Tea Break

The Tree

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District 7
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"Go away, kid," the man barked with his axe resting over his shoulder.

"NO! Go cut another tree," The young, 11 years old kid, said in defense, covering the tree's thick trunk with his little frail arms.

"This kid, " The man said, gritting his teeth. He walked towards the kid and grabbing him by his collar, he held him high up in the air.

"Leave... me," The kid struggled in the man's grasp.

"Leave him," a heavy dark voice cut through the ruffling sound of leaves and the small whimpers of the kid.

The man left his grip on the kid's collar and turned around and bowed to the Chief.

The Chief was a young man in his middle 30's. He was given this position by the President of Panem.

"I'll take it from here. You can leave," he ordered the man, who nodded and left after giving the kid a glare.

The Chief, Owen Graddy, walked up to the coughing kid and sat down to meet his height.

"Hey buddy," He said, holding a water bottle towards the kid.

The kid, Jack, looked up at the man with a soft expression with his teary eyes. He sniffed and rubbed his tears away as he took the water bottle from him.

"What in this tree makes it special from all the others in this forest?" Owen asked, in almost a whisper to not scare Jack.

"My... mum. She used to play with me here until I was three," Jack said, looking up at the branches of the tree.

"What happened then?" Owen asked, looking at Jack's sad face.

Kids in district 7 usually used their innocent faces to trick and steal from the elders. Even though District 7 provided paper and wood to Panem, still they didn't received enough much food to eat three meals a day.

"My mum was tired, lonely and hungry. Our dad was taken away by the soldiers of Panem at the time of war. After then we never saw or heard from him. My mum did everything to feed me but she didn't had enough much to eat herself. And one day she went to the dam a-and," Jack couldn't say much as he started crying at the mention of the horrible past event, "She jumped in," Jack said and covered his face with his hands while sobbing.

"Shh, it's okay. Everything will be fine," Owen said as he wrapped his arm around Jack. Memories of his past flashing through his mind. Jack's story reminded him of the time when he was taken away by the soldiers of Panem, where he was sent to the war. After doing a great job in the war, they gave him a high rank in District 7 army, instead of allowing him to go back home.

Jack, after calming down, backed away slowly from Owen, "Please don't cut down this tree. It's the only thing that reminds me of the good times."

"I won't. They won't," Owen said as he carressed Jack's head, "Where do you live?"

"I don't have a home. I live on the streets and eat what little I can found."

Owen nodded as he looked at Jack's feet over which he was wearing an old and torn pair of shoes.

An idea suddenly struck in Owen's mind, "You wanna come with me kid? To the base? You can work there and get three meals a day, and even have a proper room to live."

Jack looked up at Owen, with eyes sparkling from excitement, "Can I?"

Owen nodded and the kid jumped up on him, "Thank you mister!"

Owen chuckled "What's your name kid?"

"Jack. Jack Graddy"