it's rather small. I hope that the bomb itself can carry over and be effective.
"Hello, Gaia." says a male voice from behind me. I don't know why that made me nervous, but it made me jump. I need to calm down if I want to do this. I'm going to get caught otherwise.
"Hello," I say turning around trying to act natural. It's Mr. Gleech the floor manager.
"Just wondering why you're not on the floor?" he asks me curiously. "Not feeling well."
I say quickly. "I was looking for my mom, and I heard she was on the third floor."
"Well, okay," says Mr. Gleech as he turns and begins his walk down the elevator. "Go ahead and go home after you find her then. I don't need everyone else getting sick." the metal doors close in front of him, and I'm all alone again.
I walk to the closet where the bomb will be placed and I set it behind a giant stack of toilet paper on the shelves. I set the time for ten minutes from now, and then I hit the green button that activates it. I set my watch for 10 minutes, and I immediately run out of the room and pull the fire alarm.
One by one I see people leaving their offices and swearing as they go towards the stairs. I file into the mess of people and begin the walk down the stairs. They are slowly walking, knowing that in a very short time the building could go at any time.
I look down at my watch and see that we have 6 minutes left to make it out the front door. When the entirety of the top floor arrives, floor five, I know that we are in the clear. I look around and see that just about the whole office of executives are here, including mom, so I think I did my job right.
I look down at my watch and see that the timer has 30 seconds left. I take a deep breath knowing that something is about to happen that will change this District forever, and hopefully open the eyes of everyone here.
I watch as the timer ticks down to the 0 and then squeeze my eyes shut, but an explosion never comes. I look around confused and then look down at my watch to make sure that there was no time left.
What the hell is going on?
People start to make their way back towards the building, and I want to stop them just incase the bombing was delayed, but I also don't want to come forth as the person who tried to blow up the building. They begin walking in, and then I hear a loud noise.
I watch as the entirety of the third floor is blown out. People that were already on the inside of the building are running out screaming, and I watch as the third floor begins to crash in on itself. My eyes are wide as the building comes crashing to the ground.
"I did it," I whisper. "I finally did it."
It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rivals
Lenovo Cane, 18
District 5 Male
Richard has actually proven to be a fairly decent servant. Everything I've said to do he has done with flying colors. All of my house chores are done from yesterday, and all of them are already done today. Not to mention these chocolate bars are amazing.
"Raul!" I scream from the bed of my bedroom. He comes running into the room in a tuxedo from my dad's closet. Mom nor he came home last night. When I called angrily, they said they left a note, and right as I hung up Richard comes with the note in hand! His punishment was the tuxedo because he looks quite silly.
"Yes, Grand Master Lenovo," he says with a sarcastic tone. "I like, don't want to be here anymore? I'm going home to get ready for the reapings?" he says still putting a question with every sentence he speaks.
I hold my finger up to him, "Don't you dare Ricardo!" I say angrily. "You have to pick my reaping outfit out. Then you may leave."
He rolls his eyes and picks a pair of jeans and a plaid button-down out of my closet. He throws it at me and then walks out of my room. He slams the door and I hear the front door open and close a few moments later.
"What a nice boy," I say as I get up and begin changing my clothes. Once I do that I begin to make my way down the stairs and towards the square for the reapings. IT's my last one. I can't believe how excited I am for this to be over with. I'll officially be an adult. Just picture it.
I get to the check in line and get my finger pricked. I wince as it's painful, and then find my way to the 18-year-old boy section. "Squad," I say as I snap my fingers and they assemble. I'm not quite sure what their names are any more I've changed them so many times. However, they listen to literally everything I say so I'm not complaining.
"If you see a twelve-year-old get reaped. You volunteer. I hate crying." I say as I turn to the front of the audience and see the escort is already beginning to talk. First of all, rude for interrupting me as I gave my loyal squad instructions. Second of all, what on earth is on her head?! Hair or cotton candy?!
"We'll start with the ladies first!" says the escort excitedly. Cotton Candy Head walks back to the girl's bowl and begins to dig out the envelope. After digging for an unneeded amount of time she pulls a name out from the middle of the bowl.
"Gaia Hummel" she reads once she gets back to the microphone and unwraps the envelope. A girl from the 16-year-old section walks from her place in the crowd. She looks scared, and her knees are wobbly as she mounts the steps of the stage. She looks unclean, and I feel pretty bad for the boy that has to be District partners with her.
"Tell us a little about yourself, Gaia." says the escort as she puts the microphone in front of her face. She just stares at it. Unable to talk. "Alright, well. Moving onto the males."
She again walks to the back of the stage, but instead of digging in the bowl like last time, she just plucks a name from the very top of the bowl. She walks back to the front of the stage and smiles as she unwraps the envelope and clears her throat before she reads the name on the card.
"Lenovo Cane," she says clear in the microphone.
"Like absolute hell!" I scream as I turn around and try to run through the crowd. PeaceKeepers meet me halfway through the crowd and grabs me by the arm. They lead me up to the stage and then set me down with me standing there looking at the escort in a heat of rage.
"Listen Cotton Candy Head, I don't plan on going into these games. So you dig your little hand back into the bowl and find another tribute. Right now!" I say
"I actually can't do that," she says as she begins to fumble with her hair. "You really think it looks like cotton candy though? That's what I was going for!" she says smiling.
"This is unacceptable!" I scream stomping my foot. "Rory! Come and volunteer now!" I scream into the microphone.
"MY NAME IS RICHARD!" he screams back angry.
"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" I shout back angry.
"Okay!" says the escort taking the microphone away. "Let's wrap this reaping up then, shall we?" she says. "DISTRICT 5 MEET YOUR TRIBUTES! LENOVO CANE AND GAIA HUMMEL!"
"I STILL REFUSE TO GO!" I scream as the District do the obligatory clap for the tributes.
Haha, I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I've been sick, and I've been getting back into work now the school is back in session. So if this sucks...I apologize.
Keep it classy,
Caleb