Night and Day will meet at Dusk

The leaves rattle by on the hard cracked concrete, dancing in the wind as I shiver from it. Pulling my fawn-colored jacket closer to my body, I look up into the smoky grey sky at a flock of geese flying south for the rapidly approaching winter. Why can’t I be free like them?, I think as I sit down on a small boulder, overgrown with moss and vines, and I look out past the tall electric fence that surrounds the district. Only once had I ever been past those charged barbs, and I vowed never to do it again. I could’ve had the same brutal punishment as my friend Hanna, who was the one who bribed me to go in the first place. I pull my hood up to protect me from the wind that was rapidly gaining speed and strength, blowing all of the leaves in one direction until my side of the concrete path is clear.
I sigh louder than I mean to, and look behind me to make sure no one was there to hear. Alone, just the way I like it. I lightly swing my legs against the rock, which is slippery from the recent rain, and I gradually slide down so that my back is resting on the opposite side. Believe it or not, I do this every day after work. For me, I guess it is just an opportunity to be alone, a rarity for my life. I’m not a loner, it’s just that sometimes I need my own space, to get away from everything. But, away is really just what I think it is. I always have the fence there to remind me that I am a prisoner. My life, my thoughts, my labor, my everything is owned by the Capitol. I have seen the rebels, even some I know personally. I would side with them, I really would, but between my family and freedom, I don’t really have a choice. If being owned means making just enough money to survive, then so be it.
I can’t afford to even think about the impossible thoughts I face myself with, so I stand up and brush off my pants from the slippery moss. Once again, I look up into the cloudy grey sky, and I see a stray goose flapping as hard as it can to catch up with its flock, which must be more than 5 miles away by now. “Good luck,” I whisper to it aloud, and I turn around to go back home.