Shekainah Bruomer, District 7

APPEARANCE

Despite the heat of their district, Shekainah often bundles her whole body with clothes of all kinds. She is most often seen with thick jackets or coats and even thicker boots for her feet. Many say it’s to cover the cuts and muscles that the years of lumbering and hard work has given her. Her arms and legs were bulkier than most of the girls in the neighbourhood, caused by the well-developed muscles that would betray her soft and almost angelic face. And the cuts, they were like the hundreds of different trees that surrounded her home, all from different seeds, some from the axe, from the wood splinters, from the hammer and nails, and even from her father’s whips.

One thing she was thankful for, though, was that her face was saved from all the cuts and bruises. She could look in the mirror and see her pale blue eyes, and the eye bags underneath, clearly. Her face was a bit rounded, though thinned from all the work she was constantly doing. Her thick lips are a soft pink, and she is always careful to keep them from drying or from getting cut. She always thought that her lips were the most fragile part of her body, just one bump and it would immediately bleed.

Straight blonde hair falls just about 2 inches below her shoulders. It would seem beautiful and flawless from afar, but when looked at closely, people would see the unevenness and the tangles in the tips. Afraid of being jeered of by her brothers, Shekainah couldn’t take much care of her hair as she would have wanted. She loved her hair, according to her, it was the only thing in her whole body that made her even look like a lady. So when she is alone, she washes each strand carefully and quietly, knowing that each moment only came rarely for her.

At five foot, five inches, she would always be easily noticed when standing beside her family of giants, but her height seemed to be the only thing that separated her from them. Forced to learn how to work at the age of 9, Shekainah had developed strong physical strength and endurance. She could wield an axe and help with construction, but her strength paid for one other physical ability: speed. Though smaller than most girls, she was obviously still the slowest runner. When she first realized it, she had been terribly disappointed in herself, but as she grew older, she figured that a person really could never have everything in life.

PERSONALITY

Quiet and shy, the only ones Shekainah seems to get along with are the various animals she encounters in the wide forests of District 7. Even her mother would joke about how her daughter seemed to turn mute each passing year. The townspeople, meanwhile, thought that the cause of her indifference was the death of her friend three years ago, and in some way, they were right. The event did affect her too, but only she knew the main reason. Deep inside, she actually yearned for someone to spend some of her time with and talk to, but insecurity and paranoia always took the best of her. She always thought she was different, and a fright to others. Although her frame was so much smaller than the boys of the town, Shekainah always looked at her body as that of their head peacekeeper. She loved being strong, but this scared her at the same time. She was scared that she scared people away, although most of them really only ever look at her with pity.

Shekainah loved her family—even if she treats them with silence. Her two older brothers had always served as her inspiration. They were the reason why she had trained her body to become as strong as it was, although she never really blamed them for the sorrow it also caused her. Even if her age mates had told her to start becoming more lady-like, Shekainah’s devotion to her family always kept her from actually thinking about the things that she herself would have wanted. She respected her parents almost as much as she was quiet. She believes that they were the source of her life, and that she had no right to ever *refute* that. Even with her father’s occasional whipping, no words of complain could ever be heard from Shekainah. It seemed to be tapered into her mind that any kind of punishment she received was because of a corresponding action. And in those times when her mother would hug her, and her father would put his arms around her shoulder, feelings of gratitude and warmth always emanated through her body, and she would seem happy for a while.

The yearly Hunger Games always seemed like hell to the 15-year-old girl. She hated the violence and the blood, even more than any other person in Panem. Blood and weapons brought anger to her senses, even if she did grow up with axes. She believed that there was no use in bloodshed in the world, yet she couldn’t even blame the Capitol for what was happening. For her, humans always made mistakes, but violence was one of the things she wished they could be cured of. So instead of inflicting the same pain on others, Shekainah always made it a point to help other people out, whenever and wherever possible. She would have made so many friends from the treatment she tried to give all of them, but her anti-social attitude always managed to fend them away.

HISTORY

Sheenah Hussain was 15 years old when she first got pregnant and, unfortunately, it was with a man ten years older than her. She thought it was love, and nine months later, her first son was born. He had blonde hair and green eyes, just like her. They didn’t have money, but she was content, because she had found true love...until the man left her. Sheenah was left with a baby, and not enough money. Three years passed, yet she struggled and fought. And then, she met Brandonn Bruomer. She doubted him at first, scared that what had happened, might happen again, but soon enough, doubt turned into friendship, friendship turned into love, and with love came another son. The two children were like jewels to Brandonn, strong and sturdy, he knew that they would be able to live and face the harsh world awaiting them.

Finally, on the 6th of July, Shekainah was born. She had the same blonde hair as her siblings, but her eyes were blue, like her father. Sheenah loved her at first sight, but she could see the disappointment and fright in her husband’s eyes. Brandonn had wanted another boy, and was scared of how such a small girl could survive what their environment demanded from them. As he held the little baby in his arms, though, everything seemed to change. And Shekainah did not disappoint him ever again.

At the age of one and a half, she was already walking around the house, shouting off her favourite word: “da.” At five, she could easily climb trees. At nine, she was helping her brothers in their work. She was a son for her father, a son trapped in a girl’s body. As years passed, what impressed her father, slowly worried Sheenah. Her daughter was too much of a boy, and she was scared for a moment that she would even have to live her whole life alone, but then Drayke came along.

He was a little boy just a year older than Shekainah, and the two seemed to get along very well. Soon enough, no one could see them apart. Shekainah was smiling more often, and Drayke was too. Everything was going fine. The two were inseparable, and then, before anyone realized it, Shekainah had turned twelve. It was the morning of her first reaping. She hadn’t signed up for any tessera, like her brothers before her, mainly because their mother would never have let them. So with hands shaking, she made her way to the town square and stood with dozens of kids her age. The girl was chosen, and all that registered into her mind was that it wasn’t her; she didn’t even hear the boy’s name either, until she saw the sandy haired boy walking to the stage. It was Drayke.

He died on the second day in the arena. Shekainah’s only comfort was knowing that Drayke didn’t have to suffer, since he was shot straight in the heart by a knife. The events traumatized Shekainah, and the world suddenly seemed much, much, more cruel to her. She turned into a girl who feared herself, her own past, and the events around her.

Shekainah is portraid by Izzy0298 of deviantart.