Two choices:
Live and die in District 12 like her parents or Run and hide for the rest of her life, leaving everything she has known behind including her only friends.
Carina chose a third option and became someone else, abandoning who she was and...
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Four years before the 74th Hunger Games,
Morning sun cast a soft, golden glow over the quaint little shop nestled in the heart of the Merchant side of District 12. Great aunt Dottie's shop stared at her, judging her in silence. The little shop had belonged to her great grandfather but a sworn spinster great-aunt Dottie inherited it over her sister who'd married their childhood friend, Carina's grandfather. Great aunt Dottie kept it open for years after her own father had passed and many of the shops around had been sold or removed.
It was admirable and if Carina had to be honest she looked up to her great-aunt's strength and tenacity but her prickly nature made her difficult to get along with. It didn't help that great-aunt Dottie didn't get along with her grandfather despite growing up with him alongside Carina's grandmother, Dottie's only sister.
Taping her feet, Carina nervously stared at the weathered sign of the shop painted in a faded powder blue with red letters too chipped to be read. In front of the dirt and soot covered window, she could see three mannequins dressed in dresses of cotton, satin and lace—probably the most expensive of great-aunt Dottie's works. But they were old and the style was outdated, something someone might've worn two or three decades ago.
With a shaky breath, she pushed the creaky door with the closed sign open. A quiet distorted jingle echoed through the small shop before she heard some rustling in the distance.
"You're late." Great-aunt Dottie said, her stern voice echoed through the quaint and weathered room of the shop floor as Carina stepped inside. She came out of the shadows dragging her feet, the limp prominent in her walk. Great aunt Dottie was a tall woman, with a swan-like neck covered in a light scarf with tired green eyes and a tan face marred with deep set wrinkles with white hair twisted into a bun with a butterfly pin holding it up. "Don't just stand there with your mouth wide open, I've got a long day ahead of me and Edith still hasn't had her breakfast yet." She said, motioning behind her, moving the skirts of her patched navy dress to show her only companion.
The white fluffy cat with orange patches stretched out in front of Carina before circling around her as if she was checking her. Its spoiler demeanour and gait with its head held high was amusing to watch, it looked almost human-like to Carina. That was Edith, great-aunt Dottie's only companion and her almost child.
No surprise that the damned cat managed to get an attitude. She was spoiled as much as the profits of great-aunt Dottie's little shop allowed her to be.
"Here, kitty." Carina softly called out to her with a smile. Edith sniffed around her for a moment before turning her head away.
Without another glance her way, Edith sauntered back to her owner, brushing her face against great-aunt Dottie's legs while meowing affectionately.
"She's gonna keep giving you some attitude until she gets fed. Did ya get her breakfast?" Great aunt Dottie asked impatiently. "She's starving and so am I."
