Chapter 10
829 Words
I reminded myself to tell everyone that Violet and Keylor didn't volunteer, but I forgot. So now I will tell everyone.
Socks Kelarck
Everyone was crying when they came in except me and my mother. My mother wasn't crying because she was trying to stay strong, or at least that was my guess. I wasn't crying because I knew I was supposed to, but it just wasn't happening. There were other things I was supposed to be doing, too, but I could never tell what they were. I was hesitant about guessing after the time my sister broke her leg and I laughed. That was the wrong answer. I didn't even think it was funny. I was just trying to find the right reaction.
My mother was standing in my way. She was blocking my view of the Peacekeepers. Everyone else was carrying on and wailing, but I just wanted to see those Peacekeepers. They were wearing the strangest socks. They were the thickest, most luxurious socks I'd ever seen. I could see them peeking over the top of their boots. They must have been wool. I'd never seen people actually wear wool. We always sent ours to the Capitol. I wished I could go over and feel them, but they would probably kick me.
I wished my family wasn't so loud. They were making the room shake and I couldn't hear myself think. They were all crowding around and hugging me. I liked them and all, but I didn't get why people smashed together when they liked each other. I could like them the same amount from far away. They were probably scared because I was going to the Hunger Games and would probably die. That was a long way away. It didn't make sense to be scared before the scary thing happened.
My mom bent over, and I could see the lovely Peacekeeper socks better. Then Mom stood back up and blocked my view again. She was holding something droopy and white.
A sock!
Mom said something, but I didn't care. I had a sock. A white (except for the scuffy part from Mom's toe), soft, fluffy, stretchy sock. I didn't know why, but socks were the best things in the whole world. I loved to run my hands over them and stretch them between my fingers. I wore them like gloves all winter long and I liked to press them to my cheeks. Socks were the pinnacle of human achievement. When the first caveman tied some dead animal around his feet, we'd reached the top. We might as well have stopped there.
Briar Hampton
"This is not a good idea."
It was always Nova saying stuff like that. She was usually right, but "right" didn't always mean "fun".
"My job is to wash the feathers. They didn't say I couldn't add stuff," I said. My mother was going to be even more upset than Nova when she saw my shirt pocket. It was stained red with the handful of chokecherries I'd gathered in the pasture before work. I took the mushy wad of cherries out and held them in my hand as they reddened my fingers.
"This is the best diea," Laurie said. I held the berries over the sudsy vat of feathers.
"If we get caught, you know they'll blame me and Laurie. You never get in trouble," I said. Nova covered her eyes. I dropped the berries.
I didn't know a handful of berries could be so powerful. I thought they'd stick to a couple of feathers and stain them bright red. Instead they diffused throughout the entire vat containing all the factory's dirty feathers. The water turned pale rose pink and the heat of the water brought the earthy scent out. I kept stirring like nothing was wrong and Laurie stifled laughs as she added detergent. We stirred up the water until bubbles colored our sins. When the next shift took over, we ran for the hills.
I knew things were bad when the manager of the entire factory was there when I came to work the next day. He was standing next to the washing station, peering into the water along with two other managers. My coworkers were milling around aimlessly, waiting for work to start.
"What happened?" I asked one of the ladies.
"Someone ruined the feathers," she said meaningfully.
"Oh no," I said with all the sincerity I could muster. "What are we going to do?'
It could have been worse. I hadn't meant to ruin so many valuable feathers, and it turned out I didn't. We just had to send the entire shipment to Eight to made into feather boas for the Capitol. I had meant to cause chaos and be a nuisance, and that part was a success. So basically, everything went perfectly.
Socks doesn't have a description. His real name is Soma but Socks is his name in spirit. Briar looks like Keke Palmer, so super pretty.
- Writer
