Mother
Can you keep them in the dark for life
Can you hide them from the waiting world
Oh mother

Lennox Knolls, 17

District 7 Female

Since you're probably wondering about myself, I'll just go ahead and get something out of the way. Yes, I'm the daughter of the junkie whore, yes, I look almost exactly like her. No, I won't have any more conversation about it. It's a bit sensitive to me, and honestly, just pisses me off more than needed.

It's hard when your parents are notorious for things. The idea that a child can do better than their parents is currently foreign in the minds of the people in my District. It's like half of the district expects me to be this cracked out whore, and the other doesn't really expect anything of me.

But I'm just Lennox.

I chop things, and I try my hardest to be everything she wasn't. As you can imagine, there are really only three positions in District 7. There are the lumberjacks, aka what I am. There are the office workers, which is what I'm trying to work my way up to. Then there's the...uhm...blacklight district, which is what my mother dabbles in every now and then.

But this is beginning to feel a lot like a job interview. It's reaping day today, and I don't have a lot of time to tell it, but I do have a story for you. It all started yesterday morning when mom and I went to our jobs at the lumber mill. It seemed like everything was going to be a pretty normal day. I had my job secured, and after a few months of covering while mom was on detox, I had hers as well.

"Good morning, workers." says the loudspeakers that the floor managers use to announce things to us. "It's going to be a great day here at the LumberFanatic Lumber Mill! We've gone a whole 999 days without an accident! That's one more day away from breaking our all-time record….so don't screw it up!"

That was the announcement pretty much every day. Except for the fact about the record. They're big on those here. The last accident happened over 2 years ago and let's just say that the accident chopped a little more than lumber. No, I mean the leg snapped right off. I was almost surprised at how little blood there was at first. Poor Phil...besides the point, I'm rambling.

Mom and I mounted our machine, and the morning actually was a better than an average work day. Mom wasn't asking me annoying questions, and I wasn't being stared at as blatantly as normal.

"Alright, workers!" says the cheery voice on the announcements. "It's time for lunch! You have thirty minutes. Make them count!"

That's when the trouble started. Something should have tipped me off that mom was acting strangely. Maybe it was the way she wasn't asking me strange questions. Or maybe it was the way that a man was talking to us instead of running the other way. Their wives usually have their men on lock from my mother and me, but I was naive to think that my mother wouldn't do something stupid after she's been sober for so long.

"I'll be back, Lenny." says mom as she walks off towards the bathroom in a quick fashion. I didn't think anything of it. I just ate my sandwich. I'd been looking forward to the turkey and cheese all day. Cheese! What a luxury I didn't often get.

"Okay," I had said. "Don't fall in." In an attempt to make a joke. As she shuffled away.

25 minutes later the voice came over the announcements letting us know that it was time for us to get back to work, and I was worried. My mom was nowhere in sight, and I can't imagine her having to use the bathroom that bad.

I got up from the table and walked over to the bathroom, and to this second of time, I wish I hadn't. There's something that just ruins relationships beyond repair. Walking into the bathroom and hearing the all too familiar sounds of my mother sprung out is one of had promised this was the last time.

That's the story. I probably should have warned you that it wasn't a very good one. I guess I could have added some dramatic flare how someone ruined the 999 day count of not hurting themselves, but they didn't. My mom stayed in the bathroom after I moved her to a stall, and I finished the shift. That brings us to this morning.

"Lenny, I've said I'm sorry." says mom. I know that she is. She truly does feel bad when she relapses, but I have a hard time forgiving people who self-sabotage.

"And I told you that I honestly don't care," I reply taking a bite of the mushy oatmeal in a bowl. "We were doing so good," I said. "People were getting better about the stares. I haven't been offered to be a whore or get drugs from people in months, mom. Months! I'm already a social pariah, and it's not even because of anything I've done!"

"Mind your mother." says my mom angry and trying to get her disciplinary voice on.

"Act like one," I say as I slam the chair back and walk towards the door.

"You can't just leave like this, Lennox! Get in here right now!"

"No," I say coldly as I open the door. "Don't worry. I'm sure the morphine will make you forget in a second." I say slamming the door.

I'm a problem, I'm the killer, I'm the cure, I guess

I'm the end, I'm the beginning, the apocalypse

I am something from nothing, I heard 'em say

Rags to the riches, your best mistake

Dailen Clervani, 18

District 7 Male

This sword is probably the best work I've ever done. I'm normally not one to toot my own horn, but, toot toot.

I've worked in this black smithery since I was 13 years old. It's held some really good times and really bad times. Examples of a good time would be the first time I got my first kiss, which was right at the help counter. We had to hide because if my dad caught us we'd have been in heaps of trouble. A bad time would have to be the time my mom got burned pretty bad.

Believe it or not, my mother was the one who got me into this business. She was always a strong woman. Never faltering in anything she did, and always succeeding. Always succeeding. My father worked the front desk at the blacksmith, and eventually was on the floor, but that's when problems started.

"Hurry up, Dailen! I need that in soon!" screams the floor manager

My dad has always been a little bit of a clutz, and unfortunately, my mother's burn scar on her arm is proof of that. The whole thing is a giant misunderstanding if you ask me, but I've been told it's none of my business.

