Makeshift Hearts

District 117

The sun was high in the sky and beat rays of heat down upon the earth. The farmers living in district 117 plowed into the earth to ready it for planting. The quality of the soil not ideal since the Venus partial received significantly less rain than the Neptune partial. It was always hot and dry there. Regardless of the weather, district 117's inhabitants had a quota to fill and so they proceeded to work. Rei Framer lived in district 117. He was a curious young boy, about 12. He worked alongside his father and five brothers on the field while his mother and four sisters did housework and cared for the animals. Their way of life was very conservative and it was clearly established who would do what all across the district. Women did maternal work which required their feminine gentleness and men did the manual labor that required their masculinity and hardiness to progress at all. The district's crops would die often and that was to be expected considering the dry climate. The few successful crops were the pride of the Framer family. They happily contributed to the quota for their district as did everyone else. Everyone except Rei.

"Why do they make us farm if we're in the Venus partial? Don't they know that the Neptune partial would be better at this?" asked Rei to his father.

"Now Rei, we've been over this. We don't question why we do what we do or how we have to do it. That's not for us simple folk. The lovely headmaster from District 0 knows everything n' always wants the best fer everyone." replied his father with a stern voice.

"But dad ya say that all the time. You don't even try to question what our life means and fer what we have to be doing this instead of... ya'know. Somethin' else?"

"It's not our place son and that's that. Don't go wanderin' with yer head in the clouds Rei. An' stop talking to yer uncle Ferdinand. He ain't nothin' but a fool. He be tellin' lies like it's his second nature. We gotta farm with our tools and be proud of what we do fer the world. The upper quadrants handle fancy shmancy political nonsense with their shiny gems. Gems don't fall round these parts. Uncle Ferdi don't know what he's talkin' 'bout."

"But Uncle Ferdi is real cool, dad, and they could too fall here. They can fall anywhere." retorted Rei. "He told me about what they do at central! They got all kinds of cool gizmos, gadgets, and gems but we're stuck with these simple tools. Can't we go an' visit the-"

"That's 'nuff Rei! I ain't hearin' no more of this. Headmaster knows what we gotta do and his word is final. Stop fiddlin' 'round with yer fate. Uncle Ferdi ain't helping you at all. If you ain't gon do yer part, the centers'll come lookin' fer ya an' put ya in yer place. An' no Framer gonna need fixin' up, ya hear? Now wait till we get back an' you'll be in fer an earful from ma."

Rei's father, Philip Framer, was not the best with words and expressing his feelings. Rei could never open up to him nor the rest of his family about anything. It was like they were all programmed to think a certain way and any sort of objection would be met with a harsh and firm rebuttal with no flexibility. His mother and father did not tolerate any way of thinking that wasn't theirs. Rei's brothers and sisters made sure to report any of his wrongdoings and actions that were considered out of the norm to their parents immediately. There was no room for Rei to be himself but instead he was taught to be a clone following orders given to him and nothing more than just that. A mindless farmer. But uncle Ferdinand had a completely different mindset from Rei's direct family. He was as vastly different from everyone in the district. Uncle Ferdinand was a great redwood tree in a plain of short grass. He was an outlet for Rei and someone who he could confide in.

Rei would always rushed to finish his chores and run to Uncle Ferdinand's soon after. He darted through the fields to a large storage house. He walked up to the door, slowly pulled it open, and peeked inside. "Uncle Ferdi ya there?" asked Rei in a quiet voice.