Everything about myself just makes me wanna scream

Alethio Tenultra

District 3 Male

17 March, Year 169

Is it that hard to be quiet for two seconds?

Well, that's a bit mean. I love my siblings. But since my parents practically live at the district database, I've pretty much been entirely in charge of them for six years. Whatever. I don't miss school.

And it's not like all of them are here. Sciena is… well, who knows where Sciena is? But I know for a fact that Bita isn't here anymore. It's pretty hard to forget the image of your sister hanging from a noose in the square. I didn't know we even did that any more.

My life would be a lot different at school. All my old peers are studying for exams and reprogramming computers and stuff. I don't even know what I'll do once I age out of the Reaping. Maybe I'll just stay in this house forever as my siblings grow up. Maybe Sciena will come back. But I doubt that very much.

"Hey, stop fighting!"

Tron, Troy and Trow are triplets. Triple trouble, if you ask me. Troy's dumb as a doornail but we still love him, Tron is practically a boy genius, and Trow is the coolest kid in school. Their teachers must hate them.

"Trow stole my book," groans Troy.

"You were actually studying?"

"Yeah!"

"Fine. Trow, give him back his book. And you need to study too. Don't want to end up like me. Be like Watt."

Watt's a year younger than them, so this is a low blow. He's the quietest. He gives me the least trouble. He studies, and he does well. If all my other siblings were like Watt, my job would be much easier.

Albert is next. He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. A short jerk. But usually he has our little sister Deena to keep him in check. She's a lifesaver. Then Edin the comedian, and little Foster. Well, he's not so little anymore. He's nine.

I guess it was kind of hard at first taking care of so many little kids back when I was twelve. I mean, Foster was practically still a toddler. But it wasn't like I really had a choice. Besides, I'm used to it now. I might even sometimes be able to relax.

"Okay everyone, time for school! Out!"

The triplets barrel out of the door, laughing and joking. I can guarantee that one of them forgot something. Sure enough, Troy runs back in to retrieve the book he fought so hard for before. Kids these days. He goes down the fire escape, the metal stairs clattering with each step.

Deana herds Albert, Edin, and Foster out the door with a few harsh words, and slams it behind her. She chose to go out the regular one. Now everyone's gone.

Honestly, I don't think my parents thought this through. They pulled me out of school so I could constantly care for my siblings, yet they themselves are at school half the time. It seems rather unfair. But I guess I would have quit school early anyway, I had no friends and stuck out like a sore thumb. Of course it doesn't help that we're albino.

I guess I should clean up a little. Especially since the triplets made breakfast today. They're the least functional fifteen year olds I know, and it endlessly surprises me that they haven't lost several limbs yet. But at least they can cook.

It's easy to clean the kitchen. Mostly because our kitchen is quite small, just a sink, a stove, and a few cabinets. They fell down in the summer of 160 and in the rare moments Sciena was home, she spent a lot of time fixing them up. I miss her sometimes. But knowing my sister, she's never coming back.

I'm interrupted by our phone, an old, rattling thing we only have because of a safety rule, ringing loudly. I guess it beats cleaning, even if talking to strangers is anathema to me.

"Hello, is this the Tenultra residence?"

"Y-yes?"

"Deana and Albert got into a fight today."

"Deana?"

I'm actually surprised. I don't know if the principal has the right siblings. Like, Deana's the most responsible person I know. Granted, I don't know a lot of people, but still! She wouldn't get into fights.

"Yes, Mr Tenultra. She was tugging on your brother's arm to pull him away."

"That, uh, that doesn't seem fair. You see, if a tree falls in an empty forest and no one… you know, never mind, uh, I don't know where I was going with this."

"That's okay. If you don't mind my asking, why did your parents pull you out of school?"

Oh crap. She knows it's me.

"How do you, uh, remember me?"

"With all due respect, your older sister was one of the smartest students we've had, and you weren't half bad either."

"Uh, illness."

"Very well. I'm sending Deana and Albert home. Best wishes, Mr Tenultra."

"You too, Headmistress."

I hang up.

Soon, Deana and Albert have the decency to quietly enter and go to their rooms without making too much fuss. I sink down onto the ratty couch and take a moment to think. That phone call was… jarring. In so many ways.

"Alethio?"

I sigh. "Yes, Albert?"

"Never mind.."

"Fine."

My brother turns on his heel and runs back to his room. He doesn't seem to be worried about a thing, lucky child. Everyone will remember him and take care of him as long as he lives.

And I still can't believe that after all that time, someone remembers me.

And I'm on my way to believing

Vesper Odhran

District 3 Female

12 June, Year 169

"Guys, take a look at this!"

Elsa presses a few buttons, and the tiny car zooms across the room, nearly bumping into Carmen's feet. It flips and turns, and still the tiny toy llama attached to the top stays intact. Elsa smiles, and flips a switch. The car leaps up onto the desk, and stops right in front of my notebook.

"That's actually really impressive," I say, "But we kind of have to focus on the topic at hand."

