the land of misfits || closed

The orchard Tessa worked in was more than a place of work; it was a place to socialize and foster a community. Even when people weren't supposed to be working, you could see some milling about and chatting with their neighbors, with some even helping tend to the trees so their older neighbors could go back home and rest sooner. Despite the constant Peacekeeper and Capitol oppression, District Eleven was always at its happiest after the last set of Hunger Games ended. Tessa didn't know what it was; they'd lost two workers in an unfair lottery system, if anything they should be sad, right? Wrong. The Hunger Games were gone; they didn't have to look at any mandatory showings and could ignore the horror until the next year. Things were good.

Well, up until a Peacekeeper yelled at the small blonde girl dangling in a tree to get a move on. To add insult to injury, or rather injury to insult in this case, the sudden shout caused the girl to loose her footing as her body jolted in response to the hoarse noise, causing her to nearly fall to the ground. Luckily, nimble fingers caught themselves on a nearby branch before they swung Tessa's small persona back up onto it. Like a frightened cat, she "mewed" a quick apology to the Peacekeeper and issued a promise that it wouldn't happen again as she scampered to the uppermost tree appendages, looking down at him with something between fear and hate.

Her hands moved, grabbing and feeling for the ripe fruit that her District made their livelihood off of before cramming them tightly into a basket. The small girl moved with a surprising, squirrel-like agility, scampering from branch to branch, and eventually, tree to tree. The rate at which she moved was a bit surprising to anyone who hadn't watched her before - in truth, Tessa wanted to get through as many trees as she could before her mandatory break so she could get home sooner.

That break, however, was fast approaching. Slipping through the branches, Tessa swung off one and broke into a run towards the nearest long table. These tables were old and cracked, but they always had something a unique smell to them. Workers were ordered to leave their lunch here to make sure they weren't stealing anything and the Peacekeepers always went through them. As one could imagine, it wasn't wise to leave one's food out in the opening, so the small girl had devised a system in which to make sure her food remained safe. In one table that was rather old, boards were coming loose. Tessa sandwiched the skinny roots she always brought between the boards, guaranteeing that someone would actually have to be looking for food to find it, and even then, have small enough fingers to pry her food out.

Sure, it was a bit tacky, but one could never be too careful, especially if you lived inside of a shack like Tessa. Her "shack" was more or less a few "shacks" stuck together, but nonetheless, it wasn't the best standard of living. Luckily for Tessa, there was enough room around the house to have a small garden of herbs that she'd picked, gathered, and relocated throughout the years. After all, the roots she had brought had to come from somewhere.

Relocating herself to a serene, somewhat quiet meadow, Tessa watched with a small interest as people came and went. She'd actually seated herself rather close to another girl, this one a brunette, with at least a little money by the look of her, despite the gap in her teeth. Offering the girl (who would identify herself as Marisol later) a smile, Tessa lightly chewed on the tough root, downing it with a swig of water that came from an old, beat up thermos.