Morel Gill [d7m] [fin]

MOREL 'MO' GILL

DISTRICT 7

16

MALE

It rained yesterday, and the sun's light dispersed itself in small specks onto the leafy ground, blocked by the leaves overhead. My brown eyes scanned the ground, looking for specks of white or tan... Finally, I was out of the house. It was vital we had a good haul today. It didn't seem like it was going to be a very wet summer... so a big rain like yesterday's meant we'd be out here in the thick of it for several hours. My hair was stuck to my forehead and the back of my neck. I cursed my genes for giving me black hair... it most definitely didn't help in a humid heat like this. Although the forest was shaded, my hair seemed to catch just about every ray of sunlight it could, and my hair sat like a heated cap on my head. Honestly, I'd let it grow out a little too much. Still, it was short and kept out of my eyes, and honestly, I thought it made me look a little older.

Although Summer had finally dawned upon District 7, the forest's floor was still covered in a spread of dead leaves. My white rucksack hung loosely at my side, already filled with several decently sized morels. Yes, yes, my name is the same as fungus I was hunting for. Most people call me Mo - the family's been doing this fungus thing for a while. Mom was taught it from her grandmother, and typically she'd just have carried it on with a daughter... but she had 3 boys. Chanterelle and Cremini were their names, and we've gotten a lot of shit for it. For the most part, we don't care. Cremini's a little more of a wuss and tries to hide the hobby but the fact of the matter is, we all love it. We're a little odd for it - most people spend their free time trying to relax, maybe reading a book or drinking around a fire, but this helped us with some extra money. It was dependent on the seasons and weather, though, and that's why it was so important for us to find as many as we could. My brother and I were plentiful today. That is, our fungal counterparts were. There were lots of morels and lots of cremini mushrooms... those were the common ones, and tasted excellent sauteed in butter. There were chanterelle's around District 7 too, in the beech tree patch deep in the southeast part of the District. It was always much risky getting there. That's where the paper mill was so it already had heavy traffic and there were several peacekeepers' houses right around there too. We didn't go there often. Plus, I preferred staying as far away from the paper mill as I could. I already felt like I was spending too much time there. Mom forced me to get a job there once spring rolled around and it was only a Monday through Wednesday thing but I absolutely hated being cramped in there with a bunch of people just as miserable as me. 

Out in this part of the District, houses and people were much more sparse. The forest was thick out here and was one of the few places that hadn't been prepped for deforestation yet. Rampant with bugs, all four of us continued to use the repellent that Mom had made for us. Three parts water, one part witch hazel, and this time she'd been a little heavy on the citronella. My white button up shirt had a deep 'V' of sweat and I unbuttoned it to let my body breathe. My thin legs were protected by my denim pants but they were wet with sweat. It was not a pretty site but we were definitely making gains today. 

"Oh, Dad's gonna love us for all these!" Cremini exclaimed, grabbing a hefty cluster of his namesake. His youth was something that I still craved, but as I'd gotten older, I'd taken on my dad's cynicism. I straightened up and then bent backwards, placing a fist in the small of my back.  I heard a pop, immediately offering relief in my spine, and replied. "Yeah, as long as we hand feed him." I had to be a smartass sometimes. My dad seemed incredibly lazy at home but he did work as a logger and, from what I'd gathered, did quite the heavy lifting. But at home, he'd always expected Mother and us kids to attend to him. It got under my skin but every once in a while it'd be worth it - when the weather was too poor to work and we all got to stay in. On those days, he seemed a lot more interested in the family. Today was not one of those days, though. He was out working, sawing his small earnings into existence. 

Eventually, the sun began to slip its way through the tree line and its orange glow let us know we - Mom, Chanty, Cremini, and me - needed to get going before it was too late. It'd been a good day and we all had a decent amount. And we could come out again tomorrow. We only had a couple of days before they dried up, and Ripred knew when it was going to rain again.

We didn't live anywhere special, but the inside of our house was quite nice. Mom and Dad did take good care of each other, and I knew that house like the back of my hand. Every nook in cranny, from its white stained wooden walls to the hardwood floor. That was standard for many of the houses in District 7. It was only logical, after all, but what made my home stand out were the shroomish decorations that were painted over the woods. Vibrant swirls of green, blues, reds, yellows from Mother's psychedelic ramblings. She kept her grow of cubensis in the cellar, and as she'd gotten older she had definitely returned to reality for longer periods of time. Mother insisted on instilling the wisdom of mushrooms in us since we were a child. 

Of course, this was a fact of our life that only a handful of people knew about. District 7 was full of secrets. Things were quite easy to hide in the thick of the woods, and luckily us three Gill children were blessed with a good brain, even if I did like being a dick every once in a while. Arguments felt good, especially with my brothers. Chanterelle always carried himself around like he was hot shit, and ever since he successfully made it past his reaping stage it's been even worse. We've blacked each other's eyes a time or two, but if there were any people I'd die for, it was my family. Even Chanty.

Upon reaching the house, I lingered behind the other 3, hearing the sounds of family's in other houses with their windows open, and then as I get closer, the sound of my dad on the back porch, strumming away at his guitar. It was his favorite way to wind down and we head to the back instead of the front to meet him there. He sat on the wooden porch steps. He was a much broader image of myself, and he carried a thick unibrow. Mother never seemed to mind, though. "About time! How was the catch?" he asked. Cremini sped off and sat down beside him and started rummaging through his sack, showing Dad all of the nicest mushrooms he'd caught today. "It was pretty solid.  We got a good haul. I think we'll be eating good tonight," Mom said, leaning down to meet Dad's lips as the rest of us moved inside, sans Cremini. He was especially proud of a large morel, and for the record, it was the biggest one we'd gotten all day. But Mother, as usual, had the fullest sack.  

And inside we went, all of us taking off our shoes at the door. We threw our mushrooms on the table and I went to my room, taking off my shirt. Chanterelle headed to the bathroom, which, oddly enough, he seemed to do every time we went for a hunt, and Mother went to the kitchen, getting started on dinner. The house was full with a warm glow, and on days like these, I wasn't worried about the woes of Panem. I wasn't worried about dying in the Reaping. I remained grateful I'd just made it out alive just days before and did my best to forget the pair from District 7 that were chosen. I was simply grateful for what I did have, even if it was next to nothing by the Capitol's standards. Honestly, screw them. The Gills had something that I guaranteed no one in the Capitol truly had - love, and lots of mushrooms. I put a big grin on my face as I continued in the kitchen, where Mom was already busy cutting away on some creminis. I gave a little giggle and asked, "Need any help?"