Marisa Penelope Alonso (D12) DONE!

Marisa Penelope Alonso

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Others Speech~debdea

Fifteen
District Twelve
ADD
Optimist
Indecisive
Heterosexual

Appearance

Life hasn't been easy for me, growing up in the Seam and all that, but a lot of people have it worse. I get the one or two good meals your supposed to have, depending on the day. Never in my life has there been a day where I have had nothing to eat, in fact, I do not remember the last time I was hungry. Maybe it is just my body adapting, I still make sure to thank my dad for ever meal though, he is the one who I have to thank most for not starving. Because of my father, Xabi, I stand a respectable 5"5 and weigh 100 pounds.

Word around the street is that I am skinny, but when I look around I wonder how people think that. Other children my age are just skin and bones, at least I have some definition. Still, I can see why people say I'm skinny, and it is a compliment I would think, but at least I am not thin like some of the unfortunate people in my district. I am considerably lucky in comparison to them, though you could argue that I am not that lucky.

I do not look lie most people who live in the Seam. Brown hair and olive skin is all I see around me, even most people in my family have that same combination. Actually, the only other person in my family who has blonde hair and pale skin is the youngest of my five brothers, Fernando. All but two of my siblings are younger than I, the five previously mentioned boys and three of my sisters are younger, only the twin sisters Alana and Ariana are older. Apparently they had blonde hair and blue eyes as babies, funny how things change. I really do wonder how that happens.

Aren't eyes the window to the soul, or something like that? If my memory serves correct, I believe that I heard it somewhere. It can't be true though, eyes are just eyes. But if someone said it they must of had proof, why else would they share it with the world. That being said, I can't see why the window to anyones soul would be brown or blue or purple or -in my case- a deep green. Wouldn't it make more sense for a window to be clear and glassy, not opaque and colored. Could that be why the churches they show us in textbooks have stained glass windows, it makes sense, but I doubt it. Stained glass is only used because it looks cool, because of its extravagance, not because of any sentimental reason. Could that be why eyes are colored, extravagance? It seems decently smart to me.

Though my hair is blonde, my eyebrows just do not want to match them. I've seen people from town with blonde hair and blonde eyebrows, it looks weird, almost like they aren't there. I am thankful that I don't have to deal with the appearance of not having eyebrows, though it might be cool to be different in that way. It would be really cool to try it out for a day or two, see how I look, but probably wont happen. Maybe my future babies will have that combination, then I wont have to imagine what I might look like, they will do the looking for me.

How anyone has perfect teeth without surgery is a mystery to me. I am not prone to plaque, but my teeth still have the faintest tint of yellow and are far from perfect in shape. Of course my triplet younger sisters Gabby, Sophia and Alessia were blessed with perfectly shaped teeth, but they do not have the near clean color I do. Sometimes I feel lucky for my clean teeth, and other times I feel jealous. It would be beautiful for this to change.

Both Alana and Ariana were the active type at my age, always running around with friends, getting dirty with the coat of dust that inhabits every little nook and cranny of District Twelve. What they used to wear is now mine, and I have to live with their dirt every day. I am not the active type, so it cannot be hard to imagine how unpleasant it is to spend your days in someone else's sweat, but I manage.

Because I am not like my brothers or older sisters, I am not on the lucky end with shoes. They wear them whenever they want to go out, and when my time interferes with them, I am the unlucky one. Due to this lack of footwear, I end up with many callouses on my feet. It is annoying to say the least, but I get used to it, so the annoyance just becomes another part of daily life that I wish to change.

Personality

Life's a gift, life's a blessing, life is many things so why not just enjoy it? Everything happens for a reason, more times than not that reason is good. Even people who do awful things, such as President Snow, must have good reasons for them. I have been called a glass-half full person by many, always thinking positively. I don't know why anyone would do differently. I find that if you think you are going to fail then you are going to fail, simple as that. As long as I try at what I do, I will succeed.

Of course there is the problem of actually sitting down to do things. See, I have some issues focusing, teachers dislike that, but I find that what I lack in focus i gain in creativity, most of my family is like that. The boys can't stand not moving around, and most of the girls have trouble listening. It would be impossible for me to tell you what is going on sometimes when we eat as a family, because I honestly do not know. Everything is happening so quickly, everyone is speaking and it is impossible to get a word in and oh my god it is just mayhem. But really, it is just the Alonso family. I don't get frustrated with any of my siblings because I love them the way a sister should.

