a crown for a king ♚ atticus + esther ♚ victory tour
Apr 18, 2016 18:57:25 GMT -5
Post by ali on Apr 18, 2016 18:57:25 GMT -5
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Esther Carter
"There was a time when I was alone. Nowhere to go and no place to call home. My only friend was the man in the moon"
Her green eyes dart to the clock in the corner, its methodical ticking beggining to slow get on her nerves. She grits her teeth, yes narrowing as the hand moves again, another tick as another second passes; she lets out a frustrated sigh as she waits, almost in anticipation to see if the clock had turns again, allowing another second to pass by. Of course, the hand moves, another tick causing her brow to furrow and her eyes to move back to her work.
She'd been doing her best to blockout the repative sound of the old clock which hung on the wall across from her desk. Esther disliked clocks in general, they were hypnotic and a reminder that time passed even when you were not watching it but this clock was not on time. In fact it was slow, by at least 42 minutes and now matter how many times Mr Bumble changed the clock, it would always reduce the time to exactly 42 minutes behind what it was supposed to be.
This fact frustrated her but she knew nothing could be done. Mr Bumble had tried to get it fixed before, but the clock was slowly dying, becoming useless. Sooner or later, Mr Bumble would have to replace it but the man was going blind on top of being absolutely raving mad; he had no time to keep the clock working, not with his hat shop barely afloat in perhaps the poorest District this side of the mountains. Compared to 1 and 2, Three's affluence barely stretched to fill the bellies of the 18,000 people- "17,999..."- Esther reminded herself, remembering that three had one soul less now.
Danny Brooker. A girl who had been her age when death had snapped her up from the arena- a second- a passing glimpse of life in the strange world Esther found herself in. She had been reaped a little over a month ago and a little over a week ago, she had come home in a box. Esther hadn't cried when Danny Brooker had died on Day 8, but she heard her mother sobbing. Her mother always cried, always. Without a shadow of a doubt, Esther would find her mother later on with tear stained cheeks, after having poured her heart out into the booze that left her slumped against the wall outside their little house.
Right now though, Esther didn't want to think about those things. Her attention was yearning to be souly focused on the hat in front of her. Unlike most of the hats she made, this one was special. She had slaved over it for days, her reddened fingers working hard to make sure the felt was smooth and the corners of the top were at the perfect angle. She'd watched it sit on a hat stand for days on end, waiting for the fabric to set correctly so it wouldn't be bent or damaged during the decoration process. The redhead had fallen asleep at her desk, curled up beneath it, waiting for the hat to be ready for sealing. Now, she was just putting a golden ribben around its base, finishing off the top hat with the splendor it needed to be worthy of Atticus Manor.
Atticus Manor had won the games. The quiet meek boy that Esther had sometimes seen around school, his face was barely visible now as she tried to sift through early memories of him, before he became another face on a TV screen, had won the 72nd Annual Hunger Games. If Esther concentrated hard enough, she could pin point the moment it happened, the moment the canon sounded and the whole District Square erupted into cheers. It was a rare occurence that Three could celebrate such a thing, most of the time, by the end of the games, the Square was all but empty. It was rare that their tributes lived beyond the first few days, and yet bother Atticus and Danny had made it to the final four and now the boy was coming home to enjoy the victory tour celebrations.
Wiping her brow of the sweat that dripped there, Esther leant back in her chair as her lip twitched into a soft smile, pleased with the hat that lay before her. A maroon top hat to be exact, made of the best felt that she could get her hands on with a golden ribbon delicately adorning its base, finishing off the grandour of the hat. Weeks of hard work had finally paid off and the present was finished, the fact of which elicted a sigh of relief from her chest; recently the shaking which plagued her hands so frequently had grown worse and it was slowly getting trickier to perfect her hats, much to her frustration, and she'd been worried she'd not be able to finish on time.
