Franklin Dalton - District 11
Feb 28, 2015 14:20:31 GMT -5
Post by Will on Feb 28, 2015 14:20:31 GMT -5
Name: Franklin Dalton
Age: 12
Gender: Male
District/Area: District 11
I stand there in the field, looking out over the golden grass. It seems to stretch on forever and ever. It's so gorgeous. Especially how it isn't interrupted by any mountains or buildings. I love coming out here as the sun sets, slowly descending until it disappears under the tall crops. Slowly, as the sun descends, it makes my already dark skin, even darker. I love watching the transition. From brown, to dark brown, to black. Black comes when the night does. It even turns the white people black. It envelops everything and it scares me so badly.
Once the sun has set, I decide to walk around. I love walking around. It satisfies my curiosity. "You're a very curious little boy," my mother always tells me. I'm not sure what to make of it. She tells me that someday it will get me into trouble. I guess you can say it already has. Staying out late like this is dangerous in District Eleven. Especially for twelve year olds. Peacekeepers hate kids. Rumor has it that they get the worst beatings. I know exactly what those beatings feel like. One time a Peacekeeper actually caught me out here. He flogged me and flogged me until I couldn't feel any part of my body, there was just blood running down the gashes in my shirt, tears clouding my eyes so thickly I couldn't see anything except blurs of colors.
It was a truly scarring experience. Both figuratively and literally. I have scars all over my body from that time. That time that scares me to the core. But now I am too paranoid to trust anyone. I'm too paranoid that someone will catch me doing something that I'm not supposed to do. I never think I'm doing anything wrong, but I always feel like a Peacekeeper will think I'm doing something criminal. To this day, I don't know who the Peacekeeper that flogged me is, and every day I look out at the fields, walk by Peacekeepers, trying to see if I can get a reaction out of one. I must know who beat me. Who thought they were good enough to hurt me so?
But he inspired me. He inspired me as well to become a Peacekeeper. I've only told my family of this dream, because I know exactly how everyone will react. At the very least they'll shut me out of the entire culture of District Eleven. At the very worst, they'll all kill me. Plus, why would I think I'm even qualified to be a Peacekeeper? How could I with this tiny little frame I have? With the thin bones and the receding stomach, the shaved head, the arms that barely even have muscle on them? How could I possibly think a Peacekeeper would have that build?
Good question. I don't think they're built like that. I think they have six packs. I think they have pectoral muscles, biceps, triceps, and every single muscle you could possibly have. I think they're in the best physical condition of anyone alive. I want that. I want to be well fed and strong and powerful. I just so badly want to have a life better than this one.
Better than living in fear of Peacekeepers. Better than being forced to go into the orchards and the fields everyday, spending from sunrise to sunset in the hot weather. Performing grueling work all day, and not even profiting from it. My mom, my sister, my whole family works. We all work as hard as we can and we can barely keep up with the payments. We do have a big house, though. I guess that's good. We do have a big house, but we only use a tiny part of it. If we didn't have such a big house, maybe we would be richer. Maybe we could buy more food and things to keep ourselves happy. Maybe we wouldn't be starving and stealing and wallowing in ourselves.
So how could I want to be a Peacekeeper? I want to be a Peacekeeper because I would be a fair Peacekeeper. I wouldn't flog, I wouldn't whip, I wouldn't beat. I especially wouldn't kill. I would scold. I would tell them no. And if need be, I would use force. The district would love me. They would all love me. I would become the Head Peacekeeper and everyone everywhere would love me because I would change the way that Peacekeepers interact with the district citizens. Or at least the citizens of District Eleven.
"You're so ambitious, Franklin!" That's what Momma always told me. She always told me, and she still does tell me, that I'm so ambitious. I've always been ambitious.
I've always been thinking of ways to collect the apples faster. I actually did think of a way. Instead of climbing from branch to branch, being careful with the basket, you swing to the next branch, with the basket over one arm. It always works. I've never fallen. It's fun and it's fast. And it gets us more money. Too bad nobody else knows how to do it. Too bad I'm the only one who's ambitious enough to do it. I'm ambitious enough to want to be the only Peacekeeper to ever come from District Eleven.
I tried asking a Peacekeeper about it one time. He just laughed at me. I thought I was being ambitious, that's what Momma told me it was. But he just laughed. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed. I was hurt. I'm a sensitive boy. I don't like when people don't like me. I don't like when people are mean to me. That Peacekeeper never even gave me an answer. I thought I deserved an answer. I thought I deserved an answer for working up the courage to ask him. But I guess we don't always get what we think we deserve, do we? I have nothing that I think I deserve.
