Sparrow McBride - D2

Appearance:

Small. Tiny. Miniscule. Words that have described Sparrow since she was born. Not words that any parent in district 2 wants to hear about their child. They want big, strong children that can go on to become ferocious careers. Not the tiny blonde they had gotten with the little hands and stick-thin limbs. Her eyes always seemed to sit too big on her face, but perhaps that just goes along with the eyes being the window to the soul. Blue as a summer sky, and if you look closely, the sclera are a bit discolored. Grey-ish blue.

Long legs make her slightly awkward, clumsy really. Not only are they long and thin, but they aren't entirely straight, a product of fractures from when she was quite young. They weren't set completely straight, and Sparrow is horribly self-conscious about it even if the average looker wouldn't notice. Despite having relatively long legs, she is still short for her age. Perhaps she will forever look like a child - if she even lives past being a child. The way she holds herself and even the look in those blue eyes say that she isn't confident of this. So much for the perfect career child.

Sorry, dad...

Personality:

What Sparrow lacks in physical aspects, she makes up for mentally. She's sharp as a tack, even as a toddler grabbing books and puzzling out the words. She moved on to tougher and tougher books, especially when she was hurt. Being injured so often gave her plenty of time for her books, and how she loves the smell of the old pages, the way it rustles as she turns each one.

Growing up with older siblings, of course Sparrow got a lot of flack about her stature and her slightly crooked legs. The way she broke so easily. But she was brighter than they were, and she became slightly sarcastic in return. Maybe they could beat her up if they so chose (or if mother would ever allow it) but she could outwit them at every turn.

If she could have one wish, though, she would wish to be able-bodied. To be the perfect career. It would have kept her family together. Kept them all much happier. Her mother wouldn't cry herself to sleep every night.

"You would hate sports." Her mother would reassure her. But how could she ever know?

She knows her mother's protectiveness comes from love, but it is so frustrating sometimes. Can't she see that Sparrow just wants to be a person? How much she hates the fact that sometimes, she doesn't feel real at all? If she disappeared...who would really miss her? She was useless.

But she sticks around, not just because her death would devastate her mother, but because inside of her blooms hope, painfully bright. The most dangerous and beautiful thing in the world is hope. And she can't quite figure out why she hopes, but she knows she has a future. She's good for something, even if she hasn't found it yet.

History:

Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Aura McBride had never even heard of it before the doctor stared at her bruised and broken two year old and pronounced it like a death sentence. The doctor's eyes had flickered over to David, and he had shook his head in a tiny little motion with set lips.

"She'll never be a career. Sorry, David."

Somehow, that was what returned Aura's emotions and feelings to her. And instead of the fear that she had thought would overwhelm her, instead of the sadness, it was rage that came to her. She never could remember going off on the doctor, or punching David, but she heard about it, for years to come. She was the crazy lady. But Sparrow was her baby, ability to be a career aside. The news didn't erase the first two, simple, uncomplicated years they had had.

David tried, or so he tried to make it seem, but his attention was always solidly on his healthier children. The three older kids were all looking to be fantastic careers. Sparrow, even still in her cast from breaking her leg, tried to impress him. Anything to garner his love and affection back to her. Nothing she tried seemed to work, and as a seven year old, she broke her arm trying to climb higher in the tree than her older brother. When she told her mother, in tears, that she had been trying to make daddy love her and proud of her again, Aura had kicked David out of the house.

Before David left, they had been well off. He had a good job, he brought home enough to keep them in comfort. After David left, they were scrambling. At least, Aura and Sparrow were. David always made time for his older three, the ones he thought worth his time. And he gave them money and food, too. Sparrow was always a tiny little thing, but sometimes she looked like she could blow away in the wind. Before her diagnosis, there had been talk of more children. This continued one-sidedly from David after the news of her osteogenesis imperfecta, but Aura would hear nothing of it, not willing to take the chance of having more broken babies. A couple of years after he left, David married someone new and had twins with her. Replacements, Sparrow always thought of them as. She had not been good enough, nor had her mother for having her.

I'm sorry...

She could never say it out loud, but Sparrow would always regret being the way she was. It had ruined her mother's life. Her mother would have just shushed her, told her she loved her, and moved on, though. But Sparrow couldn't. Maybe when she moved out it would just be her problem, but living with her mother meant her mother was alone. David no longer loved her for producing a defective child, and no new man would accept her baggage. At least, that was how Sparrow always viewed it.

Around the age of ten she became obsessed with trying to set her mom up with someone new. Any eligible bachelor she spotted or hear tell of, she would try to get Aura around.

"You need someone, mom,"

"I have you, little sparrow, that's enough for me,"

Sparrow didn't buy it. The thought that she could be enough for anyone was insane. After all, sometimes she felt like she would disappear altogether, like she was insubstantial and anything real and solid in this world would pass right through her.

Despite the hardships, though, life for them was fairly good after David left. Even if Sparrow didn't see her siblings very often anymore. Even if she didn't have her father at any school events. Even if they were alone so very often. There was no one left to impress. Sparrow could fly at her own pace and be free.

Codeword: Odair
Other: FC is Isabelle Allen
Sparrow has OI type 1, which is the mildest form. She's only broken a handful of times in her life, but she still has very brittle bones and has to be careful. I've researched OI, but if I get anything wrong or if anyone is offended please let me know so I can fix it. <3