Saul Hauger D4 {fin}

Name: Saul Hauger

Age: 15

Gender: M

District: 4

It wasn’t easy to live in District 4 after the tsunami ravaged the place. Luckily for the Hauger family, they did not suffer any loss of life, a benefit of living further inland than most of the district’s residents. Nevertheless, they felt the impact of the catastrophe, as Mr. and Mrs. Hauger lost coworkers and the four children felt their class sizes diminish ever so slightly. Their prize boat, often used to make the catches that paid their bills, was now a wreck on the shores of the beach, completely beyond repair.

Lacking the funds to purchase another boat of the same capacity, the Hauger family had to scale back its operations. Sensing his family’s need, the eldest son began working as much as he could to support his siblings. He was now 18, and still had to attend school as a result, but he balanced the two responsibilities so that his family would not go hungry.

Saul was only a few years younger, but up until recently he had not been able to do much to provide for the family. He had relied on his parents and older brother to do the work while he would fool around. His favorite pastimes included trying to catch fish with his bare hands while standing waist deep in water, timing himself to see how long he could hold his breath, and charming the girls of the district with his underwater aerobic skills. For some reason, he found that they enjoyed seeing him do handstands and watching him walk on his hands, even though he knew doing so in the water was much easier than doing so on air.

Besides, while doing a handstand his face was hidden from view. While submerged, nobody could see the eyes which mirrored the color of the earth, nor could they gaze at the smile that reached those very eyes. Although fifteen, Saul still had his boyish looks, as his face had not yet started to harden and sharpen. The beginnings of maturity were there, but he preferred his young appearance.

In reality, the girls were impressed with his face, but even more so with his body. Saul was built like a fisherman, a byproduct of spending so much time in the water chasing after fish. The sun had darkened his skin only slightly, surprisingly, but his originally brown hair was now bleached to the point where it was practically blonde. He spent so much time swimming and catching fish that his muscles were already admirable, particularly his rock hard abs. Although muscular, however, Saul was by no means bulky, and he retained his lean swimmer’s figure. Coupled with his 5’ 7” height, he was quite a sight to behold.

Yet although Saul loved fooling around, in the water and with the opposite sex, often mixing the two interests, he had recently started to reprioritize. Saul had always cared about his family, but up until this year, he’d been too concerned with fooling off to ever do anything to help. Now, at 15, he was beginning to mature and he was finally in a position to actually help out. He admired his brother for going out of his way to help the family, and at this point, he was starting to look for ways to join him in that capacity.

Although much too young to actually take on a paying job, Saul found a way to mix his love for the water with the desire to help out his family. He started to help out his parents by handing over any fish he caught. It wasn’t much, but in the tough times his family now faced, every little bit helped. His natural skill at the act was certainly appreciated by his parents, who were happy to finally see Saul starting to make the transition from boy to man.

However, as much as Saul loved his parents, he wasn’t doing it for them. More than anyone else, he was trying to make life easier for his twin little siblings. The two were conjoined at the shoulder, so that from a distance, they appeared to be one person with two heads, when in reality, they had very separate personalities. Only those who knew them well could tell, though, for neither one could speak very well. They each spoke in jumbled clusters of words, making it appear to others as if they had the mental capacity of children years younger than them, even though they were only three years younger than Saul.

Despite their condition, maybe even because of it, Sault wanted to make sure that they could live comfortably. They needed someone who could provide for them and make their difficult life just a little bit easier, and Saul wanted to be that person. While the rest of the family focused on the whole household, he thought specifically of them every time he handed over another fish to his parents.

Just as his brother was Saul’s inspiration, Saul hoped he could be the twins’.


Word Count: 844