Ashley Cherry Rosewood of District 7

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. That’s what my mama always says to me. Many say I look like mama but some say I look like papa. But in my own opinion, I know I look more of mama. My twin and I got her dimples, deep dimples (well, dimples actually run in the family, even grandmama and grandpapa have dimples), her wood brown colored hair but mine is a bit wavy because papa carries wavy hair genes, I’ve seen my aunts, they have wavy hair too, but my twin owns a straight hair she got it from mama. The length of my hair goes down to my elbow but not exactly in my elbow maybe two inches before my elbow and my hair is pretty thick and I’m not quite sure if I have to be thankful about it because I’m having a hard time tying it. My rubber band seemed to snap all the time and it irritates me because I hate it when it gets to me face.

My ebony colored eyes are from my mama too. I even got her complexion, how would I describe the color? Hmm… But my skin is not pale white or dark bronze, maybe in the middle like pale caramel skin. My twin actually looks like me, we’re not fraternal twins but rather we’re identical. The only difference about us is our height and our hair. Then, I’m also quite particular and conscious about set of teeth, so I’m really thankful that I am blessed with nice set of teeth, they’re straight and pearly white. Also my nails, I like to see them clean, square shape, filed every week, and well buffed every three days.
I actually have a few scars in my arm because of the sculpting of wood and clay. But I’m not conscious about it. It’s normal. It was a remembrance from the hot coal once when I was about to bake the clay pots and I got burnt. But now it’s just a small scar, a piece of my remembrance from the past.

I’m not really fond of eating, I don’t know why, I eat but not much only when I’m hungry. So I weigh 110 pounds and I’m 5”3” tall, my twin Heart, she’s taller than me for about a half inch. She’s 5”3”1/2 and she weighs 116 pounds, so I’m thinner than her. That’s how mom tells our difference but to other people, they can’t distinguish from who’s who.

Since I’m in D7, where logs and trees are almost everywhere. I love wearing jeans or shorts, then tank tops or long sleeves. I seldom wear dress or something girly. I just wear simple clothes. Blouses, tennis shoes, or running shoes or boots, something I’m comfortable with. I feel conscious with dresses actually.

I have a twin, she looks like me, and we’re identical. We have this habit of talking in a synchronize way, we love each other and we’re like inseparable. I’m not picky of anything, I’m just a simple girl, I’m not fond of cosmetics either, or something that would make me feel uncomfortable. I’m an animal lover, I love animals, Heart and I have a couple of pet cats, and their names are Honey and Bee. We love Honey and Bee so much.

I’m quite snobbish compared to Heart who’s quite friendly. Mama said I’m elder than Heart because I came out first, and I feel protective of my twin. She’s the complete opposite of me, I’m extra careful of things but she’s just care-free and seamless. Unlike me who thinks a lot of things, I don’t know… Sometimes I ask her if she’s taking everything seriously, I mean the work, yeah she goes to work but I don’t see seriousness in her. She always tells me to relax, breathe, and just be happy. But hello?! With nothing to eat, with nothing to spend, with reaping days in life, who would relax? Who would say calm down… It will be fine. Of course it won’t be fine. Goodness! I would panic of course.

I’m quite of an introvert, I’m sociable in work, in trading, but I’m an introvert especially in leisure time. Sometimes I spend the whole time to myself selfishly, I’m not outgoing unlike Heart. But both of us love to swim, skate in a frozen pond every Christmas, and practice archery secretly. I love to arts and creativity, my forte is drawing and sculpting, sketches too, but I’m not good with paint, that’s where Ashlee’s gift lies. Then we love music too, we love to sing, especially when we’re walking together.

I hate things such as insects. I really hate insects, I always have insect repellant in my bag or insect repellant lotion in that case. I just hate things that crawls or fly that is not fluffy or cute. One thing I fear is roaches. I would freeze in the sight of roaches especially when it’s flying. I don’t know how Heart can afford to kill it. She just tells me to imagine that it’s an ugly butterfly. Well, first of all butterflies are never ugly and roaches are not pretty, the level of a roach to a butterfly is very different. You can’t compare that ugly thing with a delicate butterfly. That’s a whole new level.

I have few flaws too; one is over pride and also being self-inferior. I feel inferior in all the things I do. I feel that my twin has better work that what I did, and of course I’m introvert, I feel pride, which is bad… My mom always tells me to lessen it. It’s not bad to have flaws as long as you can control it.

