Zachary Prank | District 7 | WIP

As my pen hopped effortlessly across the page, the white paper quickly colored with fantasies. No one will read them, but I still write them the best I can. I think it's good to believe in a perfect love story, where two people live their whole lives on a carefully set plan to find each other so they can live happily ever after. Unfortunately, those don't exist in the real world. No two people are entirely compatible, but yet everyone envisions that they have 'the one' our there waiting for them. It's a false hope that even I hold dearly to my heart, and that's why I write these stories. They're a dream. 

You see, growing up I didn't spend a lot of time at home. They're just so many kids, and it's ever growing. It was easier to write off somewhere else, away from my family. It took me a while to realize that if I separate myself from them, I can pretend not to be them. I can be someone different every day. I like to collect all kinds of different clothes so I can pretend. I'll wear my fanciest clothes when I want to seem important, and ripped jeans when I want to be a beggar.

I make it an effort to meet at least one new person every day. I prey on people like me, young and seeking for a future. Together we spend the day, living out a novel. We ignore responsibility, run off into the woods, fall in love. I become the person they want to love forever. We end the day by watching nightfall between the trees, the perfect way to set any good mood. We start to say goodbyes and I kiss them, passionately. We lose track of time, and it's not until they're putting their clothes back on that they realize what happened. I promise them a tomorrow, and I avoid them forever. 

What's it like to be a prank? Embarrassing. For starters, there are just so many of us. Mom and dad make two, three sets of triplets, two sets of twins, and Galley. Oh, and let's not forget the cousins. That brings us to twenty. I'm a part of the oldest set of triplets with Zeus and Zecora. But they're older than me. 

You know, my family has a reputation for being... quirky. People are scared of us. No one wants to be associated with us, and that's the biggest reason I hate the cards I was dealt. I long to be a part of something more than my siblings. I want a fresh start, with new people. 

That's why I cherish every moment I've had as someone else. When I convince a person I'm something else, I feel accepted, and mysterious, and welcomed with a curiosity to learn more about me. It's an acceptance I don't get at school, or even from my parents. My father doesn't like to talk to us, my mother can't tell me from Zeus, and my siblings wouldn't understand. You'd think with nineteen other people in the house, I could feel loved by someone. But no one is ever home.