Elden Morgan | District Nine | FIN

Elden Morgan
Male | Seventeen | Bisexual

My lightly colored skin is almost completely clear of any blemishes or scars. I have a rather muscular body, and I have a lot of strength, especially in my arms. I've been told by some that I'm rather attractive, and I certainly don't mind getting the compliment. For years, I was uncomfortable with how small and scrawny I was, so I gained some weight in muscle, which makes me feel much more confident about my appearance. My endurance is rather good, and I can carry heavy objects quite a distance if need be. I also feel that if I were in a physical conflict with someone, I may be able to take them down, even if they're bigger than me. Another reason I decided to bulk up my body is because I want to be able to protect those I care about in physically threatening situations, since I wasn't able to save my brother when I had the chance, due to not being strong enough.

I stand at a considerable five feet, eleven inches tall, which is taller than anyone else in my family. My height and muscles can make me seem somewhat more intimidating that I actually should be, in my opinion. I like to show off my bright smile, as my teeth are as white as they should be, if not better than that. I have somewhat long limbs, and rather large feet. One thing that I really don't like about my appearance, however, is that I have the very tip of my right ear missing, due to an injury during my childhood that involved a rather vicious attack from a stray cat when I was about five years old. Now that I think about it, however, I actually find the story kind of amusing, as there are so many things that could have caused the injury, but in the end, it was simply an enraged cat off of the streets of District Nine.

The dark brown hair on my head gives me somewhat of a common appearance, as well as my rather dull eyes. I tend to dress as nicely as I can, although, it's rather difficult, due to my family not having much money anymore. I now wear a lot more t-shirts than polo shirts, due to not being able to afford the nicer-looking option of the two. At this point, however, I actually enjoy dressing casually. It makes me feel comfortable, physically, and I also don't feel as restricted by what I'm wearing. My eyes are somewhat close together with my eyebrows showing up thick and prominent on my face. I have a square jawline, and an average-sized nose. I wouldn't say that the appearance of my face is what stands out the most. I would say, however, that the thing most people seem to find attractive about me is the build of my body, such as how muscular I've become over the years.

Ever since the death of my mother and brother, I've become much more distant from people. I've always had friends, yes, but normally, I don't get extremely close with people. Relationships don't seem to last for me, and I only have a few friendships that have lasted a long time. It's not that I don't get along with people; no, not at all. I get along with people rather well, actually. I believe that my reason for not being able to hold friendships or relationships as long as I would like is because I'm rather sensitive, emotionally. I don't like the topic of death, and jokes about it certainly don't help. People try to make me feel better about losing family members by telling me everything is going to be okay, but that just makes me frustrated, as if they're trying to get me to think that my losses aren't important and didn't have as much of an impact on my life as they really did. I'm not someone that will make an outburst when I'm angry, though. Instead, I tend to go quiet and avoid people when I'm feeling that way.

When I'm in a good mood, it's very noticeable. I'm rather cheery towards everyone when I'm full of joy, and it's hard to bring me out of such a good mood. Although, those moods don't happen very often. When I'm upset, I get very upset, tending to avoid people and feeling like I've done something wrong in my life, even if whatever is upsetting me wasn't actually my fault. I tend to put myself down a lot, as I don't have much for self-confidence. This isn't really a good thing, but I have trouble controlling it. My sister, June, often tries to cheer my up when I'm in a self-hating mood, but it's hard for her to calm me down or get me out of it. Admittedly, though, she has gotten me out of those moods before, and I believe that she and my closest friend, Fangor, are really the only ones capable of doing that.

I wouldn't really say that I have any enemies, exactly. Yes, I have people I don't like and I have people that don't like me, but I don't think that's quite the word for it. Personally, I think that it's good to not have any enemies. People upset or bother me sometimes, but I'd say that that happens to just about everyone. There are a few people that I avoid in my life, because I don't exactly get along with them, but on the off chance we do encounter one another, I just try my best to remain quiet in the situation, even if they say something rude to me. I'm someone who will say hello to others on the street, even if I don't know them, just to make friendly conversation. I like to make people happy, as it makes me forget about a lot of the troubles in the world, such as the Games. The Games really frighten me, to be completely honest. I'm always afraid that I'll get picked, or someone I care about will. Honestly, though, I'd rather be the one to go in, as I wouldn't want to have to once again witness the death of someone I care for.

