Fannon Bird - District 7

My name's Fannon. I'm half way between fair and olive skinned and about five feet five inches tall. As for my face, I'd like to think it’s good looking. But hey, society is a fickle crowd and hard to please, so basically if you don't like how I look, deal. Stick that in your juice box and suck it up. My hair is a deep brown that falls just beyond my shoulders. It's the kind of hair that looks good only when it's down. Or at least that's what I think. The eyes on my face are also brown. Brown like tree trunks, and like that myth called "chocolate". My most proud feature, or I guess you could say "vanity point" is kind of a strange one. For some reason, I have always found that my canine teeth are awesome. They are very sharp and constantly jabbing into my tongue. Of course, they're normal human length and not needle-sharp, but they are visibly noticeable and remind me of wolf teeth. To me, it's cool because I love wolves, and I'm like a distant relative or something. So yeah. With my brown hair and brown eyes, I'm more on the common side of genetics and stuff, but I don't mind. I'm unique in other ways.


Clothing-wise, I don't really have a preference. As long as it's not too dirty or wet, I'll put it on and go out to face the day. I mean, I'll be honest: I'm not trying to impress anyone. Go ahead and talk about me all you want behind my back, but it's not going to do anything to me. Obviously, I'll dress accordingly to the different seasons. It's stupid to wear long sleeves and pants during the summer, and shorts and a t-shirt in the winter. Basic psychology. Duh. I wear the same shoes everyday. Well, I guess not always. I have two pairs of shoes. One, my mom bought for me and the other I was extremely lucky to find abandoned in a tree. Naturally, I burst out laughing when I found them. They were pretty new. But now, both pairs are worn down from the use. They still carry me around everyday all day. So there you have it: how I look.

So. On to my disposition. This'll be kind of hard I guess, because I feel that I have about a million and a half split personalities piled up inside of me. What I mean by this is that it's easy for me to switch moods and/or personalities really fast. It doesn't happen randomly; I can control it. My attitude depends on who I'm talking to and the present situation. For example: if I don't like someone, I'll take out my 'cold and aloof personality of few words'. If I were talking to someone who I know well and like, my 'warm-hearted, humorous' personality comes out. If I'm really happy, I tend to get weird. My 'random, spontaneous and unpredictable acts of awkward behavior' personality comes forth. Right now, I've probably scared someone into next week or have at least several people thinking I belong in a mental institution. But heck, what're you gonna do? You can't please everyone.

Regarding my previous statement about 'not pleasing everyone' is where we land on possibly my most prominent personality flaw. What I mean is, I'm not afraid to speak my mind, which can lead to offensive comments. If I don't like something about someone, my inner opinion may just burst out in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's happened before, and will probably happen again. I'd like to think that I'm more of a thinker than a talker, but whenever these unintentional offenses happen I begin to doubt myself, which is another flaw. I overthink everything, and born out of this is indecisiveness. Sometimes it is incredibly hard for me to make decisions because I foresee all of the things that could potentially go wrong. This also makes people impatient with me, but if you want to get to know me, you'll have to be a patient person.

Overall, I believe that I'm a pretty awesome person. My self-esteem is somewhere between 'above-average' and 'high', but I'm not cocky. In fact, I am quite humble. Being cocky makes people annoyed, and making people annoyed loses friends. I enjoy talking to a genuine person about deep and impossible things. It's fun. And what I mean about being a 'genuine person' is some who is real and doesn't try to cover their personality quirks. I'd much rather have few good, real people then a million fake people who try to be friends with me for the wrong reason. My dad taught me this. I'm pretty sure I got ninety percent of his genes, because I'm far more like him than my mother. But going back to the point, to be friends with me, you can be weird as all get out. I won't care as long as you're real. And you don't piss me off too much.