Okay, about our family. I have an identical twin, her name is Ebony Heart Rosewood, and we love each other. We live with our mom, our dad died before we were even born, and grandma and grandpa lives with us. Our mom, Cedara is just 32 yrs old and grandma, Cherri is 49 and grandpa Ash is 50. Our names are actually wooden names, even mom and my grandparent's names are from woods, even our surname is a wood. Oh well...

We own a small retail shop and a small garden patch where we plant medicinal herbs and we sell it in our shop. Grandmama is like a nurse and she taught mom some tricks, that is now being passed on to us.

Our shop sells different things, we sell what Heart and I trade, the goods I get from wholesalers like the fish port in our district, the textiles, and the dairies in the district, and also the herbs that mom plants. Grandma and grandpa still work, they actually make knitted things like bonnets, gloves, jacket, clothes, or something like that.

Grandpapa used to work in a paper factory, he used to make papers, he recycles the old paper like news papers, or even used woods or logs and make them into soft papers, different type of papers. But he's retired now.

Life isn't hard for us; we could eat as much as three times a day. Though father died before we were born, we never asked or felt the feeling of needing a father or what everyone calls a father’s love. Grandpa actually gave us that need. Until now, he’s so loving and we love them all. Heart and I never asked mother how it feels to have a father, or something of those dramas. It just show that the love they have filled in our hearts is immeasurable that gave us the feeling of content.

Heart… She’s open to everyone, she’s more sociable, and I hate it when she tells me she has someone to introduce to me, or when she tells me someone just checked you out. I would tell her; do you want me to check you out?? Really, it’s annoying. That’s what I mean about not being focused. We’re sixteen, we’re young and to me, I don’t have time for those things. It just have to wait a little while, I don’t have time to mess around, and that’s not my style.

=A day with me=
Another day has passed and I’m done with work. Whew! I am so tired that I am in need of a hot bath when I get home. Where is Ashlee and what’s taking her so long? I folded my arms and hugged myself. It’s getting a little cold. The autumn leaves scattered everywhere in the ground, the color was so warm but the weather is the opposite. Mixture of yellow, orange, scarlet, and copper was everywhere and my eyes can’t seem to stare off of it. I stood where I still am for almost half an hour waiting for my twin to meet me. We always meet near the market and fish port of District 7 and this time I hope she has a good excuse of why she is so late. My legs are shivering from the cold, I’m just wearing a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, black tank top and brown long sleeves.

“Boo!” Heart whispered to me ear. I got startled, one minute I was staring off to oblivion and the next I’m being surprised.

“What took you so long?!” I asked her. I pulled the sleeve of my brown top to cover my freezing hands.
Ashlee hugged me. She was wearing a jacket. “Awee… you poor thing, you’re cold?”

I narrowed my eyes at my twin. Obviously?! What else am I feeling? “Duh?! Obviously?! What a question. I’m standing here… outside for almost half an hour waiting for you, it’s almost dawn and you’re telling me if I’m cold?!”

Heart cupped my face between her warm palms. It felt nice and cozy. “Ssshhh! Awee… Don’t worry my little wobbly bubbly poo! Sister is here to hug you.”

I hate it when she does that to me. It’s annoying. “Will you quit that? It’s annoying.” I said, frowning.

Heart smiled and giggled, showing off her deep set of dimples. “Awee… Why are you so grumpy?? You should smile a little to avoid wrinkles… Show off your dimples too!” she said, pinching my cheek.

I frowned some more and stare at her irritatingly. She spread my cheek using both of her index fingers to force me to smile. “There you go.” She said in a baby talk tone.

I grunted and pushed her hands away from me, now I’m irritated. “Ebony Heart! Stop it!” I said seriously.

“Psshhhh! Sis, relax! Chill! Breathe!” She said, taking my hand as we walk together. We always hold hands when we walk, ever since… I can remember??

“So, how’s trading?” She asked, pushing her straight wood brown hair behind her back.

How’s trading? Seriously? You’re asking me that question? “Fine. Why?” I answered, curiously. Did she eat something? Is she sick?? It’s the first time she asked me that question.

“Nothing.” She blurted out. “Mine was fine too, I got my commission today, and all the stock I ordered was delivered to our shop.” She told me in a guaranteed tone. I know when she’s serious or not serious. And this time, she’s serious alright.

I smiled. Now that’s good news. “Good job.” I say to her. “You know, we better get going fast. The sun is almost disappearing. Mom would be so worried… Where have you been anyway?”

Heart let out a small giggle. “Tomorrow you will find out.” She said mischievously.

I frowned again. “If this is about someone again who you will be introducing to me, I’m telling you now I am not interested…”

Heart just giggled, laughed, and smiled. “Chill…” That’s all she told me.