Elise Greenbaum • District 7

Elise Greenbaum

17

Female

District 7

Elise is a young woman with a very mellow aura about her. With droopy eyes and a lazy smile, she always seems to be in a state of half-sleep. Sleep, being something she can’t get enough of. If it weren’t for her daily duties, she’d probably sleep all hours. Despite this, dark circles ring her dark brown eyes. A small birthmark dots her dark olive skin, just to the bottom left of her lips, chapped from licking and biting too often. Her thick, dark hair falls in ringlets, sticking out at odd ends. The curls are cut to her shoulders, occasionally being tied into a short ponytail when it gets too unruly or if she needs it out of her face.
Elise’s body is sturdy for her age, though many people who work chopping wood can boast this as well. Arms toned from swinging the axe down over and over again, she can confidently say her upper body strength is her best attribute. She has a few scars on her finger tips from splinters and nicks, as well as one long mark that streaks vertically across her shin, the remnant of an accident in her early youth when she was just getting started in her career and began learning how to use an axe. A few birthmarks dot her skin like dark constellations. Some of them are covered in scar tissue from when she used to pick at them, an unfortunate habit that she’s grown out of. Standing at 5 feet and 9 inches, she’s taller than most of her female peers. She’s not scrawny, being lucky enough to have enough to eat every day, though she’s still quite thin, weighing about 130 pounds.

Elise can be described as a happy girl by those around her. She likes to work hard and do things to help out other people. Seeing other people laugh and smile is something that seems to make her happy. Though she sleeps often, she always makes sure to be punctual in all that she does, never slacking off in her duties.
In reality, under that exterior lies a girl just trying to distract herself from reality. Despite what she has and what she should be grateful for, she sees the look on her parents faces as they struggle to make ends meet. She sees the despair of others and she takes it all into herself. Sometimes it just becomes unbearable and she throws herself into long bouts of sleep. Or she throws herself into her work, because if she’s working, she can’t think about anything else.
One thing that keeps her going is her guitar. It’s splintered in places and made from cheap materials but it works and that’s all that matters to Elise. When she plays her guitar she can lose herself in the music and the rest of the world just fades away. She doesn’t sing often, preferring to just listen to the emotion the notes are expressing rather than make up her own words for them. Some days, those strings are the only thing holding her back from having a panic attack.

Elise lives with her parents and two of her three siblings. Her oldest sister, Ember, got married a few years ago and moved out. But of course she still has her two twin brothers, Emile and Elm. Her mother really liked E names. These two boys are nothing but trouble but only when they can get away with it. Some might say they’re little angels but those who know them would say quite the opposite. At 13 years, Elise thought they’d have grown out of it by now but alas, she’s stuck babysitting them even still when their parents aren’t around or they go off on their own.
Despite Elise’s sunny exterior, she doesn’t have many friends, only one she could say she really trusts, Aspen. He’s also the only person who knows about Elise’s true feelings and mental state. It’s not like she could tell her parents. Although she appreciates everything they do for her and her siblings, they don’t really know how to show affection. They can praise and reward, but Elise can’t remember the last time they said “I love you” to each other. So spilling her innermost secrets wasn't an option.
When Elise was 12, she saw an older man with an odd looking wooden contraption with a hole in the middle and strings going down a long neck of sorts. When he strummed on the strings, it created such a sound, one that stirred every emotion in her heart. She asked him to teach her and he replied that he might if she had a guitar to play on herself. She didn’t want to ask her parents so she cobbled her own together using junk pieces of wood and cables. She proudly came back to the older man, only for him to look surprised and then burst out laughing. She strummed one note and it made a terrible noise. So entertained and impressed by her passion, he told her he would pitch in to buy her a proper guitar. Using all her savings, she finally purchased one and began practicing with the gentleman. After a few years, he passed away from a severe cold. She continues to play for him even now.