rune krine | d12 | cb | fin

You did not grow up defined by cruelty. In a better world - one that gave parents more to pass down to children than fear and resentment coated in a thick layer of coal dust - that statement might have seemed obvious; in District Twelve, it was all but a rarity. Folks say, after all, that you can't go a block down the Seam without finding someone's trash can overflowing with bottles of moonshine, or hearing a violent argument coming from someone's door, and while the exact numbers may have been an exaggeration, the quip held a kernel of truth.

You couldn't believe the stories, at first - after all, how could someone willingly be so mean to another person, let alone their loved ones? But you are also a curious child, who notices many things and asks many questions. Why does my friend at school always flinch before returning my high-five? Why does my other friend refuse when I offer to split my sandwich, even though I know she doesn't have a lunch today? Why does Auntie get so worried when I ask her about all the other cool people she knows?

Your father tries his best to answer all your questions, but the reasons all make you sad. Your mother tells you that so many people are cruel because they never learned how to be anything else, and that makes you sadder.

Neither of them are entirely surprised when you take their answers as a challenge to befriend the entire district.

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