I'm almost never emotional either. Showing feelings is something I don't normally do. It's more negative emotions, because if I'm happy, you'll know. If you don't know why, then go back up and read one more time, because I'm not going to explain myself again. My dad, whom I mentioned previously, also taught me to disregard other people's thoughts about me. He said to me once, 'Fannon, for people to insult you, you must first value their opinion. So, if someone tries to offend you, stop and ask yourself if you care about what they think.' That was the wisest advice I'd ever heard, and I listened to it. It's left me content with my life in every sort of way. Following up that tiny speech, my father said, 'Remember, those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.' That means that people who are bothered by me, don't mean anything and those who mean something aren't bothered. I have lived by my dad's wisdom for my entire sixteen years of living.

On the day I was born, my mother and father were overjoyed. September 17th is the day I entered the earth. Even though this day was happy, my mother was devastated the day she found out she was pregnant with me. You can guess why. They feared that I would be sentenced to 'death by Hunger Games' the second I was old enough. My mother was frantic, she spent weeks crying by night and having to live with a smile on her face by day. Of course, my dad was there for her. He made her strong again. You could never meet two people more perfect for each other than my parents. They kept each other steady and level-headed. My dad told me all of this when I was twelve. He said that for a week or so, my mom just sort of… checked out. She went crazy, doing nothing all day but sitting in her room and crying. Not eating, not sleeping. Only sitting and having to wade in the endless circle of her depression. Dad would try to cheer her up everyday, telling her that nothing would happen, that she'd be so happy when I was finally born. He always says that it was extreme effects of her pregnancy hormones, but we both know in our hearts of hearts that that isn't true. My mother is like a saint. During that week of her unstable mental state she was blaming herself for throwing the burdens of life upon another person.

The way my father lifted her out of the depression is unknown to me. He never told me why my mother came to life again, but all that I know is that when I took my first breath for myself, my mom was whole. At peace. She forgave herself for the 'terrible wrong' she did to me. Treating me liked I was unwanted never happened in my house. My parents do love me, with all of their hearts. Once my mother approached me about this, I had to tell her about a million times that it was okay and that I forgave her. She hates to feel she's left a wrong not righted.

My first day of school ever was brilliant. School was where I'd met the people I've spent the past years of my life with. I enjoyed school, especially when I was little. Learning opened the door for my brain: making me smarter and more knowledgeable. What I learned in school made me wonder about the world and how it worked. It amazed me. I was a lucky kid: school was easy and I made a few friends. School seemed to have it all. But what school could not do, to a certain degree, was make me more intelligent. Confused, are you? Allow me to explain. There is a difference between being intelligent and being well-educated. Being educated gives you factual knowledge, while being intelligent does not. Being intelligent is knowing what to do in different situations and applying your knowledge of life. The only way to truly become more intelligent is to learn from experience. The one who helped me to start on this goal of becoming more intelligent was my dad.

Very often the two of us would go off and explore the world as far as we could go. When I was younger, around seven or eight, my dad took on one of these trips that I'd never forget. That morning we left before the sun rose and when it did, we were suddenly in another world. Not literally, no, but to me it was incredible. The sunlight burst through the thick cover of thousands of tree's leaves. The best part was that there wasn't a fallen tree in sight. Dad and I sat against a giant oak tree and watched the light change. At the time, I didn't understand why unfallen trees were so good. Our conversation went like this:

"Look at those trees, Fannon. Aren't they beautiful?" asked my father.

"They are, Dad," I replied.

"It's a shame we have to cut them down…" my dad said almost to himself.

"Why?"

My father turned to look at me and said, "It's a shame because these trees are older than we are. They are beautiful and so much more a perfect species than humans. They do not hurt each other. When we cut down trees, Fannon, we are killing icons of peace and harmony."

Of course, when I was younger, I didn't understand, and I fell silent. But now I do. That small exchange between my father and I enlightened me, taught me to value life. That conversation and my father's later wisdom made me who I am today. My mother and I don't share a connection like my father and I do. But I still love her. I'd do anything for her, she's so sweet. And strong, too. She lived through the hardship of bearing a child and watching her grow up.

My parents' struggle gives me the feeling that I owe them the world, and I do. But nothing I could ever give them would repay the debt I am in. They deserve happiness, yet all they got was suffering and worry.

I had hoped that I could help them find peace, but you never know.

You can't please everyone.

If there's anything I need to fix, I'll jump right on it