Skepsis {Irmó, others}

[ja'mie]

A i l i a

Ailia was glad for the quiet peacefullness of the night. It was a hobby really, to find peaceful places. But lately, she had found that it had turned into an obsession. And obsesseion to be a lone and away from her home.

If you could call this peaceful quietness anyway; the whirring of machines wafted through the still foggy air, vague in sound, but familiar. Over-night machines, working into overtime to make new items for the capitol.

The capitol had been a popular topic this week in her household, in the streets, the halls at school. Apparently, there was an increased demand for children's toys and you could make a quick buck by producing double the amount of toys you would nornally produce.

District Three talk. Word of mouth.

It was interesting to watch the reactions of the people around her, their eager faces lighting up at the sound of extra income. Children denying playtime until they finished up in the factories, adult staying late after hours, making sill jack-in-the-boxes, story books, and rhinestoned rattles.

It would soon pass, and new demands would come and go. Everything so familiar, unchanged.

The one-second ache hit her like a bullet. She ached for something new and adventurous. For something...beyond normality. But how to perform such adventure? These thoughts ran through her mind as Ailia absently swilrled her index finger in a polluted puddle, it's water green with contaminents. The puddle's surface rippled in acknowledment of her presence, and for a moment, she smiled.

One day, she would find the ocean. Yes... a large mass of water. And then she would learn to swim.