Living in a city of sleepless people
Who all know the limits and won't go too far outside the lines
'Cause they're out of their minds.
I wanna get out and build my own home
On a street where reality is not much different from dreams I've had
A dream is all I have.
Laelia Omri, 14
District Nine Female
The snow started coming down the mountain quicker, the vicious sheet of white demolishing everything in its path. Rosalind looked over her shoulder, tightened the straps on her brick red backpack and gripped the saddle of her horse tighter. Kicking her legs to make her noble steed move faster. The roar of the snow got louder and before she knew it…
"Laelia, one seed per plot!" Mr. Burrington says with a stern look in his eyes.
"I know! I'm sorry, I was just-" I start, but Mr. Burrington cuts me off before I can finish.
"Yes, We know. You were off in la la land daydreaming again," his voice is stern and telling, but he has a gentle look in his eyes. He gives me a quick smile and nods at me to get back to work.
I will never understand why people talk down on me for my constant daydreaming. When you work a dead end job and live a dead end life, you have to find ways to keep yourself going. My fourteen-year-old life in District nine might not be exciting and thrilling, but as long as I have my mind, I will never be bored.
There is only so many ways that you can plant a seed, and I have figured out every single one of them. I prefer to make my rows straight and put the seeds in at an angle. That way, when the plants grow, the branches won't get tangled and everything can grow freely.
"Alright little miss Omri," Mr. Burrington says, scratching his long gray beard and rubbing his barely there belly. "That'll do it for today, good work out there!" He hands me an envelope with a tiny amount of money inside. I smile graciously and start skipping towards home.
I have been planting seeds since I was eleven. It isn't an ideal job, but my dad always told me that any job no matter how small is worth doing right. My parents do their best to provide for our family so the very least I can do is wake up every morning with a smile on my face and a laugh in my belly and head off to work full of cheer even if I don't feel like it.
It is usually on the walk home from work every day that I allow myself to wallow in self-pity if even for a minute. I don't like to, but when you are dealt a hand of cards like mine, it's hard not to sometimes. I take pebbles from my hand and drop them on the ground directly in front of me, and kick them with all my might. I drop the final one as I am approaching our little wooden house butI see smoke rising from the chimney and my stomach rumbles. Smoke is a sign that it is a night where we will actually get to eat. I drop the last pebble and run to the door. Before I even get there, the door flies open and my father runs out and takes me into his arms, swinging me around.
"There she is!" He exclaims. He spins me around a few times before his breathing starts getting heavier and he has to set me down.
"I am fourteen now dad, I am practically an adult. You are going to have to stop doing that before you seriously hurt yourself," I say, extending the envelope of money to him.
"Head inside and wash up, we are eating tonight," he says, taking the envelope and planting a kiss on my forehead.
I run inside and run to the small room that I share with my brother.
"Laelia, be down and ready to eat in twenty minutes!" My mother screams from down the hallway.
After I wash up, I go sit in front of my bedroom window and gently move the purple curtains to the side exposing my drawings. Seeing my stories drawn out makes me smile. I run my fingers over the waxy creations and close my eyes.
I was never able to go to school because of the immense need for more income in my family. I never learned to read or write and that is the most devastating thing to me. My brain is filled with so much joy and imagination to be kept bottled up but there is nothing that I can do about it, so I do my best to express it in the form of doodles on my bedroom wall. I pick up my coal and began to sketch a picture of Rosalind and her horse running away from the snow.
A tap on my shoulder scares me, causing me to draw a smudgy line through my picture.
"Earth to Laelia. Snap back into reality princess," my older brother Barric rolls his eyes and gently swats the back of my head. "Let's eat," he says.
I roll my eyes right back and quickly cover up the artwork.
When I get to the dinner table, there is more food than I could have possibly imagined.
"What is all this?!" I squeal.
"We are celebrating tonight!" My dad smiles and passes me a bowl of mashed potatoes.
"What are we celebrating?" I ask hesitantly.
"We are celebrating the fact that we have food tonight," My dad says, letting out a deep belly laugh.
My mom smiles and shakes her head, putting a spoonful of rice into her mouth.
I look around the dinner table and see everyone in my family smiling and laughing. We might not have much, but we have each other and that is better than any story that I could ever come up with.
"I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
Ambrose Granada,16
District Nine Male
History repeats itself unless something is done about it, right? At least that is what every history and government textbook that I have had the chance to get my hands on has told me.
Make a change… be the change… make a change… be the change…
I can't get my brain to shut up. Those two short phrases ring in my mind from the time that I wake up in the morning to the time that my head hits the pillows. It's not like I ask for that to be the one thing that is constantly on my mind, but it is and it gives me the motivation to do just that.
