What's Annie Up To?

Abay had done absolutely nothing today. He was normally fine with this, but after many hours of meaningless activities in his home, he began to feel stuffed up and bored of the routine he'd set into. Abay left the house, closing the creaky door as he walked to Annie's home. The wind rustled his curly black hair and picked up dust that had settled on the ground as he slowly made his way over. He finished the short walk at a small house. It wasn't much...at all, it was a very small home, and Abay often wondered how five people lived in it. He knocked on the door, hoping Annie would answer so that he wouldn't have to talk to one of her parents or siblings.

Annie awoke to the screaming and squabbling of her siblings next to her bed. "JIMMY!!!!!" Rashelle shouted as Annie's brother, James, shoved her and ran into the kitchen with the stuffed plushie that Mrs. Iliana Teslock had gotten them for the Reaping Day. Gifts were always exchanged the day after the Reaping. "It's MINE!!!" Jimmy screamed with a maniacal laugh as they ran around the kitchen. Annie sat up in her bed and looked over to her parents, Jackson and Iliana; they were still asleep, surprisingly. She passed them a small smile before getting out of bed and changing out of her nightgown. It was now a dreary gray color, filled with holes and tears, but once upon a time it was white and pristine. She changed from this into what she normally wore; black cargo pants that would later be covered in dirt, a pink tank-top, and simple white tennis shoes that had holes where her toes were but generally well-cared for. Her brother ran past her, squealing, as Rainie tried to catch him. They ran around Annie's legs for a moment or two before Annie chuckled and bent down, catching them both in her arms. "Come on, you two. Let's not wake up Daddy and Mommy, okay? Jimmy, you have to change out of your pajamas. And Rainie, you need to brush your hair." Annie said, smiling the whole time. Rainie trudged towards the bathroom; their home was three rooms: a small bedroom with three beds (one for Annie, her parents, and her siblings), a kitchen with a rusty old stove and a table that was falling apart; and the bathroom. The toilet didn't work, but the sink did and the mirror was generally crack-free, so they still got ready in there.

Annie went to start breakfast; her parents had bought eggs the day before and a loaf of fresh raisin-cinnamon bread. It had cost her mother four yards of stolen cloth from the textile factory for the bread; her father made a bargain with the only farmer in town--the farmer generally kept everyone from starving now and again. But he was old and needed help, so in payment, you'd often see kids working his fields or taking care of the cows. Even the Peacekeepers bought things from the farmer; he was generally well-off. Jimmy and Rainie came in to the kitchen as three eggs slid out of the pan onto three different plates--she'd left four for her parents. They sat down immediately and began scarfing the meal down as Annie cut painstakingly small pieces of raisin-cinnamon bread for them. With a shrug and broke her piece in half and gave the pieces to them as well. She ate her food slowly, carefully, as she heard her parents awakening and getting ready. The zip of a standard work uniform, the tightening of uniform shoes; she hated that they had to go to work the day after the Reaping, even though she and the kids didn't have school.

Annie cleared the table and set their eggs on the table with thick slices of raisin-cinnamon bread when a knock on the door interrupted the sorrowful silence ringing in everyone's ears. "MINE!!! I'VE GOT IT!!" Rainie screamed as she ran for the door. "I WANT TO GET IT!" Jimmy shouted, tackling her to the ground and they tumbled across the creaky wooden floor next to the door. Annie stepped over them easily and opened the door with a smile; there stood Abay. Rainie and Jimmy stood and peered from behind her, grinning as well. "Hi Abay...." Rainie said with a blush and Annie pushed her away from the door playfully. She went to sit with her parents at the table, her mother watching the whole thing with a smile, her father looking generally cheerful. Jimmy didn't say anything to Abay, instead going to sit next to Rainie and squabling with her over something or other. "Hey," Annie said with a smile, a hand rubbing the back of her curly-haired head as Rainie ducked between her legs to evade Jimmy and running into the bedroom. She was pretty sure Abay was used to her siblings, but she could never be sure. Jimmy came barreling into Annie's leg next and she was almost knocked backwards as he veered to catch Rainie.

"You wanna come inside? Or is it too chaotic for ya?" Annie teased, eyes twinkling as her mother set the dishes in the sink; they only had five plates, bowls, and cups. Annie would have to wash them before they could eat again. She opened the door wider for Abay to step inside with a teasing smirk. [center]

Abay was wide-eyed when Annie opened the door. The clamor inside to get the door was loud enough to be heard, and Abay wondered where so much cheeriness could come from. He blinked at the wooden thing. Annie finally creeped the door open, and he was met with the awful smiles of two children and the pretty smile of Annie. The children sauntered off, Rainie giving a "hello" before she went. Annie asked if he wanted to come inside, and Abay shook his head, hoping that was sign enough that he wanted to hang out outside. The smell of breakfast still wafted from the house, and he remembered that he'd forogotten to eat before he left. But he usually skipped breakfast anyway. He turned slightly, anticipating Annie to come with him.

Abay hadn't actually thought about what they should do today, he had just known it would be less boring with Annie around. He paused, putting on a thinking face for a second. He finally spoke for the first time today, "Umm...we could dig a hole?" It was the best he could come up with, and he was pretty sure Annie would go for it. He didn't have a shovel, but he knew he'd probably be of little help if he tried to dig too. He could use his hands, but he was was afraid Annie would cut them off on accident; she was so fast with that rampaging scrap of metal.

Abay followed Annie, jogging in order to keep up. Annie seemed to go into a manic mode as soon as they got to the fence, and Abay wondered why they were so close to it. Was Annie going to escape? No, she just picked an odd spot, Abay decided. He watched her dig in her mania, finding the phenomenon both interesting an entertaining, finally sitting down after the first couple of minutes. He had to stand up again after Annie seemed to sink into the Earth and he could no longer see her. A bit of a crowd had been attracted by Annie's strange talent, and Abay understood completely. Annie finally asked for some help out, and Abay lent her a hand.

There wasn't much to do in this enclosed world. Abay knew they end up just walking through town with light conversation. He said, "Let's just walk through town. We can look at shops." and began walking in that direction. They probably wouldn't buy anything, they rarely had money.