lee cignus // D5 // fin

district five
fifteen
female

Mother sewed Lee's name onto the backs of all of her shirts. She often left them lying around. She once left her knit sweater lying on a bench in the square, and an old man knocked on their door to return it. She found that most days she woke in the morning shivering, and by lunch she was sweating. It just so happened that Lee had a forgetful tendency, and her clothing was the innocent victim. It was always an accident, of course. She'd never purposely leave her shirts behind. Lee would stand in the doorframe each morning as her mother put her hands on the sides of Lee's long face, and tell her, "Now don't you forget today." And when Mother closed the door behind her, Lee would roll her eyes. Yet, without fail, Lee would forget.

Later, on her way home, she'd round the corner to her street, and realize her garment was missing and sprint back to wherever it was she left it. She imagined that she looked like a graceful deer, bounding down the streets. In reality, she looked more like a baby moose. Her legs were far too long, and bowed; they swung out in front of her with a cringing awkwardness. When she finally returned home, her alabaster cheeks would be flushed, and Mother would be sitting in her chair, shaking her head.

***

Father was a maintenance man. He worked in a power plant on the closer edge of town. There, he did everything from repairing high-tech machines that provided Panem with its electricity, to replacing the lightbulbs in the janitor closet. He passed on his invisible eyebrows to his daughter; they also didn't have eyelashes. They did, but you could only see them if the sun's light hit them at just the right angle. In particular lighting, they're fair features looked elegant and beautifully deviant. In other environments, they seemed ailing and grotesque. Lee always thought it was ludicrous that when she furrowed her brow, it appeared only skin went down with her expression, not hair.

***

Lil had always been the serious one. Lil would be the one who cried after they fought, and was very focused on everything she did. She was only two years older than Lee, but insisted that Lil was the boss. When Lil tried to control her sister, Lee would stick out her tongue and run away before Lil had the chance to get irate. Lee grew out of that habit, but Lil didn't. Instead, when Lil attempted to take command, Lee would completely ignore her. If Lil told her to put the laundry on the line, Lee would continue whatever it was she was doing, and pretend she didn't even know Lil was there. Lil would get so enraged that she'd hit Lee on the back of the head, and Lee would snort with laughter.

Lee would blame Lil whenever something happened, regardless of if Mother and Father would believe her. If someone neglected to turn off the lights when they left the room, Lil did it. If someone passed gas at the dinner table, Lil did it. Lil would tell her younger sister that Lee should keep her squinty, grey eyes on the ground and know where she belonged. Lil thought she ought to be the 'good' daughter. Lee thought Lil ought to take her head out of her rear-end.

***

Lee found books to be painfully dull. Many of the district children that she knew were delighted by reading, because 'it was all they had to do around here.' Lee found that those who considered the district uninteresting, were very mundane people themselves. It was Lee's philosophy that if you were ever bored, you were boring. There were so many stimulating experiences to be had; why spend hours reading someone else's stories when there were opportunities to create some of your own? Words would never explain how it felt to break a rule, or jump out of a tree. At least Lee had never read any words that could accurately illustrate those sentiments for her.

***

The boys at school would call Lee a 'willow.' Her limbs were lanky like spindles, and her shoulders were stooped like a tree. Her hair and complexion even matched the fluffy white buds that would appear on the branches in the spring. Lee was towering like a willow too, standing taller than all the girls in her classes. She would even be taller than some boys, but they would never let her compare. They preferred not to subject themselves to Lee's playful teasing.

The dancers that she saw on the television were tall and slim like Lee, but she knew she would never be that balletic and nimble. Besides, combing her hair and putting on a ridiculous outfit for all of Panem to see didn't seem very fun to Lee. The thought of herself on a stage, dancing, would make sure she didn't stop laughing.

***

Father would always bring home enough. He made money so his family wasn't hungry. They were acutely middle class, but finances would never seem to be a topic of discussion. Sometimes Mother would do paperwork for a shop in the square, because, "she had the education." As far as Lee knew, Mother had completed just as much schooling as the next person in the district. But she never questioned it, just in case the shop owner didn't know that.

Lee never noticed the air pollution in the district, until someone would point it out. Her street, lined with houses, had handfuls of shrubbery; the acidic fog that hung around the street-lights was just another component of the environment. Someone would mention how the air occasionally burned to breathe, and Lee would be taken aback at how she had never made that observation. All though, it was quite common that Lee would miss something; she considered herself to seriously lack perception.

***

Lee had always been social. She liked people who liked her back. She made acquaintances easily by making them laugh. She wouldn't be able to count her friends on all her fingers and toes. But she also wouldn't be able to count a single person who she'd call her best friend; except perhaps Lil, but they could barely stand each other's presence. Lee would always wonder what it was like to become so close with another person that she'd tell them all of her secrets. The thought of that dependence made Lee hesitant to even try and find a best friend. She enjoyed camaraderie, but savoured variability among those she spent her time with. One, single friend seemed monotonous and tiresome.