Here's District 5! Finally…

Stefan Wattson - District 5, 15 years old

I wanted to be just like Orwan when I grew up. It didn't seem like much, his gig as a bartender, but with all the time I spent hanging around his pub, I'd learned its value. A bartender like Orwan had the whole world at his fingertips. Everyone was friends with the barkeep. A bartender with an open ear heard every story, from every perspective, multiple times. With my cool head and collected approach, I was perfect for pouring out a cold one for a customer, as they lamented about something very hush hush. Orwan wouldn't let me quite yet, he wanted to run a LEGAL operation, but he'd made it clear that I had a place here as long as I wanted one.

"Stef, I need ice in this bucket, pronto!" Orwan called out to me, tossing the ice bucket my way. Ice bucket duty was one of my many jobs as a busboy at the pub. Growing up, my parents had wanted me to bring our family up in class, so they weren't thrilled about my work, but Orwan's charm, mixed with the vast connections this job brought, had slightly eased their concerns.

I collected the ice and ran it back over to Orwan, setting it down behind the bar for him to deal with. He smiled at me and ran his hand through my hair before turning back to the bar.

"McLeod, What can I get you?" I heard him say as I walked off. McLeod was a local plant worker and more importantly, a regular.

"Hey, hey, not so loud. Just get me my usual, no rocks." McLeod responded in a hushed tone. That was odd. In the years McLeod was a regular, he was one of the most optimistic, exuberant customers we had.

As I went about sweeping the stoop out front, I saw a squad of peacekeepers marching down the street. I didn't pay them any attention until they brushed past me and stormed into the pub. I rushed in after them.

"Lonnie McLeod, you're under arrest for conspiracy against the Capitol and are sentenced to death!" said the lead officer.

"Officers, there must be some sort of misunderstanding. Lonnie's a regular of mine, wouldn't harm a fly." In the commotion, Orwan must've made his way to the front of the crowd. He approached the officers, trying to mitigate the situation. He set his hand on the lead officer's shoulder, attempting to settle things. In a flash, the officer's elbow flew out, connecting hard with Orwan's head and tumbling him into a heap.

Unfazed, the officer barked, "Barkeep, I don't know if you've noticed, but during your pacification parade, the traitor dashed out the back door. You're sentenced with obstruction of justice and sentenced to lashes under my discretion."

Before I could even protest, someone else spoke up.

"Strontes, wait," It was another peacekeeper. "This is the bar that Boronin regulars. Is this really the best idea?"

Strontes considered.

"Agh…" he relented, and then muttered, "Wouldn't want to piss off the boss." Boronin was a high ranking officer in Five, but now, more importantly, he was a regular customer.

As I cleared out the bar and started tending to Orwan's wounds, I knew two things: lashes would've killed him, and therefore, his connection to Boronin saved his life.

Sunny Wallace - District 5, 15 years old

May the odds be ever in your favor.

It was reaping day. The day where your odds really mattered the most. If they weren't, well… the odds definitely weren't in your favor past that. In the 15 years of the games so far, nobody from 5 had made it past the Top 7 of the games. I was sure that that would change this year, though. Our luck would turn around.

My odds, specifically, were 5 little slips out of some odd thousand. I was pressing my luck with the tesserae slips, but there was no way Valeria would pull my name out of the thousands sitting in that glass bowl. Lula and I were fine.

Of course, the odds hadn't exactly been in my favor thus far in my life. Lula had told me I was tempting fate when I took out tesserae for the two of us, but I wasn't worried. I was focused on the odds. Sure, to the odd onlooker, my luck in life didn't look the best. My parents had both died when I was 12. After that, my dog Frannie ran away. Then I was put in an orphanage in the middle of the District. We had peacekeepers as caretakers, and most times they would siphon away funds for themselves. That left us underfed, underprivileged, and underwhelmed.

So, yeah, my luck hadn't been great so far.

BUT, in the orphanage I had met my best friend, Lula. If that showed anything, it was that luck balanced out in the end. And I had spent 3 years in the reaping without getting reaped so far. Only 4 more and I was home free. So all in all, I was feeling pretty up on my luck as Lula and I were escorted with the other orphans to the Reaping Center.

As the armored man reached over to prick our fingers, Lula took my hand in hers. I could feel it shaking in mine and I gave it a squeeze. We had nothing to worry about.

"Lula, look down at your wrist. What do you see there?" I gave her hand another squeeze as she brought it up from her waist.

She sighed, "It's our friendship bracelets, Sunny."

"Exactly," I raised my hand to match hers, "I didn't 'reclaim' these from Peacekeeper Franell for nothing. This is the only luck we need right here."

She returned a small smile as we joined up with the line of 15 year old girls. Her hand never left mine throughout the entire video and as Valeria began her introduction.

Valeria, being as nearly as dramatic as myself, decided to begin with the boys this year rather than the girls as it had been the past 3 years. This only served to make Lula squeeze my hand harder.

"Stefan Wattson!" Valeria's voice rang out. A stocky blonde boy about my age stumbled up to the stage, looking entirely overwhelmed.

His luck must have run out, I thought dryly, Poor guy.

As Valeria strolled over to the girls, Lula's grip tightened even further. I look down and saw my hand stark white.

"Sunny Wallace!" She shouted with a smile.

Oh. That's me. I felt Lula's grip release as she gasped in shock and fear. She stared at me in horror. I looked at her wide-eyed and then up at the stage towards Valeria and Stefan. Then, I did the only thing that felt fitting.

I cried.

In truth, I've had Sunny's done for months and I've just been sitting on it. But I was glad to get this one finished. I'm very excited to get started again.

Sunny - Brown skin, Black hair (usually in a single ponytail), Pretty, Freckles on face, Small. She's about 4'10", 90 lbs.

Stefan - Stefan has a mop of strawberry blonde hair that is swept out of his eyes. He has light blue eyes and pale skin. He is around 5'10", about average height, and he's a little stockier.

District 8 looks like it's the next one up. I have two exams Thursday and Friday, so I'm expecting a Saturday/Sunday writing, with a release on Monday the 23rd.