7

Cora

Thomas looks at me in anticipation as I sit and contemplate my next answer. I look once again into those eyes that seem to always captivate me and I know how I should answer.

“Yes, I did often feel like I had no freedom. I’m not sure how much you have been outside of the headquarters or how many villages you have actually seen, but women are not treated as equals. There are very few men who actually care about their mates. I was lucky enough to live in a home where my father wasn’t physically abusing my mother. Well, at least not where I had ever witnessed it. My grandparents were together before the reaping so they were actually in love.” I see the look on his face and I can see that he has not heard this or at the very least knew that it was a widespread problem. “Most women in my village were with men who would abuse them. They were treated as second class citizens. That is why I have acted the way I have. I was