Chelseigh Avocs-Avox Done

I hurried along the busy streets of the capitol, my feet barely making a sound on the candy colored streets. Most people barely gave me a second glance because my tunic gave away the fact that I was an avox. I kept my head down and my dark hair fell in my face so that no one could see the hurt in my baby blue eyes. I shouldn't even be an avox I thought bitterly. Of course I couldn't speak aloud, the Capitol had taken that ability away from me when they'd cut out my tongue. I was 5 at the time. Hate filled my ten year old body but it wasn't the normal hate it was a bitter hatred that normally, kid my age didn't feel but I felt it because of what they'd done to me. I blocked out those thoughts because they wouldn't get me anywhere and continued on my way towards the store.

Your little eyelids
flutter cuz you're dreamin
so I tuck you in turn on your favorite night light

As I left the shop, I was met by a young gentleman in a strange costume. A sort of ring leader costume or something. Anyways he looked truly and utterly bizarre in that costume he was in. I flicked my blue gaze away from him and continued on my way. I was suddenly stopped by a hand on my shoulder and a deep voice. "Little girl, ever dreamed of joining the circus and being a star acrobatist, or maybe a tightrope walker?" I shook my head, trying to tell him I couldn't talk. "Well, my dear, have I got the proposition for you. You see, I'm starting a circus and I want young people like you to star in it. What do you say?" he asked. I opened my mouth and he caught his breath. "Goodness me child, you're an avox. Why didn't you say so in the first place?" he cried. I rolled my eyes. Umm.. Because I can't talk duh I thought in annoyance. I didn't like pushy people like this. The ringleader quickly left me there on the sidewalk as he walked oddly away. Okay, now I've seen everything I thought.

I quickened my pace to a steady jog. My master would surely be angry with me if I took much longer. He had been good to me and I had no reason to not show him the proper respect. He's going to be so mad at me I thought. I hated it when my master was angry. Suddenly, a small creature darted in front of my path and was nearly squished by a huge capitol car. I ran and scooped up the poor creature before it could be crushed and was almost run over in the process. The woman driving the car got out of the car and started yelling at me. "You stupid girl, you could get yourself killed. I should have just run you over. That would have taught you a lesson about stepping in front of me." She cried. I looked at my feet as she delivered an expected blow to my face with the back of her hand. The expensive rings on her hand scratched my skin but I did not flinch as most girls my age would. Instead I took the punishment she delivered without complaint knowing full well I deserved it. I just hadn't wanted to see the poor creature killed.

Once the woman drove off, I ran towards my masters home. As I had expected, he was impatient and had demanded of me why I was so late. Of course, I couldn't answer him. I just took the punishment he gave me in silence without making the gutteral cry most Avoxes are known to make. As soon as he finished, the mistress of the house came home. "Darling, you've hurt her. I'm sure she didn't mean it" his wife said in my defense. "If you want to train your avox right, you have to do it with a firm hand otherwise they won't listen to you" the master replied. I hated it when people talked about me right in front of me. I found it very rude. Ugh, I'm right here. Just because I don't have a tongue doesn't mean I don't have ears too. I thought in annoyance. "Chelseigh, dear, go up to your room and put some bandages on that." the misstress said kindly. I smiled at her a small smile that I did rarely anymore before bowing respectfully and hurrying up to my small room.

As I sat down on my tiny bed, images of what life used to be like for me back before I was caught with my mom flashed through my head. My mom had run off from District 11 after my father had died because she couldn't afford to make ends meet. I remember the day we were caught vividly. The sky was overcast, promising late spring rain and my mom and I were gathering berries in the berry patches near our camp. Suddenly my mom stopped and listened. When I stopped and listened very closely, I could hear the sounds of the hovercraft approaching us. "Run, Chels, and don't look back no matter what happens" my mom cried. I didn't have to be told twice. I booked it as fast as I could until suddenly, my mom let out a shrill, completely terrified shriek. I froze in place, a fatal mistake on my part. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted into the hovercraft and deposited on the hard floor. Some people in lab coats came over to see me and tried to comfort me but I screamed at them for my mommy. I remember one of them picking me up and bringing me to see her but she wasn't my mommy anymore. She was just a lifeless body. They'd killed her. It took a long time after that to get me calm again.

The first few days I was in the Capitol were so confusing. I guess the people high up were trying to decide what to do with me. Many people thought I should be adopted by a loving Capitol family and raised as one of them. Others thought I should be sent back to District 11. The people high up, however, thought that I was just as much responsible for the crimes as my mother was. and so I was avoxed. Now I'll never be able to talk again. Its not fair I thought. I was just a little girl at the time. It wasn't even my fault. I was just a victim of circumstances. I thought bitterly. The Capitol didn't care though. They just saw me as another criminal who'd broken the law and so i had to be punished. Oh what I would give to be able to speak again. Just once I thought wistfully. No use in dwelling over the past. I thought. I checked myself in the mirror again, trying to remember a last glimpse of my mother in myself before having to hurry downstairs to where a bell was chiming, calling me to work again. And so my life carries on.

OOC:Finally done!!!