Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
────── prologue word count: 3.5k ❝ secret names ❞ POV:CHASSIS
4 BTT ── before the treaty of treason
Mr. Harbin thought there was something wrong with his four year-old daughter.
Chassis silently agreed with him as she stood at the foot of the yellow slide, digging her feet into the wooden chips, and not moving an inch since arriving with her father. Kids in the playground avoided the loopy slide since the 'weird girl in the green dress wouldn't budge'. Not even the gray clouds above matched her dampened attitude; the gray and rusted play structure are as dull as her.
Patience is key, her Momsie always told her. She had a very vague clue of the true definition of patience, and what door this patience key unlocked, but Chassis knew it meant it's okay to wait a little. So, that's what she did. She waited for someone to approach her. Anyone, really. The waiting was proven to be counterproductive, though, when not a single person on the playground asked her to play with them. Chassis wasn't much of a talker.
If anything, she was an observer.
For example, she knew that the more affluent citizens of the district wore silver jewelry, but people in the Capitol wore gold. Her mother, an exporter for the Western Districts Exporting Team (WDET), brought her to work to send the luxury items from One to the Capitol, while her father -- her Poppy -- worked overtime at the factory. 'Rich' there didn't mean the same as 'rich' in the districts, especially hers. Six wasn't Districts Ten, Eleven, or Twelve, but it wasn't One or Two either. In fact, 'rich' in Six might meant 'poor' in the Capitol, meaning that she was likely 'scum' to them.
It's a word she heard Poppy say to Momsie, and it must be something bad. Poppy doesn't really like Momsie, but Momsie really likes Poppy.
A couple and their children arrived at the park. One taller boy, and one younger girl about her age. They wore silver everywhere: their ears, wrists, necks. The pretty lady with brown curls, who she assumed to be the children's Momsie, even wore silver rings on each finger. The few children that played whispered among themselves, commenting on how extravagant the daughter's dress was and pretty the dainty silver hoops were in her ears.
