Pluto Zade - D4

Name: Pluto Zade
Age: 14
Gender: Female
District: Four

Appearance:

I have a familiar face. I read the lips of people as I pass though District four, making out comments of sorrow, confusion, and shock. Everyone who watched the 58th Hunger Games would think they have met me. They think, “Hey. I thought that ugly mutt killed her instantly. Stabbed her right in the eye.” That is because I look like a ghost. No. Not because of my pale skin and slender body. Not because I fail at speaking. Not because I cannot hear a word a person says. Jupiter Vicks, the District Four female tribute in the 58th Hunger Games, was my cousin. We look almost identical.

My hair is long. Long enough for my fingers to twist into around my index finger and still have quite a bit of hair left over. My hair is often thick and curly. I don’t purposely make my hair that way. It just appears that way. Anyways, the shade is similar to my cousin’s hair except mine doesn’t have as much red color lingering. Because I don’t care about how I appear so my hair is often messy and tangled. People are going to stare at me anyway. I like to think they stare at me because of my messy hair rather than being the deaf girl.

I have always like to compare my eyes with my other relatives. My cousin’s were of a green shade that was ever so lovely. They are the same as my mother’s. Unfortunately, neither my sister nor myself got those eyes. Mine are of a hazel shade like my fathers. There is more brown in my irises than green. From the pupil, extends a dark shade of brown that lightens in color as it advances toward the ends of the irises. It is at the end of the color part of my eye where the brown turns green. Surrounding my eyes are my not to thick, not to thin eyelashes and, above, are my unkempt eyebrows.

The rest of my face seems to consist of large features. My lips are plump and are a deep shade of red. My nose is rather large as well and the color mixes so well with the shade of my fat cheeks that is makes my nose appear slightly smaller. My long hair covers my ears, which is a fantastic thing. They are rather large and I don’t want people to see them. And all of this is on my round, fat appearing face. Now, like I mentioned earlier, I have a slender build, which contrasts, with my face. I stand around 5’4 but I’m still growing. Currently, I weigh about 97 pounds.

Personality:

I hear no evil. In other words, I am deaf. I was born this way. There was no tragic occurrence that resulted in this. Sometimes, I wish I had lost my hearing later on in life. It is better to have something once than not at all. But what is done is done. I cannot hear. That is all. I learned sign when I was five but not that many people in District Four know how to sign. However, I can read lips pretty well. In order to communicate with the people that don’t understand, I use a whiteboard like my cousin, Jupiter did.

I like to go on little adventures. Nothing too dangerous but a little reckless. I like to climb trees and rocks. Of course, I have that scars from where I have fallen and harmed myself but it was completely worth it. Okay. Maybe I do things that are a little dangerous. I enjoy cliff diving. I trust the ocean to catch me when I call. Plus, when Juno was still alive, she would take me and she knew where to land. She knew exactly where the rocks were in the water and I know she would never expose me to something that will be the death of me. I like to take risks since I don’t have that much to lose.

Like my cousin Juno, I love the ocean. I enjoy the tug and pull of the waves. The salt may burn my eyes but I do not care. I want to see beneath the waves at the world below the water. The sand feels so odd and it gets everywhere. I love it. I spend a lot of time on the jetties, looking for animals that live there and, sometimes, I draw on my whiteboard. Of course, the drawings are not that elaborate but they’re pictures.

There is so much in the world that I would like to view. So, I guess that makes me curious. This goes hand-to-hand with my daring activities. I do dangerous things because I’m curious of the outcome. As to either this is a positive or negative trait is debatable. It gets me in trouble. Some times my curiosity possesses me and I do things I normally don’t do. Like pull a wig off a woman because I was unsure if it was real or fake. But there are some positives like reading and learning. I like to read because of my thirst to learn new things.

I don’t talk. I’m not entirely sure if I know how to, in the first place. I think I can but I cannot be for sure. I would not be able to hear it anyways. I am insecure. How do I not know if my voice isn’t raspy or high pitched? Perhaps I cannot say words correctly and all that comes from my mouth are moans. So, I don’t speak. I don’t want another reason for people to dislike me or find me weird.