I have never personally struggled, but I am not stupid nor am I blind. Everywhere you look in District Nine there is widespread poverty. People without food on the table every night, there are people without jobs and even people without homes and that is not okay. Something needs to be done about it and luckily, I was given the perfect platform to do so.
My mother is Rosalina Flora Granada. Loving mother, devoted wife, and the ever so hardworking Mayor of District Nine. I'm one of the lucky ones in Panem that lives in a home where the hard work that is demonstrated every day is heavily rewarded, as it should be all around the country. Unfortunately, that is not the case. At least not yet.
I love watching my mom work, it gives me plenty of time to study her every move so that I can decide what I will get rid of and what I will keep when I am mayor of District Nine. I love her with all my heart, but there are drastic changes that need to happen and her choices just don't cut it sometimes. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but given my political status in the district right now, my position is almost guaranteed.
"Ambrose, come downstairs please!" My mother shouts from the bottom of our marble spiral staircase. Her voice goes in and out almost as if it is traveling up with the curls of the staircase.
I shake my head and bury my nose back into my history book. I mustn't get distracted. There are so many things to learn in such a short time. I scan the page, soaking in all the information and burning the pictures into my memory before I am so rudely interrupted again.
"Ambrose! Don't make me come up there and take away all your books. You know I will!" She shouts.
"Mom! I'm busy," I say calmly so that I don't get myself worked up.
"1… 2...3…" she slowly starts counting.
This is what most normal parents do to get their children that are under the age of 5 to listen but unfortunately, sometimes my mom forgets that I am growing up and can be bribed with normal commands.
She has had a hard time letting go and realizing that even with Asperger's Syndrome, I can do anything that a sixteen-year-old without this unique gift can do, and I can probably do it better. I know she means well, but when she starts counting, I am almost positive that I can feel my eyes rolling permanently into the back of my head.
"I'm coming mom," I say, tucking the geography book that my nose has been buried in for the past hour under my arm.
"And leave your books upstairs! No reading at the dinner table sweetie, family time!" For the second time, my eyes hit my brain. They are going to get stuck like that one of these days. At least that is what experts say. I toss the book on top of a big stack and close my door.
When I get to the dining room, the first thing I notice is that our neighbors will be joining us. Most importantly, Maizie Reyes. She is beautiful but I would never let her know that. She is one of the more popular girls at school but I swear she has a heart of gold. That is why people like her so much, everyone needs a Maizie Reyes.
"Hi Ambrose!" She says, enthusiastically waving her hands in the air.
"Uh.. h-hi!" I stutter, clasping my hands behind my back and pinching the skin on my fingers.
The social aspect has never been my strong suit. I don't have many friends around the district because talking to people just doesn't come easily to me. A lot of people have made fun of me for it, but never Maizie. She makes me want to talk.
"Well, what are you waiting for? We're starved," my mom says, pointing to the seat next to Maizie. I slowly walk over and take my place at the dinner table.
The silence is almost too much to bear when my dad finally speaks up.
"Well, the reapings are tomorrow," my dad says mid-bite.
"Oh please, don't get him started on that, my love," my mom says, scraping the last bit of mashed potatoes onto her spoon.
"The reapings are stupid. The hunger games are stupid. It really is just a huge injustice in this country. You shouldn't have to kill other people to prove that you have learned a valuable lesson. The whole thing really grinds my gears," I say, setting my fork down more forcefully than I originally intended.
"We know, Ambrose. Sorry, I said anything," my dad says, giving me the look that means I better shut up soon.
"I'm serious," I continue. "That is going to be the very first thing that I change when I become Mayor of District Nine," I say with a grin.
"Ok, enough," my dad says, basically shutting that conversation down.
The rest of the meal is finished almost in silence. When everyone has finished, my mom tells me to walk our guests to the front door.
"Bye Maizie," I say quietly.
"Bye Ambrose," she says. "Just for the record, you have my vote," she smiles and hugs me before disappearing into the night.
Daydreaming
Daydreaming all the time
Daydreaming
Daydreaming into the night
And I'm alright
Laelia Omri, 14
District Nine Female
Normally, I am never one to want to stay in bed. Obviously I love dreaming, but you don't need to be in bed to dream. You can find adventure anywhere that you are at if you just let your mind wander. However, this morning is different.
I pull my lavender quilt over my head and nestle myself deeper into my pillow. The quilt is scratchy and the pillow has been used so much that it is completely flat. I used to dream about comforters filled with feathers and pillows so fluffy that even the slightest movement would cause a hailstorm of feathers. However, there is no other place in the entire world that I would rather be this morning.
