District 11: Sadie Arborlinn

The name “Sadie” might make you think she is a depressed lunatic. The name simply comes from her mother, who was depressed at the time of the birth. You might think Sadie was depressed, considering she is silent when outside her home. Even inside it she is quiet, only taking a few moments here and there to tell her children something, or let her husband know she still loves him as much as ever. She is very modest without knowing it, but very blunt with her children when they are rude or misbehaving in some way. She herself has good manners, and simply wants her children to be as near perfect as can get, although it is impossible and rather a flaw to be that way.

Sadie isn’t very athletic. Most of it is probably because of her bad leg, as she tries her hardest to be just as helpful as everyone else when it comes to jobs. She can’t climb, run around, or stand for long periods of time without sitting down and resting. She hates being called lazy, but will just grit her teeth and try to keep going. She prefers staying home and doing at-home jobs instead of going out into the orchards or fields. She is skilled at sewing together clothes. She also has one little hidden talent, that she has a beautiful singing voice. She is a bit old for anything special nowadays, but for every one of her children she has a tune about them. A different rhythm and different lyrics for each. She is also very disorganized, often losing things. She is good at finding them, but could never be trusted to plan something, but if she was more organized she would be perfect for it. She is very intelligent.

Sadie loves her family, and treasures it more than anything else she could ever own. She would break if any one of them were reaped, heartbroken if any turned out sour. She had many, surrounding herself with people she could love. She has a bit of trouble showing it, though. Most of her “I love you”’s are stuck in her head.

Sadie was born to Tova Jorgensen as Sadie Jorgensen. Her mother was only 17, and her 18-year-old father, Ansgar Almer, ran away to the woods when he found out his girlfriend was pregnant. That made Sadie’s mother very sad, so she named her first (and only) child after it. Sadie would have no siblings. She grew up with a mother who was barely there, hardly taking care of her. When she turned six, the school found out and Sadie was sent to the Community Home.

Sadie made one good friend there, her name was Autumn. They were both almost exactly alike, both hardly ever talked, and both preffered to watch everyone play rather than play themselves. Autumn would help Sadie get around, and Sadie would help Autumn with her homework. It was a very well worked out relationship, and still to this day it has not ended.

On Sadie's tenth birthday one of the boys at her school, Miles, started teasing about what terrible parents she'd had, and how she had no family anymore. It made her bioling with anger, and she swore she'd have the largest family in District 11 when she got older. The way she'd said it sounded sincere, but no one thought she would do it. It would be such a large family to take care of!

For her first Reaping, Sadie dressed up pretty like all the other girls did, and walked with Autumn hand-in-hand to the square. Although she was shaking, she trusted there were enough names in there to prevent her from going in. Reaping one, success. Not reaped. Every year it happened, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. Not one boyfriend, so she survived the pain of a broken heart.

Then, one day at school when she was a mere sixteen, she met the person who would become the love of her life. It had started out with a mutual disliking of eachother, being he teased her. Eventually she knew him as a friend. He told her his name was Callum. After a while they both ended up with a crush on eachother, and the classic love story took place. One of his friends told her about it, which immediatly brought her to tell him. So they were boyfriend and girlfriend, what did it matter? It was highschool. everyone got a boyfriend in highschool. Autumn was convinced they'd break up within a few months. Every few months she'd reassure herself it wasn't serious. Sadie was her best friend, and had begun to pay her less and less attention.

On April 7th, Sadie's 17th birthday, she told Autumn she was pregnant. After that their relationship resumed to normal, but whenever she passed Callum she would kiss him and smile. She was holding onto him. She refused to be her own mother, although she didn't need to hold onto Callum like she did. He loved her just as much as she loved him. Everything seemed perfect, and they would get married as soon as they were old enough. Perfect never lasts, though. Only a month into the term came the miscarriage. It broke Sadie's heart, and she almost did become depressed, until Callum had her started up and pregnant again. Even with a new baby, she was still heart broken over the dead child. She even gave it a name, a name which could be for either gender, Riley. So she even loved a dead, unborn baby.

Only a week early, her first child, Bobby Jorgensen was born. Her depression over Riley was overrun by the joy her Bobby brought. The Community Home loathed housing the child, but the very second Sadie was eighteen she moved her and her baby out, married Callum, and recieved a house to live in. Things were perfect again! Although there was hunger, Callum worked hard in the orchards while Sadie stayed at home sewing clothes to sell. She played with Bobby, and tought him to walk. By age of two she thought him to be the sweetest baby she would ever see.

