changes [mayor rosemary, 90th]

I suppose I was a bit surprised that I'd won the election. People actually liked me: I got the popular vote. People even liked the posters I'd designed enough to give it an art award. Now that was surprising. I'd never been very artistically inclined, but I'd made them myself, and people actually liked them. The original was truly just a paper and photo collage I'd pieced together and gotten photo copied to put up around the District.

Getting things photo copied in District Twelve can take a toll on your funds, I realized.
Luckily, it was all worth it. Today, Caroline and I would move into the mayor's house in Twelve, where Jaime Laws had been living for several years prior. We'd be here for at least five years, but I was hoping for longer. I wasn't just doing this whole mayor thing to help the District, I hated to admit. Part of it was admittedly to help my daughter. Caroline and I were barely getting by. We needed the help, and this was one way to get it.

Of course, my major goal in it all truly was to help the District. With Jaime Laws not running for re-election, I saw my opportunity. I knew if he wasn't there, we needed someone else that would do some good for the District like he had, so I chose myself to give it a shot. Now I just had to get moving with the changes I was trying to make.

Jaime had done a great job with what he did during his time in office, don’t get me wrong. There were just some things that I felt were missed, so I was going to do my best to implement them. I was going to bring the community together a bit more, and help those who really needed it. I understood what it was like to live with almost nothing to support myself and my family, and I knew no one should have to live that way. So, I’d do what I could to help the citizens of District Twelve out.

Moving into the house, I realized that it was significantly bigger than I expected: it certainly had much more space than I needed, but I wouldn’t be filing any complaints, that’s for sure. Caroline would be able to have her own room now, rather than sharing a room with me. She always had her own bed in out previous home, but it was quite small and just shoved in the corner of my own bedroom, since we didn’t have any other rooms in the house that were suited for her to sleep in or call her own.

I set up Caroline’s room, and although we didn’t have much to make it feel homey, such as decorations or anything, she lit up with joy when she realized it was all hers. All that was in her room was a bed, neatly made with her teddy bear resting on the pillow, a dresser partway filled with the small amount of clothing she had, and a floor lamp that contained a weak bulb that was barely holding on, but she was quite happy with it. I told her we’d get her more things as soon as I could afford it for her.

My own bedroom was simple as well. I had my own bed in the room and my dresser sat across from it. On top of the dresser were a few little trinkets I’d collected and kept over the years: Sage’s bracelet he’d taken into the arena as a token, a small notebook that I liked to jot down ideas in when I thought of them, along with a pen to do so with, a picture frame with a photo of Caroline and I, a rather hefty book about plants that had some pressed flowers in the front of it, and a little statuette of a cat that had belonged to my mother. Apparently, she kept it for luck, but I don’t think it had done her or any of us much good. I’m honestly not sure why I still hold onto it, as it seems to do the opposite of what it’s meant to. Perhaps I’m just a bit more sentimental than I’d like to be sometimes.

After everything was set up in both of our bedrooms, I cooked dinner for Caroline and I. It was the first time I’d ever used an electric stove (our one back in the other home was run by gas) but it wasn’t hard to figure out. I made us some grilled cheese sandwiches, as I didn’t have a whole lot else in the way of food quite yet, but I knew we’d be better off soon. Once I started making some positive changes for the District, I could make some positive changes for Caroline and I, too.

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