The reapings. The worst day of the year in my opinion. Everyone is always so down in the dumps and anxious.
"Sweet girl, it's time to wake up and face the day," my mom comes and sits on the edge of my bed. She runs her fingers lightly over my back and then pats me gently on the head. "I don't want to deal with it any more than you do my love, but it's not going to go away no matter how bad you wish it would," her voice is soft and gentle as she lays a light yellow sundress down on the foot of my bed.
I throw the comforter off of my body and go look at my reflection at the only mirror that we have. My blonde hair is knotted and matted. My mom would say that the angels were playing in my hair last night. I can't even be bothered to add curls to it today so I neatly put it in a side braid and add white flowers throughout. Classy and cute.
"Are you nervous?" My brother's voice startles me.
"Of course I am, but it will be okay," I smile at him.
"Normally, your optimism is nauseating, but today, it's reassuring," he says looking uneasy.
"Well, I wouldn't want to run into one of the PeaceKeepers if we are late, so we better get going," I say, hip bumping him as I walk past him.
I go and move the curtain to reveal my drawings. They look different somehow today. I make a mental note of what I want to add when I get back from the reapings today before taking a deep breath and walking out the door.
Gotta make a change,
For once in my life,
It's gonna feel real good,
Gonna make a difference,
Gonna make it right
Ambrose Granada, 16
District Nine Male
"Don't even look in my direction," I say lifting my nose out of a history book.
My mom chuckles, nearly spilling her coffee.
"Someone is cranky this morning," she says.
"How could I not be mom?" I ask her wide eyed. "Today is a day that should not exist under any circumstance. It's actually quite preposterous and I'm not going," I close my book and cross my arms.
"Well, it's not too much longer until you can run and change everything, my love," she smiles, adding more creamer to her already nauseatingly sweet coffee.
"Thanks for your support mom," I grumble.
"Let's go. I need to be there and it will look suspicious if my family is not there with me," she throws on a blazer and heads to the front door. I straighten my button up and follow her out, rolling my eyes the whole way. I have no time for this madness. But alas, the show must go on.
Being socially awkward like myself, big crowds can ruin your entire day. There are too many opportunities for things to go wrong. My dad says to just smile at people and the rest will come naturally but it has never seemed to work for me. I assume my position with the other sixteen-year-old males and scan the other side for Maizies face. When I finally find her, she is already looking back at me. I can feel all the blood in my body rushing to my cheeks so I quickly shoot her a lopsided smile and turn to face the front. Just as I do, the escort walks on stage.
"Hello! Welcome, the District nine Reapings! My name is not important because today is all about your beautiful faces! Her pink ringlet curls bounce up and down with each word that comes out of her mouth.
After listening to the long bogus reasons why we do the hunger games she is finally ready to announce the tributes. Curious as to who the unlucky fellas will be, I stand up a little bit straighter.
"Let's waste no time," she walks over the large glass bowl that contains the names of all the boys standing on my side and pulls one out. "Your male tribute in this year's Hunger Games is going to be. Ambrose Granada!"
There are loud gasps heard throughout the crowd followed by whispers.
My heart sinks into my stomach. There is nothing I can do about it except to accept the fact that I am a goner. I won't get to make the changes that I so desperately wanted too. Someone like me could never win these games. There is too much strategy that goes into it.
"Ambrose honey, show yourself," she who shall not be named ushers me to step forward.
I slowly walk toward the stage, making eye contact with Maizie. She has tears rolling down her cheeks, but she gives me a reassuring smile. I take my spot on the stage after refusing to speak and watch her go for the slip of the next unlucky female.
"Your district Nine female tribute will be.. Laelia Omri."
The poor girl looks like she was taken straight out of a daydream and dropped into hell. Her blue eyes get wide and her face freezes. Tears start rolling down her cheeks but she still doesn't move.
"Out of the way," PeaceKeepers wiggle their way in between the other girls and grab her by the arms, leading her to the stage. She also doesn't speak. She must be too stunned.
The escort rambles on and on before they finally lead us into the Justice building. I take my dad's advice and smile at the blonde girl and to my surprise, she smiles back.
Well hello there!
I am back! I am excited to finish this story and reconnect with all my tributes for this story.
I won't bore y'all with excuses but just know that this story is about to take off and I am really excited about it. I have decided that after the final reaping chapter, we will check back in with President Arabelle and then get on with the games.
Let me know what you thought of these two!
Who is your favorite so far?
My boyfriend Caleb or IVolunteerAsAuthor is writing another really amazing story right now called Free Falling. It is already closed but you should still check it out. You seriously won't regret it. If you already have a tribute in it, then good luck. :P
QOTD: What three things would you take with you to an island?
Xoxo
Jenna