Here's District 8, definitely right when I had planned for it to come out.

Cambri Rozelle - District 8, 17 years old

What is family?

Family is a set of parents who sell their eleven year-old daughter in order to get profits off her every year. It is a man who buys children in order to traffick them and make their lives a living hell. It is a nation which is set up in order to continuously profit and step on its own people.

As I woke up on reaping day, my mind was filled with thoughts of the day ahead. I thought of the contrast as I observed the sun peek out from behind the night sky, contrasting itself to the gloom of the day to come. As I turned the sink on to pour water into a pan, I thought of the lead and other unknown substances that could at any moment infect our water. I thought about how we needed it to live, and yet, at the same time, it was the very thing which could kill us. And I thought of Johan, the man "generous" enough to give us a building to call "home", and give me my closest ever thing to family, and yet how tainted those "gifts" were.

Siobhan, as the oldest, was the first to wake up. She was 2 years older than me, but I was the one sitting there that morning cooking a small batch of grits I had scrounged up for the girls. She had always been different since Elise died. Johan usually allowed girls to leave once they turned 18, since that wasn't really "his market", but she had claimed she wanted to stay on to help him. I thought personally that she wanted to stay to care for us, though she'd never admit it.

"Ready to smile when you see more children die today, Siobhan?", I shot at her.

She gave me a toothy smile, "I hope you reaped," she shot back.

Felicity, Jana, and Delle were the next to emerge from the other room, our bedroom. The three of them traveled in a pack as they were brought in around the same time as each other. I noticed something however, and after asking the girls if they could finish making breakfast, I myself headed back to the bedroom.

I found Clarissa there crying. The first reaping is hard for anyone. Clarissa had been the daughter of two middle class apothecaries until Johan had taken her after her parents died in a fire. The two of us grew up very differently. We shared the same struggle now, however. I thought of my first reaping. Elise had been there for me. I needed to be there for Clarissa.

As I sidled myself next to Clarissa, I thought of all that Elise had meant to me. She had been my best friend. She had been my mentor. All things considered, she had been family. And when I lost her, it broke me. I never wanted Clarissa to ever have a feeling like that. I slid my arm across her shoulder.

Her tear-filled eyes looked up silently at me as she handed something over to me. I realized very quickly that it was the embroidery she'd been working on the past months. The floral patterns were stunning, and I was amazed at the talent she had.

"I want you to have it," she whispered, "so you can give it back to me after the reaping."

The look in her eyes told a very different story from her tone. Clarissa was terrified. So I took the gift heavily, knowing the weight and importance it carried.

This was my family. And as I sat there holding Clarissa, I realized I would do anything for my new family.

Connor Murphy - District 8, 15 years old

Snap!

My two hands came away, two different pieces of pencil held in frustration as I tore out my piece of notebook paper and tossed it, along with the pencil, sideways into the nearby garbage. As I stared down at my new blank slate, I thought about the endless possibilities that it brought. I also thought about the endless pressure that lay on this design. I'd always found infinite possibilities to be infinitely cumbersome.

This design was for my mother. I'd designed dresses and blouses my whole life, but when it came to designing one for her, I was stumped. It needed to be perfect, pushing ideas while also remaining classy and refined. It needed to be gentle and subtle, but also outgoing and friendly, much like her.

As I stewed in frustration, my mind and notebook empty, someone rapped at the door to my room, shaking me slightly from my own little bubble.

"Heard you sucked at design?" my best friend, Emma, poked her head through the doorway, a smirk plastered across her face.

I joked back at her, "If I did, I wouldn't have called you over."

In truth, however, I had called her over because I'd needed a little help. I'd had no inspiration for hours on what I wanted to design for my mother. It needed to be perfect. For years, my mother had designed stunning outfits for me to wear on reaping day. I wanted to return the favor.

In truth, I had a lot of favors to return. Growing up just the two of us, my mother had always been there for me. She nurtured me into becoming who I am today. As I thought about my mother, all I thought about how much I owed to her, and how much I wanted to pay it back.

And as I sat there, talking with Emma, inspiration struck. I saw the smooth blazer she was wearing, and I saw the little belt she had strapped onto it. I looked outside and saw the bright blue sky, dotted here and there with poofy white clouds.

And in that moment, I was one step closer to paying back my love.

And, done! It's a little late, whoops. I think next out will be District 2! I'm pretty busy coming up, but I'm going to shoot for next Monday, the 30th of November.

Both of them were reaped, btw.

Connor - dirty blonde hair, grey eyes, tall, and skinny

Cambri - Cambri is a toned girl with fair freckled skin. She is relatively short, standing at just 5'3". Her hair is thick, bronze, and curly, and she wears it in a shoulder-length bob. Her eyes are wide and hazel, framed by rich dark eyelashes. She is quite pretty.

Let me know what you think of these two.