SAGE MONSOON ☯ DISTRICT FOUR ☯ FIN

Umm.. m-my name is Sage. My mom always told me that it meant I-I was wise. I don't really believe that anymore, I mean, I am the opposite of w-wise.

I'm from... Umm.. D-District Four, you know, w-where the water is at?

Twelve. My d-dad always told me he would get me a p-puppy when I turned Twelve. He c-can't though.

My appearance? Are you going to j-judge me on how I look? I'm not a piece of m-meat that you can just look at a-and judge. That's what all the k-kids at school do. I'm just a l-little boy trying to find my place in this s-s-scary world. Why am I s-supposed to tell you how I l-look, when the only thing that matters is w-w-what is inside. Well, Umm, I guess I'm okay l-looking? I have a little scrawny b-body, but that doesn't mean I can't d-defend myself when needed. Many scars cover my b-body from all the things I have w-went through in the past, but these s-scars stand for the battles I s-s-survived, and the make me h-happy. It's the only thing left that m-makes my happy anymore. Those scars are covered in either d-dirt or dirty clothing, most of the t-time. The biggest s-s-scar I have is a lash across m-my back. After a m-misfortune came to my once p-peaceful family, I had t-t-to fight to stay alive. My sister, C-Caterina, did most of the scavenging f-for food. I-I wanted to do something for h-her, but it turned into a p-p-public w-whipping. I'll n-never forget that day, but it just r-reminds me how much of a f-fighter I am.

M-Ma always told me my g-grey eyes were as dark as the sky. I didn't k-know if this was a c-compliment, or not. The sky was s-sometimes a really p-pretty grey, but other t-times it was a very ugly g-gray. Those eyes would get me the g-girl, right ma? Now I-I'm sitting here, questioning if s-she was right or w-wrong. I haven't g-got freshly made clothes in a l-l-long time. I've been w-wearing hand me downs and t-things people give to us for free. I remember w-wearing fancy clothes, and g-golden plated shoes. What happened to t-those days? Why c-can't I have THAT back? I-I think I'm sick, because m-my skin is paler than the moonlight at t-times. Maybe I-I'm just homesick, who k-knows? Are you still going to s-sit there and judge me from t-the outside, or look into w-what I really am?

Oh, NOW you w-want to know about what I am? I-I don't feel c-comfortable in my own s-skin. I-I usually let someone t-talk for me, to avoid this annoying st-stutter. Ma always t-told me the people who d-don't talk as well as others are usually s-smarter. I guess s-she was kind of r-right, right? My s-stutter only becomes b-bad like this when I t-talk to people I'm not used t-to. When I'm talking to one of my s-sisters, I r-rarely stutter. Being anti s-social has it's b-benefits, though. I c-can stay inside all d-day without getting h-hurt, and just read my b-books all day and all n-night.I feel s-safe when reading a b-book, like no one can t-touch me. I just get l-lost in my own w-world of imagination, and I l-l-love that so much.I d-don't get to have that type of r-relaxation in this old, c-creaky house though. T-The only place I get that c-comfort is outside, and I h-hate the outside to begin w-with. I can't w-win.

I n-never liked school. Too m-many judgmental people c-calling me bad things. I just s-shutter thinking about it. That's w-why i'm so anti s-social, because of t-them putting me down. My only f-friends in this world are my s-siblings, and my little l-library in the h-house. It's not m-much, with only a few books, but it's s-still something. Some p-people jump to the c-conclusion that I'm this s-stupid boy who c-can't talk. I'm b-born with it t-though! I t-taught myself at the m-mansion when I was younger. I couldn't f-focus in school, so I t-took it into my own h-hands to teach myself. I-I did a b-better job than that s-school could ever d-do. Just because I s-stutter on one or t-two words, doesn't m-mean i'm some idiot t-t-that doesn't k-know nothing! I h-hate judgment p-people for thinking t-that.

I don't k-know what else to s-say. I g-guess I love to e-explore, but only in buildings, n-never outside. Our m-mansion was so big, that after t-three years of l-living in it, I still c-couldn't find my room without h-help. That was w-when everyone was h-happy, not it's t-the opposite. I want to d-discover new things,and be that p-person who made everyone's lives b-better, even if they r-ruined mine. I just want t-t-to be loved as much as my ma loved me. My s-sister is close, but not as m-much as m-ma. I f-feel really l-lonely sometimes, so w-with reading b-books, I sometimes w-write stores. I've w-written about me and my two s-sisters travels since the m-mansion was burnt down. I-I've already got the first f-few pages done, and m-maybe it can become a b-big book in the C-Capitol someday.

My past, i-it starts off sweet, but ends b-bitter. I s-started off in a nice, big m-mansion. Our f-family was one of the r-richest in the d-district, and it was a g-good life. I had the b-biggest library in the all of P-Panem right beside my b-bedroom.I could r-read as many books as I w-wanted to. Those w-w-were the d-days. My s-sisters got what t-they wanted to. C-Caterina got the b-building table she always w-wanted, and Lily g-got all the toys in the w-world to chew on. Our l-life was good, until that d-dreaded day. We were j-just on the beach, h-having fun like k-kids should. News g-got around that the M-Monsoon Mansion w-was burnt down. I-I was the most devastated. A-All those books I-I didn't g-get to read, n-now ashes. My p-parents, joining those a-ashes. W-Why did that have to go away so f-fast? W-Why did we have to be robbed of our b-b-beloved p-parents? Why c-can't they C-C-COME B-BACK? I d-don't know what's happening anymore. W-Will I ever see another h-happy day? That'd only h-happen if ma and d-dad came back. They aren't c-coming back, are they? Of c-course. I n-need to stop thinking about t-them, or I'll have another s-sleepless night.

I-I'm sorry. I g-get really emotional w-when talking about t-t-them. Umm. W-Where was I? Oh. Umm, w-where am I at now? Well, I'm w-with my, w-well, I don't know h-how we're related b-but we are. After the f-fire, they tried to f-find a relative in the district t-that would take us in, and t-the only one they could find w-was some m-man related to us through g-genetics. His n-name is C-Columbus Anthrax, b-but he forces us t-to call him Sir, most of the t-time. It's funny, because h-his last name is some sort of p-poison, and h-he feels like a poison to my l-life. He will NEVER be the f-f-father mine was. He treats us l-like animals in his little infestation of a h-house. I don't even k-know why he t-took us in, when the conditions are so p-poor. Caterina s-said he's just after our f-fortune, but who would be so c-cruel to take advantage of d-defenseless children for g-greed? That's just w-wrong. No one r-related to us would do s-such a crime like t-that.

I d-don't even think anyone c-cares about me or my s-siblings anymore. All we r-really do now is fight to s-survive in this cruel w-world. The only r-real friends I have outside of f-family is some nice people w-who live under the p-pier. I don't even k-know their names, but t-they are so sweet and give us f-food when we're s-starving. Those are t-true people. I could have s-swore they looked so f-familiar, but I d-don't know. It's just so r-rare to find any kind p-people anymore. If I'm n-not trapped in that dire little h-house, I'll s-sneak into the local library and r-read some books. I'm no l-longer in school, so I'm f-forced to educate myself now. I feel like I k-kind of live in that library, sometimes. All the b-books just make me feel like... L-Like I'm at home. There's actually a b-book that is a d-documentary towards our f-family. It was in our p-personal library, but it g-got to the public somehow. The only c-connection I have left with them is that b-book, the rest was b-burnt away in the fire. The only t-trace I have to my p-p-parents, the only t-thing I have left. I'll n-never let that go, not until the d-day of my death. It is f-forever mine.