I've been told I'm rather intelligent, which I take as a very nice compliment. Some of the things I value most in life are family, friendship, intelligence and loyalty. I feel that if you don't have people you care about and who care about you, such as family and friends, that your life is a bit more dark than it needs to be. I also feel that intelligence is important, because without it, there are many things that one would be incapable of knowing how to do in life, even if it's just simple problem solving. Loyalty is one of the absolute most important things to me. If you break a promise or betray someone, you're not a good person, in my opinion. I would never betray my friends and family, and the promises I make to them.

My brother's murder was one of the hardest things for me to ever have to cope with in my life. He didn't just pass away peacefully like my mother did. No, he was attacked and assassinated by a man with the goal of ending the life of an innocent young boy. My brother had so much of his life ahead of him, but it was all stopped so abruptly and there's no way to get it back. Alder was a sweet and innocent boy, at only ten years old. For some reason, however, someone decided that he didn't deserve to live among the rest of us. That didn't just hurt Alder, either. It took him away from a family that loved him, and there's a gap where he used to be that can never be filled. He's my fallen angel that will never return. I couldn't stop it from happening. I was right beside him when it happened, but I wasn't strong enough to stop him from being killed. It's something I feel guilty about to this day. I should have been able to stop the killer, even if he was twice my age, twice my size and likely twice as strong. The man who was killing Alder, though, knocked me out with one blow, and I woke to find my brother dead. The man was gone, and as far as we know, he was never caught and punished for what he did.

Alder died when I was fifteen years old, and my mother died years before when I was only seven years old. It was hard, after all of that, living with just my father and my older sister. June, my sister, was almost always out of the house, working, which left my father and I. Yes, I did work myself, but not as frequently as June did. There was never any doubt that she generated most of our small, remaining family's income, and I've always appreciated that. She's a hard worker, and that's definitely a good trait to have. I've always gotten along well with her. Unfortunately, my father is another story. None of us have ever gotten along well with him, and he didn't think I ever noticed how abusive he was toward my mother when she was still alive. If we do something he doesn't like, there's always severe punishment, which is perhaps why June and I try so hard to strictly abide by the rules. The types of punishments that our father chooses to deliver are never pleasant; not even in the least. Going home is a bit of a nerve-wracking time for me, which is part of what makes me wish I had a job like June does. I also feel like my father would appreciate my more if I brought in money for the family.

My father and sister where much stronger about Alder's death. They didn't seem to be as destroyed by it as I was, but that was likely because they weren't there when it happened. Seeing a man take the life of someone you love will scar you for life, and you'll never be able to get it from your head. In my nightmares, I still hear his crying as his life was being torn away from him. I don't know how I'd cope if I went into the Hunger Games and began to actually care about someone there, only to know that at least one of us would have to die. Perhaps that's why, after Alder's death, I've tried not to get too attached to people. I've always been interested in relationships, but they don't usually last for very long, and I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps it's because of the amount of loss I've had in my family, that it's almost like it's impossible for me to keep those that are close to me. The only person that I'm even really remotely close to at this point in my life is June. She cares about me, and I care about her. It's been years since we've even had a conflict, such as a small argument with one another.

Friendships were surprisingly easy for me to create and keep when I was a child, even after my mother's death. Personally, I think that part of the reason some people became my friends were because of pitying me for losing my mother, but I know there were also some people that just genuinely wanted to be my friend. Those true friends are what got me through all of the troubles in my life, especially when I lost Alder. I had people who were always there for me. One friend in particular that I'm still close with to this day is Fangor. He's a loner, he has no family, and he lives by himself. I respect his ability to live so independently, and he is an extremely caring person, even if he doesn't let everyone see it. We've known each other since we were very little, even before my mother passed on. He was there to support me through both of my family deaths, and seemed to understand it more than anyone else I'd ever met. We still hang out with each other to this day, and we'll often do things like go exploring and go for walks, just to get away from all of the chaos in the world. Another thing is, we also made a promise that if one of us gets picked for the Games, we'll volunteer for each other. I know I'll be keeping this promise, as I could never stand seeing Fangor fight to the death.