thomas o'quinn - d12 - - done -

[pup]

name: thomas o'quinn
gender: male
age: 18
district: 12
appearance: who knows
personality: what
history: ...
fc: alec pollentier

[pup]

[googlefont="Gelasio:400"]

thomas o'quinn

there are no wrinkles along the gaunt face. he hasn't smiled in a long time. not because there was some death, an instance where his life was shaken forever or some other great trauma. no, instead his changes were small. it took time for him to realize the horrors around him and there was no reason to smile.

he grew up happy. long ago he would run around the streets of district twelve, his blue eyes wide with the standard childish curiosity and admiration for the world around him. his parents got by on their meager salaries as "healers." some called them witchdoctors. they would be called doctors if not for their lack of formal education and their atypical methods. by day, his older sister would bring him into the nearby forests, a shopping list of ingredients needed scrawled on a sheet of paper. she would point out each mushroom, bending down and indicating the colors. he was an avid learner, and by the time he was seven he could prattle off the names of the herbs his parents used daily. at night, his parents would tuck him into bed in a room shared with his sister and younger brother, gently brushing his long, dirty blond hair out of his eyes.

eventually, he became fluent enough in the plants used to teach his brother how his sister had taught him. he took his brother to the forrest every day while his sister moved into working alongside their parents. he began to notice how every day, his sister's once bright eyes dimmed a little more. he would ask what happened, and his sister would tell him not to worry; there's no need to worry. as time passed, he began to grow more, reaching heights greater than his father and peers. one day his sister announced that she was getting another job, one at the coal mines.

he can remember his parents locking eyes for a moment, asking if she was sure she wanted to do this. his eyes flicked in between the girl and the adults, a tension building between them, and his smile began to falter. the next day, he joined his parents in the small studio next to the house where they conducted their work. he was never allowed in before, but he wasn't sure why. all he saw was a small table in the center, a few chairs along the sides, and materials and herbs stacked in glass containers along shelves looping around the room. they explained what each medicinal devices was and how it was used. a syringe, a sewing needle, a small glass container which was meant to store whatever medicine a patient was sent home with.

that night, his sister came home, soot on her face, a ragged smile as she tried to tell her parents that it was a good first day. he was confused, he could see his sister's fingers from one hand clenched tight in another, her feet rocking ever so slightly. you're lying. he didn't know why, but he could see that his sister's smile was leaving her.

why didn't you just stay with mom and dad? why are you working at the coal mine?

the questions bounced around his mind throughout the night, a small hole appearing in his heart as he remembered how his sister had turned away from their parents, her once perpetual smile disappearing. it hurt to see his sister no longer smiling.

the next day, he had a preview of why his sister left. an old man knocked on the door of the shack, breaths haggard as he coughed violently into one hand. the man complained, saying that the hospital refused to give him any more medication because he couldn't pay and his rations had run out. thomas' smile faltered as he heard the story. his parents sat the man down, mixing together a few herbs before sending him off.

days past, and thomas thought he saw the worst of diseases enter that small shack. he wondered why the hospital was so cruel, how people could be so cruel. every time, people complained about their rations running out, the hospital refusing to help them.

"don't worry, tommy, just keep smiling and it will be ok. we just want to help people who have nowhere else to turn to," his parents said every time he confronted them, asking about why the people they saw kept getting turned away from the hospital. he knew why his parents didn't charge more like the hospital did, why they still lived on scraps like the rest of district twelve. he aspired to be like them, to be kind and caring and happy, but every day he felt his smile droop a little more.

one time, someone was rushed in, two people holding him. a whimper spread echoed through the small studio as his parents rushed to work. thomas got a glimpse of the bullet wounds, the blood through the mans' shirt before it was torn away. he quickly passed his parents the needle and thread as they got to work. the two people who had brought him in said that he had stood up to the peacekeepers, that the peacekeepers had shot him, and that the hospital refused to help him because they weren't allowed.

his world had crashed slowly. he now knew that people were terrible, that this district was terrible. the world is full of horrors, and people aren't going to be kind and caring. he knew why his sister had chosen the coal mines over this. thomas' normally steady fingers shook has he handed his parents a numbing agent and more thread.

the man died that day.

the bullets had pierced an artery.

the world wasn't full of people like his parents, like his sister and brother. at this point, his smile had already disappeared.

he still helps people to this day, assisting in his parents studio alongside his brother. every day, his sister comes back from the coal mines, her voice sounding more and more constricted as pollution lines her lungs.

however, he won't smile. he can't. every time he tries to keep the face he used to have as a child, the memory of every sick and dying person shunned by the world enters his brain. he can't imagine how many people would have died without his family's help, but he also can't imagine how many have died even with it. they were turned away at every corner where they could have gotten better aid, and this was their last resort.

he doesn't question his sister anymore. he doesn't ask her what's wrong. all the questions he could have asked have been answered.

all he knows to do now, is that when his brother asks him a question in the same inquisitive manner about what's wrong or why he can't help with certain procedures, he answers "don't worry, there's nothing wrong. just keep smiling."

[pup]

i think this is good? it's been a year and a half so let me know if i need to fix anything ripred_bot

[pup]

bump ripred_bot

[shrimp]

this writing is so vivid!! really interested in seeing these healers in action. great job puppy!!

accepted!