Tessa Azalia Riddley // D10 [FIN]

It seems from over years of flipping book pages and hunting through aging newspapers that Tessa is transforming into one. With skin almost as pale as worn paper and ink smudges coating the long fingers branching off of her adding to the rumour that she might grow into a dictionary by the next day. Few tiny scraps tend to etch themselves onto her palms and knees, from tripping while reading of course. Extra room had not been provided for more scrapes though, as the stacks of books she attempted to commute from one end of District 10 to the other were usually towering over her. It didn't help the situation that the only measly library in all of District Ten was located a couple of hours away from the home, and that was if Tessa scampered like a bat out of hell the way there.

Bulk of the passing outsiders thought of Tessa as if she was a werellama, but somehow the imagery stuck. The smile she usually held onto weakly resembled a baby llama's in a sense, and she would know. Dark strands screwed into her scalp like the pages into a binder either sat in a loose clip or flowed dangerously unkempt, like a lion's mane. Why change to impress. Yet, the tiny jewels that sat in her skull seemed to reflect the threads they saw, forming brunette like her parents' had. Like a small mountain, her pale nose rested barely peaking at all, as if her face was influenced by the herd of tensome she cared for.

Caring seemed to happen to her a lot. Ignoring somebody in need was almost against her biological code, leaving them crying even if she had something that desperately needed to be completed deemed impossible. Every attempt she gave to walk away ended with her coming back, even if she had to give up getting a chapter or two farther in her latest imaginary adventure. The simple "What's the harm?" excuse flooding her mind each time, because it's what her parents would have done. Influence that still shaped her from her parents was almost insane, how could two people who weren't even around affect her that much. But each time she did something that felt deserved their approval, she could almost hear her father's booming voice, the warm "Goodjob, Binders." seemingly filling the air around her and welcoming her back to the place she was never wanted.

"Binders" was what her father had called her for barely eleven years. Not only because her face was consumed in any type of writing like pages strapped into one, but because of the collection of binders she held onto in order to collect her sheets of notes and ideas rather than the pieces of her mind. The boxes of binders back then were almost as attached to her as the books of today still are, but the habit died off after being dropped into the community home. Not died, rather decreased. Because it hadn't completed died, a pile of binders filled with organization blessed into every placed sheet were still located there, but a pile of only a few rather than stacks of tens and twenties.

Organizing and reorganizing the same sheets became remedial, there was only so many times somebody could place the same 462 sheets alphabetically, then by subject, then by date of recognition then by date of creation, then by Author's name, and so on and so forth. Instead she had taken up farm work, like most of the other unwanted souls. Animals had always been of interest, and an easy subject to learn about considering the majority of the only library hosted only books about livestock. Somehow Llamas came into the picture, well after birds had. Birds hadn't been much fun, they just pecked at you and clawed you. Llamas on the other hand, didn't claw at you or peck at you. In fact, they couldn't claw you if they tried, but they possessed some outrageous spitting talent, most of the boys at the home figured that out quickly.

Over the years, Tessa hadn't really changed all that much. When she was born, she was usually just as stupidly happy as she is today, smiling a toothy grin for no real reason at all. and laughters that came from her could power the entire district all the same still as well. Even as a child she was serious about reading as well, being able to reach chapter after chapter before most of her classmates could even finish three sentences, just as her parents could before her, and still could. The three of them appeared happy on the inside and outside, because they were, or at least they were to Tessa. Disputes didn't happen every day, but it wasn't rare. Usually, as their voices rose like yeast, Tessa would just jog her way into the next room and read for hours, or until they stopped.

It wasn't every day either, that they would walk down to the Northern Community Home, and considering they lived near the southern side it was actually never. Making their way quietly down to the polar had been awkward, and long. "But just you wait Tessa! Once we arrive, you're gonna meet some amazing new friends and you'll have loads of fun. Her father hadn't been lieing all that much either. Waiting for her were some nice people, and a nice lady everybody called Ma, and a lot of space divided among the other children there. But when she had turned around, her parents were gone. It must have been some mistake, because they loved her, right? But obviously not enough, because they were gone, yet she wasn't.

Life at the home wasn't that bad, being able to talk to somebody whenever she needed had been a plus. The space surrounding the ginormous barn was not bad either, sitting in the tall grass near the animals was definitely more relaxing than sitting inside around some of the more noisy kids. In fact, most of her time was occupied with being outside; taking care of the llamas, accidentally falling asleep in the weeds and grass, watching the clouds take their own adventure without her. None of those were accessible to her inside, and the llamas required some love, even if Tessa didn't.