Glancing down at her trembling fingers, the firey haired girl shook her head, dismissing the shaking all together as she spoke softly to herself "Splendid work Esther...now to get ready for the party" She smiled at the prospect of all the music and dancing and the star lights that would fill the town square as she pushed out from her desk and disapeared into the back to get into the dress she had bought specially for today.
She'd been doing her best to blockout the repative sound of the old clock which hung on the wall across from her desk. Esther disliked clocks in general, they were hypnotic and a reminder that time passed even when you were not watching it but this clock was not on time. In fact it was slow, by at least 42 minutes and now matter how many times Mr Bumble changed the clock, it would always reduce the time to exactly 42 minutes behind what it was supposed to be.
This fact frustrated her but she knew nothing could be done. Mr Bumble had tried to get it fixed before, but the clock was slowly dying, becoming useless. Sooner or later, Mr Bumble would have to replace it but the man was going blind on top of being absolutely raving mad; he had no time to keep the clock working, not with his hat shop barely afloat in perhaps the poorest District this side of the mountains. Compared to 1 and 2, Three's affluence barely stretched to fill the bellies of the 18,000 people- "17,999..."- Esther reminded herself, remembering that three had one soul less now.
Danny Brooker. A girl who had been her age when death had snapped her up from the arena- a second- a passing glimpse of life in the strange world Esther found herself in. She had been reaped a little over a month ago and a little over a week ago, she had come home in a box. Esther hadn't cried when Danny Brooker had died on Day 8, but she heard her mother sobbing. Her mother always cried, always. Without a shadow of a doubt, Esther would find her mother later on with tear stained cheeks, after having poured her heart out into the booze that left her slumped against the wall outside their little house.
Right now though, Esther didn't want to think about those things. Her attention was yearning to be souly focused on the hat in front of her. Unlike most of the hats she made, this one was special. She had slaved over it for days, her reddened fingers working hard to make sure the felt was smooth and the corners of the top were at the perfect angle. She'd watched it sit on a hat stand for days on end, waiting for the fabric to set correctly so it wouldn't be bent or damaged during the decoration process. The redhead had fallen asleep at her desk, curled up beneath it, waiting for the hat to be ready for sealing. Now, she was just putting a golden ribben around its base, finishing off the top hat with the splendor it needed to be worthy of Atticus Manor.
Atticus Manor had won the games. The quiet meek boy that Esther had sometimes seen around school, his face was barely visible now as she tried to sift through early memories of him, before he became another face on a TV screen, had won the 72nd Annual Hunger Games. If Esther concentrated hard enough, she could pin point the moment it happened, the moment the canon sounded and the whole District Square erupted into cheers. It was a rare occurence that Three could celebrate such a thing, most of the time, by the end of the games, the Square was all but empty. It was rare that their tributes lived beyond the first few days, and yet bother Atticus and Danny had made it to the final four and now the boy was coming home to enjoy the victory tour celebrations.
Wiping her brow of the sweat that dripped there, Esther leant back in her chair as her lip twitched into a soft smile, pleased with the hat that lay before her. A maroon top hat to be exact, made of the best felt that she could get her hands on with a golden ribbon delicately adorning its base, finishing off the grandour of the hat. Weeks of hard work had finally paid off and the present was finished, the fact of which elicted a sigh of relief from her chest; recently the shaking which plagued her hands so frequently had grown worse and it was slowly getting trickier to perfect her hats, much to her frustration, and she'd been worried she'd not be able to finish on time.
Glancing down at her trembling fingers, the firey haired girl shook her head, dismissing the shaking all together as she spoke softly to herself "Splendid work Esther...now to get ready for the party" She smiled at the prospect of all the music and dancing and the star lights that would fill the town square as she pushed out from her desk and disapeared into the back to get into the dress she had bought specially for today.
