letters from a friend.— [catalina/eleven | pen-pals]

It’s nice to meet you! Well, through letters and photos, at least. I’m actually the eleventh born, if you can believe that. Some of my older siblings have number names as well, like Four and Six and Eight. Six is the one you’re thinking of- the one who was in the games. He was really nice. He was my role model, really. I don’t mind you bringing it up. It’s a lot worse when people pretend to ignore it or whisper about it behind my back.

I miss him a lot. I haven’t really been able to talk about it with anybody yet. My siblings are the only friends I have, and we’ve all taken it pretty hard. It doesn’t help that before Six was reaped, Four left home and hasn’t been back since. There’s enough of us at home that I think the others forgot about Four and Six sometimes. Like I said, I have 10 older siblings, and I have four younger siblings too. I think the ones that have already aged out of the reaping have forgotten the reality of it, and the ones too young don’t understand yet. Most of us are reaping age, and I think we’re afraid to talk about it because one of us might be next.

Sorry, I don’t mean to be so depressing. I promise it’s not all bad times at the O’Malleys! Family meals are probably one of my favorite parts about having so many siblings. We all sit around the table and get to talk about our day and enjoy the food. We get some of our food from the farm so we’re are able to feed us all enough. We have to pack a lot of us into the bedrooms, which isn’t always fun whenever somebody’s sick or snoring. Sometimes when we can’t sleep, we take turns telling stories or joke about stupid things.

I never have a moment alone or get to experience silence, which has its pros and cons. I bet it’s nice to be able to do your own thing and be able to think. Maybe whenever you’re feeling lonely, you could write me a letter? Despite having all my siblings, I’ve been feeling pretty lonely too lately.

Most of us went to the county fair earlier in the month, and it was really nice to get out of the house and away from everybody who knows the O’Malleys. I competed in the pumpkin carving contest and did pretty bad, but I came in third place in a pie-eating contest! While we were at the fair, my older brother Prop helped my sister Fly get a puppy, so I guess we do have a pet now. Is your dad uh-ler-jik to dogs too? Maybe you could convince him to get a dog, even though it wouldn’t be as good as getting a cat.

I don’t think we have any hospitals here in Eleven. If we get hurt or sick, we usually have to deal with it on our own or have a doctor come to the house. We do get pretty dirty on the farm, but it’s nice to have a big outdoor space with all of us in the house. It sounds like you have a lot of fun with your Nana! We don’t really play cards or board games or bake brownies.

Do people in Six get to go to space? I don’t know much about Six or space or what a telescope is. Maybe you could teach me about space? I could really use a good distraction with the next reaping coming up.

My siblings took some pictures with a disposable camera at the county fair so I put some in the envelope for you! I hope to hear from you soon Cat!