Lumara Barrett, 15
District Four Female

Soon the light dawn will rise over the mountains of District Four, the warm sun waking up this little town on the sands that blur the border between the land and the sea. It will even reach the river that she's swimming through, this river that her father built a dock on and allowed Lumara to swim in every morning.

This part of the river that feeds into the ocean of Four was a birthday present for Lumara three years ago, one of the best ones that he has gotten her. She doesn't like swimming with other people, or being stared at by strangers on the beach as she practices her strokes. There's nothing wrong with being with other people, but Lumara likes swimming alone. Some may call it dangerous, but they don't know how much she's swum or how water flows through the veins of everyone from Four. It's an easy decision to come down here at five in the morning and swim as far as she can before the dawn wakes up her world and she has to go back home.

When she sees the first rays of light peek over the mountainside, she dives to the bottom of the river, grabbing a handful of sand to prove to herself that she can touch the bottom, before coming back up for air. Lumara always swims upstream before she turns back around to her home so that it's easier for her to get back. Mom and Dad don't like it when she dawdles down by the shore before breakfast.

When she reaches the dock and hauls herself onto the polished surface, the face of her mother appears above her head. "I have a towel for you, Luma."

"Thanks, Mom." Lumara takes the towel and rubs herself dry while her mother fusses about the state of Lumara's hair. Lumara has short, dark hair that just barely reaches her shoulders, something that her mother worries over continuously. She tries to keep it straight and glossy, but more often than not it ends up in tangles after her swim and she has to comb it again before she gets ready for school. "Will you be driving me, or do I get to walk today?"

"You'll drive there with your father, as always."

"Oh." Lumara stands up and puts on a pair of sneakers she left at the end of the dock. "I'll run home and eat before getting ready for school, then."

"I'll be leaving soon. Have a wonderful day, honey!" Lumara's mother pecks her on the forehead and musses her hair, something that Lumara hates but is able to stand for her mother.

"Yeah, see you, Mom." Lumara begins the run back home and enters the large french doors at the back of the house. Their kitchen is on the first floor, with the living spaces on the second floor and their bedrooms on the third floor. She could have taken the top floor as her personal space, but Lumara prefers to stay near her parents. It's silly, but she feels safer with them.

It feels more normal.

She eats a small breakfast before heading out to their car, made up of poached eggs, toast with peach jam, and smoked salmon that had been caught by fishermen in Four up to the northern part of the district. She's always loved salmon, and her parents always buy a new type of jam when they send out someone to go shopping for the weekend. As a result, Lumara has had jams from all over Panem, from District Seven's raspberry jam to District Twelve's wild strawberry jam. She's never decided which of the flavours she likes best. Each has such an interesting taste and feels too different to compare.

She'd have to ask someone else for their own opinion to help her decide. And to her surprise, most of the other students at her school have not even tasted jam, let alone strawberry jam from Twelve. Most of her attempts to question the other students at her school have led to her either scoffing at them for not trying something that they should experience, or them getting angry at her "for assuming I have enough money to buy myself food for my siblings, let alone jam from clear-across Panem!", as one girl had yelled at her.

And so Lumara retreated with every question, having made up her mind that they all had no taste. After all, they would have had the same experiences as Lumara, the same upbringing, the same options at the store, the same homes, the same everything.

Why wouldn't they live like her?

She'll have to ask her friend, Della, on what she thinks. Della's one of the smartest girls in a school filled with smart people, and together she and Lumara have formed a duo that can solve any of the problems that their tech teachers throw at them.

Her mother had worried at first about what could happen to Lumara if she went to the fancy, elite tech school that's over half an hour away from their home, even when her father drives faster than the speed limit, but that was before a nasty episode at the public school where Lumara had attended when she was younger led to Lumara getting a bloody nose and a bruised eye. Her adversary was left with deep cuts in her arm from Lumara scratching her, and after her mother hastily paid for the medical bills of the other student Lumara had been withdrawn and placed in the tech school.

"Lumara, hurry up! We're leaving in a few minutes!" her father yells from outside of the home, his voice drifting up through the open windows in the kitchen and to where Lumara is sitting with a book and her bag.

Lumara grabs her bag and hurries downstairs. "Coming, Dad!" She's fast and nimble, and slides into the back seat before her father starts the car and they're away, driving out onto the dusty roads of Four. She's never understood why they aren't paved, but her father drives slowly so that he doesn't damage the tires.

He once told her that their vehicle was one of only seven in District Four, and she had laughed in his face. How else would everyone else get around? Would they walk? Swim? Bike? No, people must live like her, from their clothes to the cars that her father claims don't exist. Her mother and father have always guarded her from meeting many other people, and she's never seen anyone in truly desperate conditions. So she knows that therefore, no one must be in the conditions that some of her classmates yell at her about before stomping off. They're just exaggerating.

After all, she'd feel terribly guilty if they didn't at least live in comfortable homes with comfortable jobs. If they were forced to do those jobs down at the harbours of Four, she'd have to do the same for it to be equal. Yes, they're all equal, but some people choose to do the gritty work. Maybe it pays more.

Right?

Another intro, another day! What do y'all think of Lumara? Excited to see more of her? Annoyed by her? What are your exciting thoughts?

I hope you're all doing well, and wish you the best of health. Your next intro will arrive sometime next week, so prepare for that! :D

Enjoy. Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