On the outside, I appear happy. I put a smile on my face and I walk with a cheerful swagger but this is an act. I hate being judge by people. I hate that some people label me weird just because I cannot hear or that I refuse to speak. I cannot help this. Plus, though it has been over two years know, I still miss Jupiter. Her death scene still haunts me. I grieve for my sister as well. She is stuck in our home and she never gets the joys I take for advantage. And, lastly, I am unhappy because I cannot hear the music my sister and mother play. Or just the sound of anything.

History:

Lucia was always the favorite twin of her family. Her parents never said such a thing. They always confessed that they loved Veronica and Lucia the same but they treated Lucia with more respect. Lucia minded her parents while her sister rebelled. A matter a fact, when Veronica turned 19, she ran off and got married to a rival fishing family’s son, James. Soon, those two had a baby girl in which they named Jupiter. Lucia was arranged to marry a man of a wealthy status of the name Bermis. Of course, Lucia minded her parents and got married at the age of twenty.

The family was wealthy since her parents never cut off Lucia while Bermis was rich on his own. After two years of being married, this couple had a set of twins much like Lucia and Veronica. However, something was wrong with both the baby girl’s. One of the girl’s would always stare blankly at nothing while the other would not react to loud or soft noises. Soon, they realized the truth behind the two girls. Venus, the baby that could not see, was blind while their quiet Pluto was deaf. At the same time, somewhere, Lucia’s three-year-old niece Jupiter refused to talk.

~ o ~

For about one year, I did not know I had a twin. Not because of my infant mind that cannot remember things. I could not hear the other individual nor did I see her. Our parents kept us separate. For some reason, they feared that I would “freak out” at sight of some other baby. My parents would always move their lips but I never understood why. My mother was a musician and would sometimes to take me into our grand hall where this black object was kept. I later learned it is called a piano. Like the lip moving, I did not know why my mother would pound her fingers on the things called keys. All it did was create vibrations that I could feel on our wooden floor. My parents did things I never understood.

When I was five, my parents took me to this place in which I was taught how to make symbols with my hands. The symbols stood for words. Whenever they would sign, they would make it clear what it meant by doing the action or by pointing at the item. My sister was there too but she could not see the hands. She used her own to feel each symbol. My parents learned the symbols too. And I had never been so close to my mom and dad ever since we learn a way of communication together. By the age of seven, all of my family knew this language. Every time someone used a symbol, their lips moved. And, after a little while longer, I learned how to “read lips”.

When I was ten, I began to adventure out on my own. My parents believed I would be okay. Plus, they seemed to care for Venus more than myself. I liked to explore and discover new things. Of course, I would not take Venus. She could get hurt. But I had fun without my sister and best friend. I made more friends but I was not certain if they knew why I would not talk back to them. Some stopped hanging around them. I think they thought I was weird. I thought I was too. But, I could go out on adventures on my own. I did not need anyone.

I was twelve when I was first put in the glass to be pulled for the Hunger Games. Of course I was frightened. What use was a deaf girl in an arena? However, I was more concerned with Venus. She was even more useless. I vowed if she were to be reaped, I would take her place. But, they did not call her name or my own. They called my cousin’s Jupiter Vicks. Well, maybe she volunteered? I did not hear the name when it was called. But I saw my cousin on the platform with her wipe away board with the words “I ACCEPT”. I can’t say I wanted to take her place. I love my cousin but she had a better chance to win the games then Venus or myself.

I missed the conversations Jupiter and myself had. We would pass around the white board, having our little talks on the beach. I watched her as she died. A mutt killed her instantly. It was awful. Fortunately, I could not hear her screams. I visited the beach we sometimes hung out everyday for about three weeks. My aunt Veronica gave me Juno’s whiteboard. She thought it would benefit me more than Jupiter at his point. So, now, I carry around my dead cousin’s whiteboard.

I am fourteen now. I cannot say I’m over my cousin’s death. I think about her sometimes and I get sad again. But I don’t think of her all the time. I have nightmares and I forget that it was Juno that died. I think it was Venus and sometimes myself.

Codeword:

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