Dancing Clouds. {open}

[Kaylyn]

Dahlia Ashstein

Dahlia looked up above her, way up high to the heavens above, where wisps of clouds seemed to dance for her. It was a slow dance, a steady dance, one that not many bothered to watch. But on clear days like today, when the wind was just so, Dahlia liked to sit and watch it, just like she had with Dylan so many times before.

Dahlia frowned as she thought as her older brother. She wondered how he was doing with that girl he had married. He had been over just a couple days before, announcing that his wife of six months was expecting a baby. He had been so joyful and bright, and Dahlia couldn't remember a time when his eyes had shined brighter. It made her glad, of course, that her brother was so happy. What upset her was that he would never be happy with her again. He had a new life, a new family, a new future... and here Dahlia was, stuck in the same still state of numbness she always had been.

Far off in the horizon, the sun was sinking down into the earth. The sky began to grow darker with each moment. Dahlia knew that soon it would be too dark to see the clouds at all, so she watched with every bit of her attention to make the most of it. She massaged her hands, sore from a long day of sewing. As a cool breeze passed by, Dahlia took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the grass she was sitting on.

This was her favorite day, after school and work was over and before she had to go back home to Mother. And this, this small meadow of grass seemingly isolated from the rest of District 8, was her favorite place to be. Here, she could be at peace with the world, if only for a couple of hours. Here, she wasn't that that one weird girl with a stutter. Here, she was whole.

[Wildfire]

Ceira wandered at random, dragging out time before she had to get back to the shop and help her mom out. Her mind drifted from everything as her best (but also only) friend Dwayne being unusually silent, and to her young sisters that would soon be old enough to get reaped. She herself didn't worry too much about getting reaped. Better her than her twin brother. Luckily, neither of them needed taking tessera, so they didn't have the odds against them. But if he got reaped, he'd be sentenced to death. He wouldn't even survive an hour, but she felt sure she could stand a chance. She'd been to fights in scool, and knew quite a few secrets from the hunting with her dad.

Looking up at the shifting clouds, feeling grass under her feet...Deep in thought, she stumbled but steady herself just in time not to land on the girl sitting in the grass. "Whoa, close one! Sorry I was not paying attention to my direction..." Ceira mumbled before she noticed who the girl was. She'd seen her at school, but could not remember her name, or talking to her before. But she didn't remember getting bullied by her either, and that might be enough to build a friendship on. Now that her and Dwayne seemed to drift apart, she might start to really try and make new friends. Determined, she straightened up and spoke again. "I think I've seen you in school? I'm Ceira by the way." She smiled as friendly she could.