-Peaceful Reading-

Guest

Winter, carrying a book, made her way to the edge of the sand and stared out at the vast ocean. She bent down, slipped off her combat boots, picked them up, and carried them to an uninhabited spot on the beach that was closer to the water. The wind tugged at her already fly-away hair, and covered her face. Since she knew she couldn't see very well like this, and, therefore, would be unable to view words written on a page, Winter tied her curly-wavy hair up in a messy high ponytail. Once this was done, she knelt on the sand with her knees folded under her, leaned against a rock, and started reading. For the moment, at least, her life was peaceful.

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:57 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

I walked slowly down the beach. I hadn't caught anything that day, and I didn't want to face my family empty handed. Even though dad was bound to have something.

I sighed. I would have to go to the woods later than usual. But I needed to clear my head, think of some medicine. Something to help Tiana. Come on Tiana, hold in there till I find something, I thought desperatly.

I wasn't paying attention to anything untill I saw a girl sitting on the beach, reading. I honestly hadn't seen anyone read in my whole life. To busy working or hunting, or taking care of Tiana I suppose.

I wasn't shy, so I came up, and sat next to her. My hair was still damp from fishing. "Hey," I said.

Guest

At the sound of someone's voice, Winter looked up, surprised. "Um...hi. Sorry, do I know you?" The boy next to her looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't say she recognized him. Still, she didn't want to be rude. Winter folded the page of her book and closed it. She linked her fingers and rested them in her lap on top of what she had previously been reading.

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:58 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

I shrugged as I ran a hand through my hair. My hand got some water on it, so I wiped it on my shirt. My shirt was wet too. I sighed. I guess you can never truly be dry in District 4. "I don't know. Maybe you've seen me around. But I haven't seen you," I said with a side smile. "My name's Rip." I held put my wet hand for her to shake.

Guest

Winter nodded, partially understanding the situation, but still a bit confused. "Um... okay..." She answered, cautiously shaking his hand, letting go, and flicking off the water that had traveled onto her own hand. "Not to be rude, but is there something you wanted to say or are you just here because you felt like talking to someone? I'm not sure I really know why you're here, sorry." Winter didn't get why people would randomly approach someone because they were bored, but she knew well enough that other people were actually social and that her opinion on talking to strangers was probably biased. She looked at the water. It had always seemed sad to her. She resisted the urge to also become sad and write something depressing on the corner of her book.

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:42 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

I sat down abouteight inches across from Winter, and by my arms on my knees, and exhaled. "I honestly don't know. I guess... I needed a place to think. I don't know if that makes any sense," I said with a shake of my head. "But this is a calming place. Well, somethimes."

Guest

Winter shrugged in agreement. "I guess so. Yeah, beaches tend to be that way. As long as they aren't full of small hysterical children or anything." She looked at the water again. "Calming is a good word for it. Blue color scheme and all. Calming. Would be good in an oceanic-type poem or something of the sort," Winter commented airily. She put the word into her mind for later use. Even if it wasn't likely she would write something about relaxation instead of death and sadness, words she hadn't overused were good to remember. She gingerly placed her book on the sand beside her, pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on the top of them. "I'm Winter."

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:13 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

"Nice to meet you Winter," I said. Winter seemed like a writer, maybe even a story teller. Tiana would love to write a story. But, she's sick at home, while I'm here, trying to think of how I can save her, while at the same time, talking to a girl named Winter. "I take it you like poems?" I asked with a smile.

Guest

Wintre shrugged. "Usually. When they're sad, at least. I don't like happy poems... they don't tell a story. They usually just talk about flowers. But yeah, I like poetry," she answered with half a smile. Winter pondered sorrow for a moment, wondering why she preferred sad poetry, and figuring it was because they actually has some emotion other than 'yay,' whereas a lot of happy stuff was the same. "You?"

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:45 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

I twidiled my fingers, and looked at the ocean with a cocked head. "I don't really know. I'm usually too busy working, or too busy worring," I said. I saw the distant flip of a fish in the disance, and then another, and another. Good fishing over there, I thought. Too bad I wouldn't have time to get a boat.

Guest

Winter looked down. "Oh. I'm sorry. That must be tough. I mostly just work around my house with my sister. My dad fishes in the mornings, and my mom builds boats 24/7, so I don't end up doing much work. I come out here and read whenever I can, though." She glanced back up and thought for a fleeting second that Rip seemed a little sad, but she didn't mention it. It wasn't her business to know. Winter brushed a stray piece of sand off of her fingernail, wondering if she should ask what he had to worry about.

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:23 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

I chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. My sister Rain works at weaving baskets, and I fish with my dad." I had left Tiana out because I hadn't talked about her in a while, and I didn't know if I was ready to. I picked up some sand in my hand and siffed it through my fingers. I liked the sand. It was soft, and all over the place, being there to soften the blow of sadness when you sit on the shore. I dug my bare feet in teh sand and closed my eyes. The beach. Tiana loves the beach.

Guest

Winter nodded. She felt a little awkward talking to someone, knowing they were sad, and not asking about it, but she felt more awkward asking about it, so she didn't. Instead, she smiled. "I wish I had a little sister instead of being one. My sister, her name is Caramel, and she's 16. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a four-year-old, but she's really sweet."