Codeword: oDair
Other:
Face Claim Idea: Tyrel Jackson Willams
Plot Link
Age: 12
Gender: Male
District/Area: District 11
I stand there in the field, looking out over the golden grass. It seems to stretch on forever and ever. It's so gorgeous. Especially how it isn't interrupted by any mountains or buildings. I love coming out here as the sun sets, slowly descending until it disappears under the tall crops. Slowly, as the sun descends, it makes my already dark skin, even darker. I love watching the transition. From brown, to dark brown, to black. Black comes when the night does. It even turns the white people black. It envelops everything and it scares me so badly.
Once the sun has set, I decide to walk around. I love walking around. It satisfies my curiosity. "You're a very curious little boy," my mother always tells me. I'm not sure what to make of it. She tells me that someday it will get me into trouble. I guess you can say it already has. Staying out late like this is dangerous in District Eleven. Especially for twelve year olds. Peacekeepers hate kids. Rumor has it that they get the worst beatings. I know exactly what those beatings feel like. One time a Peacekeeper actually caught me out here. He flogged me and flogged me until I couldn't feel any part of my body, there was just blood running down the gashes in my shirt, tears clouding my eyes so thickly I couldn't see anything except blurs of colors.
It was a truly scarring experience. Both figuratively and literally. I have scars all over my body from that time. That time that scares me to the core. But now I am too paranoid to trust anyone. I'm too paranoid that someone will catch me doing something that I'm not supposed to do. I never think I'm doing anything wrong, but I always feel like a Peacekeeper will think I'm doing something criminal. To this day, I don't know who the Peacekeeper that flogged me is, and every day I look out at the fields, walk by Peacekeepers, trying to see if I can get a reaction out of one. I must know who beat me. Who thought they were good enough to hurt me so?
But he inspired me. He inspired me as well to become a Peacekeeper. I've only told my family of this dream, because I know exactly how everyone will react. At the very least they'll shut me out of the entire culture of District Eleven. At the very worst, they'll all kill me. Plus, why would I think I'm even qualified to be a Peacekeeper? How could I with this tiny little frame I have? With the thin bones and the receding stomach, the shaved head, the arms that barely even have muscle on them? How could I possibly think a Peacekeeper would have that build?
Good question. I don't think they're built like that. I think they have six packs. I think they have pectoral muscles, biceps, triceps, and every single muscle you could possibly have. I think they're in the best physical condition of anyone alive. I want that. I want to be well fed and strong and powerful. I just so badly want to have a life better than this one.
Better than living in fear of Peacekeepers. Better than being forced to go into the orchards and the fields everyday, spending from sunrise to sunset in the hot weather. Performing grueling work all day, and not even profiting from it. My mom, my sister, my whole family works. We all work as hard as we can and we can barely keep up with the payments. We do have a big house, though. I guess that's good. We do have a big house, but we only use a tiny part of it. If we didn't have such a big house, maybe we would be richer. Maybe we could buy more food and things to keep ourselves happy. Maybe we wouldn't be starving and stealing and wallowing in ourselves.
So how could I want to be a Peacekeeper? I want to be a Peacekeeper because I would be a fair Peacekeeper. I wouldn't flog, I wouldn't whip, I wouldn't beat. I especially wouldn't kill. I would scold. I would tell them no. And if need be, I would use force. The district would love me. They would all love me. I would become the Head Peacekeeper and everyone everywhere would love me because I would change the way that Peacekeepers interact with the district citizens. Or at least the citizens of District Eleven.
"You're so ambitious, Franklin!" That's what Momma always told me. She always told me, and she still does tell me, that I'm so ambitious. I've always been ambitious.
I've always been thinking of ways to collect the apples faster. I actually did think of a way. Instead of climbing from branch to branch, being careful with the basket, you swing to the next branch, with the basket over one arm. It always works. I've never fallen. It's fun and it's fast. And it gets us more money. Too bad nobody else knows how to do it. Too bad I'm the only one who's ambitious enough to do it. I'm ambitious enough to want to be the only Peacekeeper to ever come from District Eleven.
I tried asking a Peacekeeper about it one time. He just laughed at me. I thought I was being ambitious, that's what Momma told me it was. But he just laughed. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed. I was hurt. I'm a sensitive boy. I don't like when people don't like me. I don't like when people are mean to me. That Peacekeeper never even gave me an answer. I thought I deserved an answer. I thought I deserved an answer for working up the courage to ask him. But I guess we don't always get what we think we deserve, do we? I have nothing that I think I deserve.
Codeword: oDair
Other:
Face Claim Idea: Tyrel Jackson Willams
Plot Link