Of course, her promise to have the largest family in the District rang strong in her mind. When she asked Callum, she learned he was just fine with a large family. So she was pregnant again. They got arround to renaming bobby to have the lastname Arborlinn, such as Sadie and Callum then had during the seventh month. A day late, her precious baby girls Hickory Grace Arborlinn and Sommer Arborlinn were born into the family. Sadie loved seeing her son and daughter together, and started making up songs for them.

My Hickory Grace,
This is your place,
With your father and I,
In this home of great pine,
So be with me my child
Sleep softly and mild.

Sadie was twenty and loved by her husband and children. She thought it would always be perfect, and never stop. Although there were hard times, she never stopped loving her fmaily. Then Callum and her started quarelling over almost everything. From the fact Sadie stayed home all day, to why Callum wouldn't help with the twins. The shouting lasted a few months, until they realized they were fighting over nothing. That was when Sadie again became pregnant, and Annabeth Arborlinn came into the world. Every family has ups and downs, and they had gotten over their second family down, after baby Riley.

Bobby was now three almost four, the twins still one, almost two, and Annabeth was a few motnhs old. They were in a mutual time, when everything had a bump, but also smooth sides. Bobby was still a sweet little baby jealous of his sisters, the twins were beginning their terrible twos, and the new baby cried enough to drive Sadie insane. Still, she was on her way to having the big family she wanted. Four kids, all she loved dearly, and a wonderful husband she would die for. They barely got by, but wasn't it great to have a family to love you?

Two years later, when Sadie was 23, she became pregnant with a boy. Bobby seemed excited to have a brother, but all Sadie could think about was how much she loved the bump on her belly. The boy, who Callum had decided to name Pippin, seemed very active in the womb, and Sadie had a lot of pain while he was in there. He definently thought her bladder was a trampoline. Once he was born she was relieved, and joyful over being able to hug him and teach him. Playing with all the children was a lot of work, but Bobby was beginning to get older, and he was doing simple jobs for money.

Then, when Bobby turned seven, Sadie became pregnant yet again. The birth came three weeks early, but she was happy to see her little girl. Callum and her agreed to name the child Riley, after the miscarried baby. Riley lived a year. The family had had enough to eat, and things still seemed fine, when a peacekeeper knocked on the door and demanded every single bit of their food. No matter what they tried, even feeding the baby first, little Riley still died. That threw Sadie into so deep a depression she could be found crying every night. Even Callum couldn't comfort her. He had no idea how to make her happy. Had Riley died twice? no, it was an entirely different baby. Still, Sadie devoloped a fear and hatred of peacekeepers. She was like that untill Callum suggested trying again. Trying again?

At age 32, Sadie gave birth to a girl, Apricot Arborlinn. Sadie hung onto the baby for dear life, always holding her or teaching her to walk or talk. She saw Pippin loved drawing, and would hang the drawing everywhere around the house. Her children became her life, and is could almost be called an obsession. She decided she couldn't risk a miscarriage or death, so she took a break from babies. She watched Bobby grow up and become a nice young man. He was so sweet to his siblings. She giggled quietly at Hickory's personality, but still acted stern when it came to correcting her mistakes. She couldn't let her children grow up to rude, or anything like her father who had abandoned her the second a baby arrived.

Sommer was especially difficult, always messing up and being stupid. No matter what Sadie tried, Sommer seemed to not pick up. IT was also hard to keep Annabeth from being a copy-cat. "Be yourself," was what Sadie would say, but did it work? Where was this leading? Pippin was a nice boy, and had a nice talent with drawing. His comments always seemed right for the moment, and sometimes it would even make Sadie laugh. Apricot became a spoiled little brat, being Sadie hung onto her so much. The mother could be so easily manipulated by the young girl.

About two years ago, there was another miscarriage. This time Sadie had been through so much, she simply stopped smiling. Although she still entertained her little ones, she wouldn't tell them why she had stopped smiling. Even the older children had no idea. She wouldn't tell them. It was Callum and her's little secret, that Riley had "come back and died, yet again." Sadie started having trouble showing her children she still loved them, and hung onto Callum for dear life whenever she messed up. Although she still tried correcting her boys and girls, it became a bit more blunt and less explanatory.

Does she still love her family? Yes, she still loves Callum. She still loves her six children, Bobby, Hickory, Sommer, Annabeth, Pippin, and Apricot. She still loves Riley, and keeps her close in her heart.