Washer Woman [Open]

[krimson]

Krimson sat quietly on her back porch, using the meager light of a single candle to thread her needle. The small dress in her hands, made for a little twelve year old girl in town, needed to be finished tonight. The Reaping, that time of year that everyone in Penam dreaded, was upon them. In just a week two children would be taken from District 12, and all the other districts. She hoped that this soft blue dress that she had so carefully made, would make it to see another year. That it's wearer would go back home with her family after the names were drawn. After that moment so filled with tension and dread. When the entire town square was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

She exhaled deeply, her hands stilling as she looked out over her small yard, over her little garden, and to the house behind hers. They had three children in the reaping this year. All of whom had their names in more than once. Would it be one of them?

Krimson shook her head, sending strands of her red hair flying loose from the ribbon they were tied back with. She couldn't think about it. She couldn't sit here and wonder what child would leave them next week. What boy and girl would never return to their family and friends.

Before Krimson had really registered her own thoughts, she had put down the dress and stood. She needed a walk. She needed to take her mind off of everything. So, leaving her candle sitting on the window sill by her chair, Krimson stepped off her porch and began walking quietly down the street. Really, she wasn't allowed to be out at this time of night, but she lived on the edge of the Seam, and there would be no Peacekeepers around. She would stay close to her house and no one would be the wiser. She knew, because this wasn't the first time she had left her porch and walked the streets of the Seam late at night. This was becoming a regular thing for her.

[Cameo {RIP Charlie}]

Charlie was able to travel through the giant victorian house, she lived in, without pumping into any of her evil cousins. After her cousins Cameo died in The Hunger Games, a few years back, she couldn't get along with any of them. She entered her room to her drunk mother with a cigarette and bottle of wine next to the window. Charlie rolled her eyes, pissed that this was making it a month straight of just drinking. She managed to pull her mother into bed, after a little fight. The small girl toke a seat, looking at her passed out mother. She couldn't stop thinking of her alcoholic mom, crazy family, and now she was twelve. She was only a few days away from her first possibility of the Hunger Games. Ever since her cousins death, Charlie felt she was destined for the same death.
Charlie couldn't handle her mind anymore, rushing out of the room for fresh air. As she dashed around the corner she was intruded by an older cousin slamming her against the wall.
"where are you off to so late?" Her older seventeen year old cousin, Chloe said, keeping Charlie pinned to the wall.
Charlie was already pissed from her mother, and felt rebellion in her. "None of you business" she said as strong as she could.
Chloe released Charlie, and throws her to the ground. "Damn brat" She mutters before kicking Charlie's shoulder walking away.
This made Charlie even more furious, springing up she stomps outside, sprinting down the dark street.

[krimson]

Out of the corner of her eye, Krimson saw a shadow quickly dart around a corner. She stopped and looked in the direction of where it had gone, seeing a small figure sprinting down the dirt road of the Seam.

Quietly, she followed, wondering what would have a child out at this time of night, risking detection from the Peacekeepers who roamed the town streets after dark.

"Where could the poor child have gone?" Krimson thought to herself as she reached the end of the road, seeing no movement in the shadows to her left or her right. "I hope they are alright."

[Cameo {RIP Charlie}]

After a mile Charlie had a seance of someone following her. Thinking it's one of her cousins she goes a little faster, eventually dashing into a bush to see who this follower was. It was easy to hide among leaves and flowers, being so tiny and pale. Eventually she saw the lady behind her, no one she's come across before. Charlie gulped a little, she was scared of everyone. After Charlie felt they were a decent distances away, she was ready to sneak away. Getting up Charlie attempted to tiptoe away, until a branch caught a hole in her baggy pants, causing Charlie to fall onto the floor. Her palms and knees were scrapped up, as they usually are, and she knew she made a loud noise of her introduction.

[krimson]

"Hello? Are you alright?" Krimson called out quietly, trying not to alert the Peacekeepers to their presence on the street.

Slowly she walked over to the child, seeing that it was a young girl, probably about twelve or thirteen. She was on the ground, a hole in her pants caught on a branch from one of the nearby shrubs.

"Here, let me help you. Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" Krimson helped the girl up and brushed off the dirt and small pebbles from her palms and knees. Seeing spots of blood on both, she gently sighed.

"You're bleeding a little, and that hole in your pants could stand some thread. If you come back to my house, I will mend them for you." She said in a sweet soothing voice.

[Cameo {RIP Charlie}]

Charlie was shocked at the hello, staying quiet as she always did. Getting helped never happened to her, except when Cameo was around. Charlie hesitated at the kindness, brushing herself off with the young women, "i'm fine" she insisted despite the pain.
When Charlie heard the offer to fix her pants, a small smile came across her face, revealing her dimples. She nods her head yes in response. Anything was better then her own home right now.

[krimson]

"Alright then, come along." Krimson stood and offered the girl her hand.

Krimson realized instantly that the girl was more than shy. She was wary of all contact with people she didn't know. Possibly with everyone in general by the way she almost recoiled from her gentle touch. The poor girl looked frightened almost to the point of tears when she first spoke to her; and then when she mentioned fixing the hole in her pants, something seemed to change. Her face lit up if only for an instant before she nodded her head in agreement.

"What is your name?" She quietly asked the girl as she opened her front door, allowing the child to go in ahead of her.

[Cameo {RIP Charlie}]

Charlie straightened up finally, when she heard "come along". She was much shorter, the older girl was tall, and pale like Charlie. It was almost intimidating except that she had a beauty to her. Charlie accepted her hand, and followed her to her house. It was a lot nicer then the beaten up victorian house she lived in with her giant family.
Charlie stepped into the home, gazing around the environment until she realized she was asked a question. "Charlie." She tells quietly, gently swaying in one spot. "What's yours?" She finally asks.