Tobi Day | D1 | [Finished]

Personality

Hello and goodbye at the same time, since kids around here come and go like eye dirt. I’m in a suspension between calamity and normality; I’m sixteen. It’s tricky if you’re an optimist. The moment you think you are safe, come the reaping you are chosen and you become the latest goodbye.

I know - I should look on the bright side. People like me have privilege. I don’t have to work yet I choose to. It’s not a requirement that I eat only what I need, but I want to. I try to live my life with a sensibility that even cameras could be fooled by. Maybe, deep down, I know that it is just for the perception of others that I act with generosity and kindness. It might be an elaborate ruse to consume the high ground when in the company of social heroes, but no; I’m still young, and I don’t have the time to act out of anything but.

I have few friends out of choice - Do you ever walk through the market and find it too noisy? I feel that when I’m with too many friends. Too many people to please and far too many opinions to concentrate on. I could spend hours debating amongst myself the five W’s and how what people say to me can apply to them. Among these worries I’ve always found that having a few good mates can go a long way. I seek the quieter people and let it be my strength. I can be a spark among embers and still feel like a flame.

Appearance

The days start with a clawing at my neck until it seems clean. Some products get plugged into my hair and a dash of Dad’s cologne on my chest. Sometimes I get Mum’s if she leaves it out. I always prefer to smell like flowers if I get the chance. I told you I live a good life, but I still limit myself to a single spritz and a handful of clay. I like to think I represent the ‘everything in moderation’ movement. A little bit of colour goes a long way but it’s wasted on a backboard of the same shade. It’s important to me to at least try to resemble the district that I’m a part of, even if it means indulging in the lifestyle a bit more than my morals let me. Let me smell like a daisy and look like a rose but I will always talk like a grasshopper among them.

I'm a silver-eyed brunette with pointy ears, a thick nose and a sour face most of the time.

If you can’t already tell I work in my parent’s shop. It’s the kind of place where people walk in looking like a District Twelve tribute and exit in league with the Capitol itself. There’s a hairdressing station with a range of razors, clippers and scissors. A makeup section for a range of different uses and products to purchase and then a few clothing rails full of Mum’s custom range. She isn’t the next-big-stylist by any stretch, but it makes some money on the side. I’m modest so I am morally obliged to decline any comment on how I look - Mum says I’m a bonnie-lad with nothing to worry about.

History

Mum and Dad have names, I promise, but I don’t get to use them very often. It’s those names that aren’t naturally spoken but forced when you’re trying to make a point. Ruby and Thane tend to be typical names around the district so it comes as no surprise when I mention them that way. Mum has a caring disposition underneath the glamour and the glitz. I always refer to her nose as a fish hook and it grinds her gears. Dad has what I have - or rather, I have what he does - a broadness from a teenage career phase. Visible strength but a fair face. Soft features yet generally looks stressed all of the time. I’m still talking about Dad but the same goes for me.

I mentioned his time as a career because the day I turned twelve he started to make visits to my room every day. He made an extra effort to light a fire beneath me, warning me of the dangers, telling me how it was and is. It was a kindness to begin with, but eventually it became his obsession to see me safe and sound. Good old Thane Day would make sure I attended the training grounds at least three times a week; On a Reaping month I would be in every single day. It was excruciating considering that I am by far the least combative type, but eventually, there was a passion within that awoke because I started to enjoy it.

Naturally, the moment I began to enjoy it, I lashed out at Dad for pushing me there in the first place.

I was young, and I still am. I don’t have to train for the Hunger Games but I do it for him. I don’t need to work in the shop but I do it for Mum. Soon, I’m going to need to start doing things for myself.

Tobi Day has definitely done a lot of growing since then. Everything changes with time, so whatever scars were crafted back in the day have healed. Like I say, I have lived a life of privilege. I have an inkling that there are people elsewhere living in a worse condition, but I can’t help but feel lost at the idea of helping them. There is nothing I can do. The only thing I can do now is enjoy what I have been given, to build a life in this district and retain my family’s little legacy in our small shop of the world.

Only you can
See the emptiness I
Feel when you're with me