CHAPTER 2 ~~ The Unknown Childhood
I lent against the door, listening to the quiet whispers taking place inside the bedroom.
"Ouch," I whispered to myself. Slowly I took my head off the door and winced as I gingerly freed my cheek from the thick splinter that was dug deep into my skin. I tip-toed to the kitchen to grab myself a cotton bud for my bloody cheek. I glanced up at the clock and noticed it was 2am.
'Why were my parents talking about me?' I wondered to myself. I had just been listening to them talk about me as though they were worried. Apparently the way I had been acting recently made them anxious. They thought I was...
I didn't get that last part of that sentence as that was the very moment a splinter sunk into my skin. I silently humphed in annoyance.
'What did I do wrong? I'm only twelve years old,' all these thoughts were whizzing through my mind. My cheek stopped bleeding and I chucked the cotton bud into the rubbish. I always hated those splintered doors. I always hated the splintered floorboards and walls with unfixed holes. I will never forget growing up in such a poor household. I guess that's what you would expect in district 12.
"What are you doing wide awake in the middle of the night?" Said a voice. I span around expecting to see my mum or dad, but finding my older brother standing in his bedroom doorway.
"Nothing," and with that, I sprinted into my bedroom.
"Fraser," I said as I swung open one of my older brothers' bedroom door. I was expecting to see Fraser sitting on his torn mattress reading one of grandpa's old novels. Instead another person was in the room. My mother. They were both standing up in front of the bed, facing each other. Mum looked furious, she had bloodshot eyes and a veiny forehead. They both looked at me and I noticed Fraser had a black eye with blood patches along his cheek. Mum had bruised and blooded knuckles on only one hand and that was when I realised the situation. My guts twisted inside of me and my head felt as though it was going to explode. My heart skipped a beat and I didn't know what to do. So I ran. I didn't just run into my bedroom. I really ran. Out of the house, up the gravel road and over the fence.
