and what do you believe?// Ryan

She could see the light for the first time in a while.

District five had never been the kindest to her, but she knew why. It was because here, where oil refinery had become quite the business, she never fitted in. She lived with her grandparents, because both of hers were way too busy to even think about her. She hadn’t stood out to them, which meant that she was susceptible to being left behind. 

It wasn’t like it was news to her, because this happened years ago. They dropped her off on her grandparents doorsteps, and while they were just as confused, they accepted what it meant. They wished there could have been a heads up, but as it be right now, fast forwarding almost 5 years, they let it go. Just like she had too. She saw them, from time to time, mostly working their lives away in the district square. However, whenever she tried to approach them, they found a way to make them selves disappear. It was like they could sprinkle some magic dust and evaporate into thin air.

Millie was jealous of that talent.

---

And so she found herself trying to focus near the riverbed that went straight through the district. She found the water relaxing, or at least, relaxing enough to work on the things that were polluting her mind. She let out a small cough before realizing that she was out of purple for her painting. Luckily for her, she had already plucked a couple boysenberries from one of the stalls in town while the owner was distracted with another buyer. 

She didn’t steal too much, only what was needed for her to be able to create. Most of the time, it was fruit, or paper, but sometimes she got lucky and found whole paint sets that had been discarded. With only one or two of the colors missing. Thats when she thought she was lucky, because that meant she wouldn’t be hindered in her art.

Her grandparents didn’t quite understand it, but she didn’t want them too. Just to look at it and either awe at it or say something like “that’s nice” before dismissing Millie from their line of site. Her grandparents were relatively young, which made her realize that her parents were probably not that much younger. She dipped her brush into the green and began to smear it across the bottom of the canvas as she pushed the thought out of her mind.

She didn’t need to depress herself anymore than she actually was.

---

And then she heard someone in the distance, and when she looked up, she realized that she was no longer alone. She tried to tell herself to act normal, something that she rarely did anyway, but this girl didn’t need to know that.

However, Millie had a feeling that she had seen her before. 

She asked a question in almost a sing-song way.  Millie had looked over for a minute and given the girl a gentle smile before pulling her brush through the bottom of the canvas again. ”Is it fragile? Or fickle?” She added, a question that she didn’t think would leave her mouth. ”After all, it does take the same amount of effort to create as it does to destroy.” Millie swiped at the bottom of the canvas again, the green starting to deepen quite a bit. 

”Just depends on how you look at the world.” Millie added with a smile before stopping for a second to look at the girl. ”What brings you out this way?” she had been taught to always be cordial, even when she didn’t want to be.

It was always the right thing to do.