"Hurry up, Dailen!" screams the floor manager again. "What the hell do I pay you for anyways!?" he screams from his booth where he sits up and does literally nothing. I've seen this man go up at least 9 waist sizes since I've been here.

I look up to the booth and smile at him, then go back to pounding the hot metal. I always take my time on these things. Not because I'm not good, or that I'm lazy, but because I would rather not have burn marks all over me. I do a good job. I don't take forever, but I'm young, and would eventually like to get married and girls around here are pretty shallow.

I finish the sword and dunk it in the water to let it cool off. The hot steam rushes up to my face, and again, I smile. It's one of my favorite feelings in the world. After I make sure the sword is properly cool I bring it out of the water and place it on the stand of finished products. That was the last piece we needed to finish before sending it off to the Capitol.

"Took you long enough," says the floor manager as he gets off his booth. "Tell me why I'm always waiting on you, Clervani?"

"Tell me why I came into work on a day everyone is supposed to have off?" I ask with a giant smile on my face.

"Fine, good luck at the reaping. See you at work tomorrow."

I walk out of the blacksmith and let the sun shine down on my face. The good thing about the reaping day is my family always springs a little extra on awesome food for us. Today, my father is making pancakes.

I'm the only one that works in the family right now, after the incident with mom, it's kind of scarred dad to the point where he doesn't come to the smith anymore.

When I arrive at home I see my brother, Callum, already digging into a big plate of pancakes, and I sit down at the table with just enough time to get a big plate placed in front of me. "You have good timing." says my father as he sits down with his own plate.

"He also has B.O.," says my brother as he plugs his nose. "It's called a shower?"

"It's called I've been working all morning so you can have pancakes today?" I say sarcastically as I lift my armpit and stick it towards him. He screams as he falls out of his chair laughing.

"My sons are nasty." says my father as he frowns, but I see him smiling as he takes a bite of his food. "Are you two ready for the reapings? Callum doesn't be scared. I know it's your first one."

"Yeah, bud," I say. "I've been in them for 6 years now and I've yet to get called."

"I'm not scared," he says. "I'll just jar some of your nasty smell and throw it at them," he says. "If that doesn't kill them I don't know what will." at that my father lets out a hearty laugh. I roll my eyes and shove the last of my pancakes in my mouth and swallow.

"Point taken, I'll shower right now," I say as I walk up the stairs.

I walk into the bathroom and begin taking off my work clothes and turn on the shower. I wait until the steam is floating in the air and I get in and let the hot water bounce off of me. I quickly soap up and rinse off, and by the time I am in my room the bells indicating the thirty-minute mark are going off.

I throw on a pair of jeans and a red and white flannel followed by a pair of white tennis shoes.

"Dailen! It's time!" screams Callum from the other room.

"I'm coming!" I say as I hurry out of my room and head towards the living room.

Mother
Tell your children not to walk my way
Tell your children not to hear my words
What they mean
What they say
Mother

Lennox Knolls, 17

District 7 Female

The reapings are always on a cloudy and ugly day. I swear it's like the weather knows exactly when it's going to be someone's worst nightmare, and then dresses appropriately for the occasion.

"Hello District 7," says the escort as she flaunts on stage. She's wearing a goose dress, and I wish that was something that was a new fashion, but it's legitimately a goose dress. She's wearing a bright white hat to match the dress with a veil falling down the front of her face. She sports a pair of black heels, and a pair of black sunshades to match. Her makeup is pretty modest for a Capitol citizen, with red lipstick and wing eyeliner. Something tells me she's going to be one of those people that like to think they're more down to earth than they actually are.

"Now, I'm excited to be here! I've always looked at District 7 like it was a separate home to me, and even though it's my first year here I know we will get along swell!"

So point to me. I'm always right about these things, and I really hope that the tributes chosen pushes her buttons because she seems fun to annoy.

"We are here today because the Districts rebelled and now we have Hunger Games, blah, blah, blah," she says crumpling her cue cards and throwing them away. "You guys don't need that, do you? Now let's get onto the reason we are all here. To figure out which very lucky boy and girl get to represent their District in the Hunger Games."

I'm not so sure I'd call the tributes lucky. Every year we send people in that have a relatively decent shot compared to the other outer districts and a relative no shot against the careers. Our highest placement in a while came 6 years ago during the 25th games. The girl from here got 3rd.

"Let's change things up a bit and start with males, shall we?" she ask as she goes to the back of the stage and digs her arm around in the bowl. She settles on a name that is in the middle of the jar and then pulls it out of the bowl.

Walking back up to the stage it's almost hard not to laugh at the woman. Her goose shakes as she moves and it's almost as if a real thing is waddling towards you.

"Now the lucky male that will be going to represent your-I mean our District is...Dailen Clervani!"

I look around to see who the unlucky guy is as an 18-year-old steps out of the crowd. He walks to the front and looks a little sad, but when he gets up to the stage he puts on a big smile. It's not a fake on either, it seems genuine.

"Dailen can you tell me about yourself?" ask the escort with a big grin, "It's not often we see a tribute that is smiling on stage. You guys always see it as some sort of awful experience."

