Oliver Oakles // D7

Do you want to know what perfection ought to look like? As do I. I seek it every single day of my life, not in myself but in my creations. Elaborate folding and precision craftsmanship are what make up my daily work. Carpentry, papercraft, and design that I would hope will one day be seen my the masses.

I'm a creator, but us creators must work harder than the rest, especially in District Seven. There's no getting away with slacking while part of the workforce, whether it's cutting down the trees I love so much, or fuelling the fires that burn them. It's the time in between shifts that I practice my craft. I take every chance I get to get better at what I love doing.

Does it make me an isolationist? Yep. But when you love something, you move Heaven and Earth to bring that something into fruition.

Did I mention perfection? I've yet to find it. This time, yes, in myself. I don't think I see what everyone else sees. But you look good! It's all I hear, but not what I see. The truth is, it's not necessarily about passing as attractive, I'm too young for that. It's passing as passable. Normal, ordinary. I want to fit in as much as I can, really. It keeps the attention away from me.


Working next to my dad helps. And when I say next to, I really mean it. His work station is right next to mine. I ask him all the time to show me how you make those finer details. He's always teaching me new things, and always has. He's mother and father in one. That's a hard life, but it's the closest I've seen to perfection. Does love do that? Do you become blind to your standards, or is love a perquisite to perfection?

Mum passed in an accident at work, the same factory I've been working in since I was young. I had just started that week. I spent a lot of that year silent, just taking everything as seriously as I could. Growing up too fast. I didn't accept any help back then, and I rarely do now when I do end up struggling. It's a trait I can't shift, like a chronic pain in my head.

It brought me closer to my craft. It made me focus entirely on how to better myself. I had dreams, back then, of reaching the Capitol with my work. Having them on display at some ceremony dedicated to me. It was definitely a distraction - who would want a ceremony dedicated to them, when all they want is to fade into the crowd? Childhood is conflicting like that, but I got there in the end.


Now, I'm a strong guy I'd say. Nothing is going to get to me these days, except my own failure. Hopefully I can make my way through some underground woodwork competitions, like I used to when I was around fifteen. Back when it was fun to fail, with a lesson in every hurt.

What I really want now is a group of friends. Some likeminded individuals who can form, with me, a collective to showcase our talents and explore our happiness together. It's not all crafting, I love to have a drink, a laugh and a joke. I just have to do it perfectly, that's all. That's why I don't have friends, yet.