Beth Walker, Eight

Beth is a short, slight girl. At 5ft 2in, she weighs only 7 and a half stone. She is a very athletic, sporty girl and has toned, slender long legs. She is good at climbing, running, ducking and dodging. She has red-brown naturally wavy hair and usually clear skin. She is pale, with a light brown smattering of freckles across her angled cheekbones and the bridge of her nose.

Beth has green eyes, arched eyebrows and her bottom lip is fuller than her top. The dimples in her cheeks are faint but visible. Beth has a really pretty smile, with straight white teeth. She has short, bitten fingernails, which she hates. Her ears are small and slightly elfen and stick out a bit - hence the reason she wears her hair down.

Beth is a smart, intelligent girl with witty, quick remarks. She is shy and takes her anger out on sports. She loves to read and write and is really good at singing. She is hopeless at playing any musical instrument except from the guitar. Her mother used to write music for her before 'the accident'.

Beth is very protective of her family. Her 2 sisters and 3 brothers are all younger, some only by 1 year and others by 4. Her father is usually out making money so Beth needs to take care of things due to her mother's illness.

Beth is what you would call a 'teachers pet'. She has friends, is respected and not bullied for anything, but is one of those smart people that seem to be good in every subject. Nobody bullies her or her siblings so no spoken reason. Everyone knows why though - because of her mother.

It was a sunny but chilly day and Beth's mother (Samantha Walker) was on her way to the town square. She was pulling her wide-brimmed hat away from her eyes when there was a screech. A second later, Samantha was rolling screaming over the front window of a car. Vehicles skidded to a stop, people yelled and gasped and Beth watched to the side, gawping at the scene, tears rolling down her cheeks. She had only been 5.

The bone-crunching accident had left Samantha paralyzed. Her spine had been permanently damaged, her limbs broken and her full body black and blue with bruises and cuts. Her father indulged himself with a month off of work, taking care of his disabled wife and kids before finding numerous maids and babysitters to check on them. A late-night cook got them ready for school, a nurse picked them up and three babysitters changed shifts at 3 o'clock up until 10pm, when the kids were asleep and their father came home. Nurses and doctors came by all the time to check on their mother.

It wasn't until Beth was eleven that she started to take care of things. Waking the kids up, taking them all to nursery or school, going herself and after school she picked them all up or dropped them off at clubs. A cook still looked after them but when Beth learned to cook at thirteen, she left. Beth's father finished at 7pm every night now, the kids bed time. They never ever got a kiss goodnight.