Dinners have become a little calmer now that the house is down to only ten children. The twins have both married and moved in with their husbands, we don't hear from them often anymore. I'm the oldest sibling though, which comes with a burden. I have to make all the decisions, and I am not good at that. Decision making is not my forte you might say, instead I would much rather just sit and write poems on the back of worksheets I get from school. I love poetry, it is my calling, it is what I enjoy doing. Both Xabi and Aleza have told me that I cannot be a poet when I grow up, but that is the only thing that interests me. When I write I am able to make decisions without second guessing, that is the only time that I am decisive. But I have accepted that I will not get to live my dream, despite the fact that it was difficult to do so, I have moved on.

Boys or girls have never really interested me in the way that they interest other kids my age. Sure, it would be amazing to have someone to just vent to sometimes, but I just don't see it necessary. Mom and dad say that I will need to find someone who is rich and lives in town to live a life of luxury and pursue my dreams, but I would much rather live with someone who has the same roots as me, someone from the Seam. But on the note of relationships, I guess I am interested in boys, what other way could it be? I don't think boys like me, but that is probably only because I am a little bit too shy to go up and talk to them. A group of guys is intimidated, even a singular one is difficult for me to engage. I must have never tried to talk to a guy, because most people find me really amusing and engaging to talk to. For now though, I am perfectly happy staying single.

History

Has my life really been any different from anyone else in the Seam? One could argue that I have a few more brothers and sisters than others, but other than that, what is the difference. I have a hard working father, he works the night shift because it makes more money. Xabi Alonso is one of the few willing to do it, there is a much higher risk without as much light, but he needs the extra money. The one or two decent meals we get a day are all thanks to his hard work.

My mother does not work, she stays home and takes care of my nine siblings who still live at home. The twins want nothing to do with us, saying we are too much work, so they put everything on my poor mother. She works so hard, even I can see the stress that is accumulating. The fact that I do not have to sell myself on the street because of my parents is the reason why I thank them even if they do nothing for me, they make my life the best it can possibly be.

Mom and dad both speak a language they call Spanish, and they attempted to teach it to all of their kids. Since I am the one who is the best with English, they thought I would pick up on the language rather quickly, I didn't. Their disappointment was obvious, so I worked harder at it, but things always distracted me. Eventually, I was able to grasp enough of the language to have decent conversations, but the conjugating is not for me. For some reason, unknown to me just like my hair, skin and eye color, I am handy with the English language.

Ever since I started going to school I was good with writing, my reports on coal were always outstanding even if they rambled a little, and I am not even interested in that! Whenever there were rewrites I could not help but creatively writing on the back of the original copy, and whenever the teachers asked for both sheets back, I was embarrassed. They always said not to write irrelevant stuff, but there was always a smiley sticker next to their notes. Eventually I got over my embarrassment and started to pick up scrap paper wherever I could.

In my free time, I write. What I write about is unknown to me until the pen hits the paper. I lose myself in my work. I figure if I lived in a more liked District then I already would have been discovered, but if I work hard enough I will be able to write for a living, even in the poor District Twelve. People will always doubt me having any chance of being successful, because people have better things to do than read, but I beg to differ. With the constant power outages in District Twelve, I do not see any reason why I wont be successful as a poet.

Some people worry about me, they think I might be antisocial, but I swear I'm not. I enjoy the company of other people, but my mind is always wandering and if I do not sit down and write I might lose the greatest piece of writing ever. Any thought would come back to me after a while, I have a great memory, but any poem would not be better than if it was a spur of the moment thing. When I suffer writers block I spend time with my younger siblings, they are my inspiration. Some of them are just so cute, so innocent. I could write a poem just by looking at them - not to creep, but I already have-.

Once my sisters were out of the house and married, so much responsibility fell on my shoulders. There is so much less time to write now, I have to help my mom more and more. At first it was disappointing, but then I realized that my mom does so much work, and she cannot do it by herself. So anytime that I would have spent with friends I spend writing. The only time that I am not writing or helping my mom, I am at school or walking by the fence to District Twelve. I would never venture over it, I am happy with my life in District Twelve, but the ideas that would sprout from being out there entice me. Just walking by it gives me muse for poetry. Compared to the dull and dusty district, it is a beautiful breath of fresh air and greenery.

Boys have never been an issue, I have been attracted physically to some of them before, but almost everyone has. I might of had a few 'boyfriends' at a young age, but who didn't. What was it that we did? Kiss on the cheek? Even I know that is nothing that counts. My older sisters always nagged me about my lack of a love life, but I do not really care. I figure when I meet the right guy, I will know it is him. He is out there somewhere, I am sure about that. Maybe he will be attracted to me through my writing. No matter what draws him in, I feel no need to rush a relationship. Mr Right will come when the time is right.

odair