Mouse Klark, District Three (CDB #2)

Fourteen

Female

District Three

They call me names. Sometimes they get creative - Astrodork, Twinkle Toes, Scatterbrain - but mostly they just call me Mouse. I think it's because of my mousy hair color and huge brown eyes, or because I'm mute. Mouse isn't my real name, of course (my real name's Miranda), but I let them call me that because if I don't then they'll think of worse things. None of the doctors can figure out why I can't talk. I was born with a tongue and everything, so they think it's something wrong in my brain, even though I'm plenty smart. Years of teasing have raised me to be a shy child, ducking my head in crowds and avoiding people when I can. I have no friends, but I don't blame that on the muteness - I blame it on my tendency to be what others call odd. Ever since I was a little I've tried expressing myself through my body, since I can't talk. I like to dress up in costumes and dance when nobody is looking. The only problem is that they do look. They follow me and laugh at how I sneak out in the middle of the night and twirl around and leap and move my lips like I can talk even though I can't. They make fun of me. They make fun of how I practically worship the stars, too, drawing out pictures of them with chalk on the sidewalk. They don't understand that to me, stars are the most beautiful things because they don't talk either but everyone loves them anyway. Everyone else says they want to grow up to be just like their parents or their teachers, but me? I want to grow up and be just like the stars.

Concise Bio Day, 2013 (299 words)
odair