"You know, sometimes you get dealt a crappy hand. You can't just sit there and let it ruin your whole life, but you have to roll with it. This very well could be one of the final days of my life, and I don't want to think about the negative stuff. I just want to tough it out and do the best I can."

"That's so nice." says the escort as she wipes fake tears from her eyes. "Let's move onto the girls!"

She moves over to the back of the stage again and ends up at the girl's bowl. She reaches in and grabs an envelope on the very top of the jar and then opens up the envelope to and reads out the name on the card.

"Lennox Knolls!"

Lennox who?

I hear a woman in the background screaming which I'm sure is my mother, but I have no sympathy for her. I might be all she has, but she shows little or no concern for me at all. I have always put her first, and right now I can't put her emotional needs before my own. I need to figure out how the hell to deal with this.

But I'm lost in a sea of conflicting emotions.

I realize I'm taking too long to come on and the Peacekeepers come and grab me by the arm. They take me up to the stage to meet with Dailen and our escort and she smiles at me. I don't see that smile as genuine in the slightest, but I will accept the fact that she's trying to be sincere in a time like this.

"No, Lennox, please tell me how you're feeling?"

"I-I" I begin and then close my mouth. "I don't know," I say. "I can honestly say I have no earthly idea."

"District 7 I give you your tributes! Dailen the optimist and Lennox the confused!"

All I know, it's too late for me to change your mind

I'll let go, let you decide

What you wanna believe

What you wanna believe

Dailen Clervani, 18

District 7 Male

Being reaped is a really bad experience, and I hope I didn't come across as cocky to the people I'll be competing against but also the Capitol and the people that will be watching. I want nothing more than to be able to just smile in any given situation because smiling shows that you aren't broken. Smiling allows people to approach you, and smiling is the reason I can get through so much of my life.

"You have a visitor." says the Peacekeeper as I sit on the red couch in the justice building.

My mom walks into a room with a long sleeved shirt that she wears all the time now. Since the accident, she hasn't been too keen on anything revealing of her arms. When the door closes behind her she runs up to me and holds me close for a long time.

"Mom, you have to go back," I say to her as I pull away and look at her intensely.

"I'll not go back, Day," she says sternly. "This doesn't change that situation..what he...what he did."

"Mom, it was an accident and you know it was."

Like I said earlier, my dad is a little clutz. My parents were constantly fighting before they finally decided to split. Well, until my mom decided to split. They had gotten into quite possibly the biggest fight I had ever seen them get into right before they went to work at the blacksmith.

My dad was trying to avoid talking to her at all cost that day. He was a bit new and he was just training on the machine and the tools used to make the swords. He got scared at one of the noises that were made, and jumped back. It caused my mom to trip and to whack her arm against a hot furnace. There's a pretty significant burn scar that goes from her shoulder all the way down to her wrist on her left arm.

"He did it on purpose. You know how your father was back then, Dailen. He might have changed, but before...he was bad."

"We all have skeletons in our past mom. Now that I'm leaving, and dad hasn't stepped foot in a blacksmith since the accident, Callum is going to have to drop out of school so he can provide. You never wanted that. I never wanted that."

"Callum can always stay with me. You could have too."

"We won't just leave, Dad," I respond. "Don't forget that you ended the family mom. You're the one who walked out. It's not like we had any say, and dad surely fought for you."

"He fought to little to late. I can't Dailen...I just...I can't." she says as she turns and walks out of the room. Before the door closes she turns to me and looks at me. "Promise me you'll fight."

"I'll promise you a win," I say

She leaves and closes the door behind her.

My dad comes in shortly after, but he doesn't have a lot to say. Lots of tears from him and Callum. After they left no one else really came to see me. I waited until there was a knock at my door and Lennox and our escort stand in the doorway ready to head to the train.

2 weeks later

Let the waters rise

I will stand as the oceans roar

Let the earth shake beneath me

Let the mountains fall

Katherine Farrow

President of Panem

The alarm is blaring in the mansion and Gretchen is nowhere to be found. I know that Sailor and Alma made it out alright through the secret tunnels, and I haven't heard a single thing from Clyde since the ambush has started.

I hear glass shattering and people running around screaming. They all wear a mask and dance around as they look for me and my family. I duck behind a panel and watch as three masked assailants run past me and towards my bedroom. I watch as they kick open the door and gleefully squeal as they run around and look for me in there.

I run out of my hiding place and make a dash for the secret bookcase room. When I get to the office there is no one in there, and I begin to throw things in front of the door. When I get to the bookshelf I begin pulling out the books in the order they unlock the shelf in. When the door finally opens I hear a click of a gun and feel a cylinder shape against the back of my head.

"Ms. Farrow, we seem to have you in a pickle."

These two were a lot easier to write than the other ones. I also told you I would check in with Katherine after District 6, but I didn't want to dedicate a whole chapter to it. I start school again tomorrow, but I'm only taking two more classes (my last two until I'm officially at my uni), and I'll be a bit busy. So I don't know how many updates I'll do.

Let me know what you think of these guys. I really like them.

Keep it classy,

Caleb