When we meet here every Tuesday, we always try to get work done. Debates are every few weeks, and due to our busy schedules, we can't meet any other day. So we have to work, work, work in order to have a coherent case by the night of the debate. And usually that works out well for us.

"What's the topic again?" asks Crest, "Like, exact wording."

"Inter-district travel should be more freely permitted in Panem," replies Adella, "We're affirmative, so that's good."

"Yeah," agrees Ruby, "I'm surprised they even managed to get this topic past the censors, but I'm happy about it."

"That's good to hear," I say, "Elsa, do you want to speak in this debate?"

"Nah, Vi, you go. I spoke in the last one."

Crest, Carmen, Adella, and Ruby are all pretty flexible speaking role-wise, so they share the roles of first and second speaker amongst themselves. But Elsa and I were born for third speaker. We can both hold our own in rebuttal, and since our speeches are pretty much impromptu, that's an important skill to have. Elsa knocked it out of the park in our last debate, and I'm confident I can do so in this one.

"Thank you. Now, I personally think this is a good idea. It'll contribute to a happier nation, more jobs, and increased interest in cultures of other districts."

"Well said, Vesper," says Carmen, "I'll take the happier nation and culture points, as I'm first speaker for this debate. Ruby, you need another point for your speech though."

"A united nation works better together and it'll lead to more diverse job opportunities for newer generations. Like, you can't really be a jewellery maker in Twelve."

"You might need to work on that wording a bit," I reply, "But that's a really solid point."

"Thank you."

The rest of the debating meeting goes on in this vein. Elsa, Crest and I work on potential points we may need to rebut, Ruby and Carmen write their speeches, and Adella researches for citations. We're an efficient team, and I definitely believe we have what it takes to win the competition. It's definitely a step up from when Adella and Elsa screamed at each other every meeting. Now they're best friends.

Soon enough, it's time to go home. And I'm not really complaining. I love debating and all, but I have a lot of assignments to get started on, and that doesn't include the speeches I have to write for other competitions. And of course, I need time to pray. No matter how insane my workload gets, religion comes first. Always.

I live in what everyone calls the Mansion District, even though it's only a few large houses and more regular-sized ones. I think that says a lot about the economic state of our district. But with a few smart investments, my long-dead ancestors in the Dark Days managed to save our family from that. We have a big house, and opportunities. A big house that I'm extremely thankful for, but is still quite far away from the school.

But I don't mind. The walk is long, and if I'm lucky a few cats will be around to make me smile. The summer heat hasn't come in full force yet, so evenings are still nice. It's the little things.

The paint on our house is peeling, and yellow flakes dot the hedges outside. What with everything that's happened, Saleh hasn't had time to repaint it. Our house is too big and it would take too much time. Besides, it still looks nice enough.

I pull the key out of my pocket, and slide it into the lock. It's always hard to open the old door, no one's repaired it since Saleh was little, so you have to jiggle the key if you have any hope of getting inside.

"Vi? Is that you?"

The door swings open, and Saleh is standing there. He's still in his work shirt, miraculously perfectly ironed, but his hair's a mess. He doesn't have one of the more physically taxing jobs in the district, as the mayor's secretary, but I know it's still hard on him.

'Yeah. I didn't know you'd be back so early."

"Well, I am," he replies. "How was debating?"

"It's coming along okay. The actual thing is on the 20th, so we still have time to get ready."

"Two days after the reaping, huh?"

"Yeah. But I'm not too worried, I didn't take out any tesserae. How was work?

"Well, I still have to deal with Mayor Biltmore's remarks," answers Saleh, "He's getting steadily worse. Let us pray that this is all over soon."

"I agree. He's a corrupt pig."

Saleh smiles tiredly, placing his bag of bread rolls on the kitchen counter. "Look at the time, Vi, we should pray soon."

So Saleh and I go our separate ways to wash and dress in nice clothes for prayer. I'll wear Mother's scarf, the one with roses she always loved. There are no mosques, and no muezzin to call us to prayer in Panem, like the stories our parents told us of a time before the districts. We must keep time ourselves.

Sure, I might just be a little girl in a scarf with two dead parents and a sister who's joined them too soon, but that doesn't really matter, does it? God is always beside me and Saleh and that's enough. Sure, it's not good that we're the only Odhrans left, but that's okay. We are conscious of His presence, and He shows us the way.

And that's all we really need.

And we're back with District Three! Thank you to santiago . poncini 20 (gotta love the link-deleting program) for Alethio and LordShiro for Vesper!

In case it wasn't clear, Vesper is Muslim. Being non-religious myself, I'm not really sure how to write religious characters, even though I have done research. If anyone tells me I'm writing something wrong in regards to that, I'm happy to edit the chapter.

Also, I'm extremely happy to say that Elegy is now closed! Thank you for all your amazing submissions, and enjoy the ride!

What were your thoughts on Alethio and Vesper? How might they fare against the Careers we've seen? Who is your favourite tribute so far?

See you next time with the D4 Reapings!

- Reed