Ara Wel
District 9
Ara is exceptionally kind, though she sometimes puts other people’s wants in front of her needs. She is loyal to a fault, and often has to check if she is being used. Ara can sometimes be forgetful, remembering small details but forgetting important things. She can also overwork herself, causing exhaustion that may leave her the smallest bit irritable. Ara lives with her parents and two younger sisters. They work in a bakery that makes simple loaves and buns for the people who work the grains in her district. Ara often finds herself looking after her sisters, two identical twins who like to cause havoc. She is good at identifying plants and what help they may bring to her. In her free time, Ara is often helping those out in the fields, bringing them some rest and a warm smile. In the nights when she is alone, she looks up into the stars and wonders what it would be like to be among them. Ara’s closest and only friend is her next-door neighbour, Mia. They met when they were just babies, and have been friends ever since. Mia works out in the wheat fields near Ara’s house, and for lunch, Ara will always bring her the freshest of rolls.
Ara's reaping
Reaped
The reaping day was always the hardest. Ara hated watching the kids getting torn from their parents, the screams of anguish that fell upon the crowd. She was glad that she was safe, the grain bribes useless as she would always have food. She was glad that her sisters would be safe as well, and that she could guarantee Mia food. So they were safe. Or so she thought. Five slips of paper had her name on them. Five in the hundreds. And somehow, somehow the name in the official’s hand had been hers. She brought a hand to her mouth, only then remembering not to cry for her family’s sake. How would she do this? She couldn’t hurt anyone, much less kill them. She knew it then. She was going to die.