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:28 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

I smiled, thinking about my older sister Rain. She was kind of a stick in the mud, but she had a right to be. Tiana was home alone a lot, and while she's dying. I sighed. I forced myself a good-natured smile. "That's pretty cool. Seems like you have a nice family," I say, running my hand along the sand beside me. I was mostly dried off by now, but my hair was still a bit damp.

Guest

Winter shrugged. "Yeah, mostly, I guess. Life is kind of boring, but I like it better that way." She picked up some sand and tossed it into the wind. It bounded away down the shore, some flecks falling into the water, some into a pile of their own kind: tiny rocks. Caramel always complained that the sand got in her hair and made her feel itchy, so she hardly ever went down to the beach, but Winter had inherited her dad's love of being out in the wind on the sand or the water. "You?"

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:02 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

Spoiler:

"Even if you put me in an arena with rabid pigeons, I still might win.”

I dug my hand deep in the sand, letting the cold of it crawl up my hand. I loved the sand, even though it was messy.

I shrugged, and looked my the sand, trying not to make eye contact. "Um, my family's ok I guess," I say. I knew it partly the truth, but it was also partly a lie. I felt bad, but witholding Tiana was comforting. I didn't have to talk about her. Well, at least not yet.

Guest

Winter paused before speaking. Clearly, there was something he didn't want to tell her. It was probably why he seemed sad. She tried to vaguely be comforting, thinking of all the possibilities of people who were sad about their family. Let's see... abusive parents, divorced parents, parents the fight a lot, parents that don't appreciate you, drunkard parents, compared to sibling, dead sibling, somebody was murdered, sick sibling, mother had miscarriage, never knew parents, orphan, hm... she thought. Eventually she decided to just be honest but not pry, and said, "Look, I know you're sad about something. I don't really need to know what it is. But things are going to be okay. I mean, think about it. We have a very high possibility of dying every year in the Hunger Games or from starvation or from anything, really. If we were meant to have horrible lives or die or whatever is troubling you, odds are the worst would have happened already." She hoped she wasn't being too confusing. "But seriously, don't feel pressured to tell me because I said that. I'm just trying to make conversation, not that it's not true. What I said, I mean. Sorry."

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:42 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

Spoiler:

"Even if you put me in an arena with rabid pigeons, I still might win.”

I looked at her in shock. How the hell does she know exactly what to say to me? I pondered in my head.

"Uh..." I trailed off, looking in he eyes for some trace of doubt. There was none.

"Uh, thanks..." I said. "Sorry for being so secretive. My little sister Tiana. She's... she's dying."

Guest

Winter, taken aback at his honesty, looked down. Apparently, when you tell someone they don't need to tell you something, they do. Gah! People are confusing. she thought.

"Oh... well, I'm sorry. I mean, you know, that she's dying. Don't worry. She'll probably be fine. Like I said, if she were going to die and wasn't supposed to get better, she would've died already. Life wouldn't give her a chance if it didn't think she had one. Sorry, it's hard to explain. But basically, life picks off weaklings. It doesn't have time for half-alive people. But we've challenged that. The human race has kept people alive for longer than they might have been otherwise. If there was an issue with that, they would have died. Okay, I'm repeating myself, but whatever. I'm sorry about your sister, and the theoretical odds are in her favor. There. That's what I meant," Winter explained with half a smile. "No pun intended."

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:55 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

Spoiler:

"Even if you put me in an arena with rabid pigeons, I still might win.”

I had a sad look in my almost black brown eyes. Then I began to smile. My perfect white teeth showing, I started to laugh. There is a chance! I thought. There has to be!

Then I did something that even suprised me. I was so happy. This girl had given me hope, hope for my sister. I got up, and hugged her. "Thank you! Thanks so much!"

I let go and sad back down, smiling like a mad man, making sure I had everything with me. I could tell Tiana she had a chance.

Guest

Winter winced sat there uncomfortably when Rip hugged her, a little surprised at his enthusiastic reaction. Poor girl, she must be REALLY sick for her brother to be that happy at a tiny theory of a chance for her survival. Darn it, now if his sister dies... ugh. She thought, and quickly faked a smile. "Good luck with your sister," she said, hiding a grimace. Even if what I said is true, being that pleased to hear it... this isn't going to end well.

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:45 pm

|Rip Garrison|16|District 4|
|The|Boy|With|The|Dying|Sister|

Spoiler:

"Even if you put me in an arena with rabid pigeons, I still might win.”

I looked at her again, and shook my head with a smile. "No, really, thanks."

I grabbed all my stuff, got up, and gave Winter a goodbye salute. "See ya around," I said, jogging off. Now I was going to be happy when I see Tiana.

Guest

Winter nodded. "You're welcome, I guess. Bye!" she called with a wave. Finally, back to reading. Winter thought, then scolded herself. Now, now, don't be rude. It's basically the opposite of being polite. As in, by definition. Literally. Even if it is only in your brain... She shook her head to clear it, picked up her book, and dusted sand off of the color. A water droplet rolled off her finger, and she frowned. Winter shook the water off, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her air, opened her book, and happily continued to read.

Subject: Re: -Peaceful Reading- Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:46 pm

((Nevermind ignore this post))

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