The trials of being a woman//Cherry2

[red]

Rose knew better than to even think of putting make-up on her daughter; she still had the beautiful, clear complexion of a child, and her mother was loathe to cover that up. She loved the little dappled pattern of freckles sprinkled across her offspring's face, and beneath that her soft, pale complexion. She sometimes envied children, with their perfect skin and a rare innocence in their appearance. It was part of the reason she so enjoyed styling the appearance of tributes. They had never had any contact with this world of make-up and modifications and beauty, and so there was something undeniably childlike in their appearance. They had a beauty which was raw, unaltered, like that of a child. Admittedly, the concept of prepping children for slaughter was one that weighed a little heavily on her conscience, but she continued to insist to herself that she was doing them a favour. Without beauty, they had no sponsors. Without sponsors, they had no hope whatsoever of surviving the games.

Cherry seemed to take breath in momentarily before she replied.

"I'm fine mother."

"That's good..." Rose replied, before elaborately braiding another few locks of hair into something which was undoubtably fabulous. She smiled to herself, admiring her own work with a pleased eye.

"I haven't read a bad book yet. The one I'm reading now is really good and I'm almost finished, sadly. School. We're learning a little about the rebellion and I don't like it."

It took Rose a few moments to realise that her daughter was simply listing answers as a necessity, so she had another go. "What book it is?" She nodded sympathetically at the mirror. "I didn't like it much either. I always thought they might have been giving quite a biased account. But it's best just to listen and say nothing." She paused. "We're almost done here. What do you think?"

Words//310
OOC Comments//computer did bad blocky things again to the original thread D< sorry

[Allison]

Cherry watched as her mother's reflection in the mirror as she worked through strands of hair. At times the young ten year old wondered what really went through her mother's mind when she worked or even when she was out partying. Did she ever cross her mothers mind? No way of telling with out asking and that was something she never could do. That would be liked asking if her mother loved the job or her more.

Her mother deciphered that way her mind had been working. The young ten year old didn't want to talk and found it easier to just list simple bits of information. Despite her efforts she yawned and reached up with her two small hands to rub the sleep from her eyes. Trying to sleep at night was terrible with the neighbors almost always fighting or having a party. Slowly she laid her hands back in her lap and smiled a faint smile at how clever her mother was.

In the silence after her mother spoke she tugged at her shirt and twisted it in her fingers casually. How did she answer her mothers question with out really having to speak? She raked her brain trying to remember what the book was called. To be honest she never really paid attention to the name of a book but more to the cover art and detail information if that was even given.

"I don't remember the title." She admitted shifting her eyes to the counter again rather embarrassed. Then she took in on what her mom was saying about school. Yes, it was better just to stay silent but she couldn't stand the topic. Gently she sighed and looked back at the mirror. "What is the point in even learning about it in school? Almost all of the town watches the even and I'm pretty sure most of the kids aren't even paying attention to what the teacher says." Frustration managed to sneak its way into her voice. Slowly she stopped messing with her shirt to look at what her mom had done with her hair. She turned her head a few inches from one side to the other to take in the whole look. "I like it."

[red]

She was very pleased with her work; elaborate twists of braids now crowned her little girl's head. They were beautiful, yet they did not take away from her child-like beauty; did not compromise her innocence. Guiltily, she felt a little burst of eager anticipation for the reaping, thinking of the satisfaction she would feel from having two new projects to work on. She had her dream job.

Of course, having had that thought, she immediately felt guilty. Essentially, she was prepping them for slaughter. That weighed heavily enough on her conscience.

"I don't remember the title."

Cherry's voice brought Rose out of her thoughts in an instant. She was dedicating today to her daughter; she could not get distracted. "You should show it to me sometime." she smiled.

Rose very much appreciated her daughter's frustration in regards to what she was forced to be educated in. She herself had experienced similar emotions during her time at school. However, she had learned that it was very imprudent to voice any misgivings about such things. That would cause many unwanted consequences.

"I think they just like to remind us." She paused for a moment. "Make sure you don't say anything about it in school, though. I know it's hard to listen to, but they'll always expect you to go along with everything the government says."

Realising that this was probably too solid a topic for a ten-year-old, Rose shut up. She beamed at her daughter's response to her new hairstyle. "You do? It's lovely, isn't it? You look like...oh, some kind of princess warrior who lives out in a forest and stuff." Laughing at her own wittiness, she tucked a few loose strands under Cherry's hairline. "There. Now...shopping?"

Words//281
OOC Comments//I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, lol. Brain is not working.