-
With Atticus's top hat neatly placed into a box which was tucked beneath her arm, Esther closed the shop door behind her as the sound of soft gentle string music filled the air. Glancing down the narrow street she stood in, she could see the soft and gentle golden glow of the town square, where undoubtedly long lines of tables would be set up and hundreds of people would be gathering to enjoy the one night of the year they could eat like kings. As people passed by the red head on their way towards the festivites, the girl wondered what it'd be like to meet a victor and as her mind dwelled on the thought, she became progressively more nervous.
Her hand shook more as she began to pace up and down the street, debating with herself whether to go or to leave the hat at the foot of his door but the Victors Village was miles away and it'd take over an hour to walk there and then perhaps two more to walk home and by that time it would be really late so then the girl began to consider leaving the hat inside the shop all together and just going home because the prospect at hand was almost crippling. Her eyes glanced to a group of students, laughing to themselves as they hurried quickly towards the party, their cackles of mirth caused Esther to jump slightly.
"Well...I guess there's always next time..." Esther mumbled to herself, turning to walk in the oppisote direction of the party. She continued for a few paces before shaking her head, deciding to turn around and head towards the lights and the laughter which drifted over the warm spring evening. "No...I can do this. I spent ages working on this hat! Can't let it go to waste or..."
Her open ramblings cut off as she entered the square, the bustle of people causing her eyes to widen. People were smiling, clinking glasses, drinking and talking with general merriment as they filled their bellies with food that many hadn't seen in months. The light and noise caused the girl to shrink, clutching the box tightly to her chest and she ducked her head down and hurried through the crowd as quickly as she could, only occasionally glancing up to see if she could see Atticus.
It didn't take long to find him. Out of the 100 tables or so, set out in long rows, the one that sat ontop the stage where the reaping had once been held was the obvious choice for the victor. Many of the seats were already filled with family and the mayor's family too but Atticus sat almost center stage, all by himself. The sight made the red head frown hard; he didn't look very happy and so the girl was now certain that her gift would cheer him up. Brushing hair from her face, she hurried up the stairs of the stage, ignoring the strange look of the peacekeepr who stood watch; Esther almost hesitated, waiting for the guard to stop her but when he didn't she continued until she found herself beside Atticus, sitting on the chair beside him and plopping the box down in front of her on the table.
Her hand shook more as she began to pace up and down the street, debating with herself whether to go or to leave the hat at the foot of his door but the Victors Village was miles away and it'd take over an hour to walk there and then perhaps two more to walk home and by that time it would be really late so then the girl began to consider leaving the hat inside the shop all together and just going home because the prospect at hand was almost crippling. Her eyes glanced to a group of students, laughing to themselves as they hurried quickly towards the party, their cackles of mirth caused Esther to jump slightly.
"Well...I guess there's always next time..." Esther mumbled to herself, turning to walk in the oppisote direction of the party. She continued for a few paces before shaking her head, deciding to turn around and head towards the lights and the laughter which drifted over the warm spring evening. "No...I can do this. I spent ages working on this hat! Can't let it go to waste or..."
Her open ramblings cut off as she entered the square, the bustle of people causing her eyes to widen. People were smiling, clinking glasses, drinking and talking with general merriment as they filled their bellies with food that many hadn't seen in months. The light and noise caused the girl to shrink, clutching the box tightly to her chest and she ducked her head down and hurried through the crowd as quickly as she could, only occasionally glancing up to see if she could see Atticus.
It didn't take long to find him. Out of the 100 tables or so, set out in long rows, the one that sat ontop the stage where the reaping had once been held was the obvious choice for the victor. Many of the seats were already filled with family and the mayor's family too but Atticus sat almost center stage, all by himself. The sight made the red head frown hard; he didn't look very happy and so the girl was now certain that her gift would cheer him up. Brushing hair from her face, she hurried up the stairs of the stage, ignoring the strange look of the peacekeepr who stood watch; Esther almost hesitated, waiting for the guard to stop her but when he didn't she continued until she found herself beside Atticus, sitting on the chair beside him and plopping the box down in front of her on the table.
tag: mat
