Chapter 5
1031 Words
ReaderCastellan was nice enough to resend Ally, so here they are.
Acer Packard- 16
"You're sixteen. You have to start being responsible," my sister Marie said. We were arguing about household chores, and she refused to look at the bigger picture.
"I want to be responsible, but you won't let me be responsible for anything!" I said. "I washt the dishes and you tell me I'm holding the rag wrong. I tried sweeping the kitchen and you took the broom and did it yourself. How can I be responsible if you treat me like a baby?" I asked.
"I wouldn't treat you like a baby if you didn't act like one," she said.
I clenched my hand behind my back and kept my face slack, since she interpreted any sign of emotion as "irrationality" and said it only meant she was right. "All right. You're right. I want to stop acting like a baby. Can you please tell me how to act like an adult?" I said, trying to keep the strain from my voice.
"You're sixteen. I shouldn't have to tell you," she said. "I have to do everything around here."
"Then let me help you," I said.
"You'd just mess it up," she said.
"Then do it yourself!" I snapped. I stormed off to my room, knowing she was just going to yell at me anyway. Women! Not all women, but the particular women I lived with. They whined and moaned about how they worked so hard and nobody ever helped them, but whenever my father and I tried to help, they pushed us away. What did they want, a medal? Some people just want to be martyrs. It just went to show how messed up my family was that I was in an argument because I wanted to do more chores.
They thought they knew everything. According to my mother and my sister, the very existence of our family rested on them. They decided where I'd work and when I went to bed and who would get what if anything happened to them. I never saw this in other families. They worked together, or one parent was gone, or they didn't work together at all. Never this self-imposed matriarchy.
They were starting to bug me about marriage. My mother would point out one girl or another and nudge me. "She's a nice one," she'd hint. If I decided I wanted to get married, I could pick a wife out myself. They certainly weren't giving me much motivation. From what I saw, women were all right, but I didn't want to spend my life with one.
I was still thinking about it a week later while I waited in the crowd during the Reaping. I wasn't crazy enough to volunteer just to spite my family, but I was crazy enough to take just about any way out of that family. The way I saw it, I could spend the rest of my life harried by two harridans who thought they knew what was best for me, or I could seize my chance to finally live my own life. A likely short life, but long lives are hardly preferable in Panem. And I did enjoy the expression on the face of the boy I saved.
"I volunteer as Tribute!"
Ally Tesla- 12
I opened the blinds and sat on the foot of my sister's bed.
"Time to get up, sleepyhead," I said. Abby rolled over and put her pillow over her head.
"Come on. You slept like all day yesterday," I said. My sister didn't have many friends or hobbies. She usually just went to work, came home, and slept until bedtime. She hadn't been showering recently, but I didn't tell her she smelled bad. She would have worn the same shirts every day if I hadn't swiped them while she was in bed and tossed them in the laundry.
"I don't want to get up," she said.
"Yeah, me neither," I said. "You can't go to bed if you don't get up."
Abby chuckled as she slid out of bed. She looked tiredly at our small closet and the dozen shirts inside.
"Wear this one," I said, picking a yellow shirt. "It's cloudly outside, but you'll look like the sun." I helped her get dressed and we went to breakfast.
"It's a big day today, so eat a lot," I said. Abby hadn't been eating much lately. She said she wasn't hungry. It was hard for me to understand when people said one thing and meant another, but I could tell she was sad about something. I did my best to be even happier than usual, because she needed it.
I was glad Abby was with me when we went to the Reaping. I loved being with all the people, but sometimes the other kids teased me. They said I talked funny and they thought it was very funny that I flapped my arms when I ran. If Abby was there, I could play with them and still have somewhere to go if they got mean.
Aurelia looked very pretty up on the stage. Her dress was covered in rainbow fringe that fluttered in the breeze.
"I think I'll pick the girl first this time! How about that?" she said. Abby didn't laugh, and I didn't think it was very funny either. She did that half the time. Her nails made scractchy noises inside the glass bowl.
"Our female Tribute is Ally Tesla!" she said. Everyone stared at me as I went on the stage. I waited politely for Aurelia to let me talk.
"Let's hear from our brave Tributes," she said after she Reaped the boy. She put the microphone next to me. "Do you have anything to-"
"NO!" I shouted, and I stomped off the stage.
Acer has long black hair in a ponytail. He has light brown skin and dark brown eyes. He is five foot eight and thin. Ally is medium height and weight with brown hair and eyes and fair skin.
Wiki update: I'm up as far as Mars for Victors and Tracelyn has added some Tributes.
w iki/K erry_ Selmosa
The link, maybe?
- Writer
