I was going to do this tomorrow but since it's just epitaphs I went ahead and did it today since it probably won't cause any changed votes (you ARE welcome to change them but nothing really happened so I don't think anyone will). Mostly I published this today to get eyes on my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! I'm doing a super cool special SYOT project and I'm looking for authors to participate. EVERYONE is welcome but I am ESPECIALLY looking for new authors who want to get into the SYOT world! PM for details!
Forgot Raleigh, so sorry!
District Twelve POV
There's a word for "orphan". There's no word for being the last of your family entirely. Zander Tovar had distanced himself from his family because he feared exactly that. His seclusion made his loss easier but it could never erase it. After three years the Paines adopted a developmentally delayed boy. Aster wasn't Denton. He couldn't replace Denton. But he was someone to love and care for and they did.
Nubu Sanders- District Twelve mentor
Rebellion rose and waned in Panem. After losing someone like Denton it always flared back up. Zara was just as valuable but it was the helpless ones that piqued moral rage in the people. One of the only things that got me through deaths like those was the thought that one day one of them would be the final straw.
PETRA RIDLEY- Veda Keate
I abandoned her. I didn't exactly feel guilty about it, since staying would have just meant we both died. I didn't feel guilt but I felt regret- regret that Petra was dead, her life cut short far too early and for no reason at all. Petra was dead. A girl was dead before she even reached adulthood. That was never, ever a good thing, no matter what the Capitol said.
ELLE PHANT- Tabitha Sparks
My friend was dead. For years Elle and I had played and chatted and just done stupid kid things. Elle was dead now. Someone aimed a gun at her head and put a bullet in her brain. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand why someone would do it and I didn't understand why a country would say it was right. There was nothing funny about any of this. I just wanted to lay down and cry.
MAX DELORIA- Nene Palmer
I'd never met Max before. I didn't know what he was like or what kind of person he was. I wished I could feel bad about him dying but my brain just didn't work that way. Sometimes I thought I must be evil because it was so hard for me to feel what other people felt. At least I admitted it was wrong. I couldn't control my emotions but I could control my actions. It was wrong what happened to Max even if the Capitol said it wasn't.
TODDWARD HOWARD-
DENTON PAINE- Christobal Chanel
It shouldn't have been me that lasted the longest. Denton deserved it the most. He was the only one of us who could never be guilty and could never deserve this. And if it wasn't him then it should have been Todd. He had so many things going for him and was doing so much with his life. It was a mistake that I would be the last one. But then... I was only the last because Todd kept the Careers away while I ran. He thought my life was worth saving. I guess I had to make it worth saving.
RALEIGH FOSTER- Tyler Alvarez
I liked to think I was jaded about the world and didn't care about anything. Truth was I was jaded because I cared. Knowing that Raleigh was yet another innocent victim was one more reason to try not to care. There were so many kids like her out there- kids who hadn't needed to become what I was, kids that still had their innocence. The only thing worse than becoming an adult like me was never getting to become an adult at all.
STEVIE PAGETT- Callum Rosencrans
My heart was broken. My love was destroyed. The only person who ever treated me like a good person was gone. But this wasn't about me. Stevie was the one who was dead. Stevie was kind and loving and saw so much light in her life even when everyone she knew stood by and let her be abused. We finally got a chance to live the life she deserved and they snatched it away. Stevie thought there was good in the world. I didn't know how she did it.
ZARA TOVAR- Skada Socket
Zara was one of us. We only knew her for a few days but she had become part of our family. Family is the only stable thing in a circus person's life. We change locations, we often change jobs, our pay changes, but we always have each other to depend on. We should have been there for Zara. None of us even saw her die in the Bloodbath. We let our family down.