Writer Games | Masquerade of Martyrs & Family Ties

District Eleven Female: Hettie Burris [4]

Author: MagmaKepner

Name: Hettie Burris

Age: 47

Sex: Female

District: Eleven

Physical Description:  Unassuming, her appearance does not stick out from the crowd. Dark skin  that holds wrinkles from years of work and sun-beaten backs, she is the  symbol of a typical woman in Eleven. Standing at about 5'5'', she has  dark brown eyes that accentuate a thin face. Besides that, her smile is  brilliant, and her laughter can be heard throughout Eleven. Her hair is  an unruly mess, usually pulled into a bun so that she can hurry around  for the kids without the frizz getting in her face. She is weak and  malnourished from living in such poor conditions, though the muscle she  has is from the hard work she does in the District.

Personality:  Strong-willed and controlling, Hettie has learned that to survive,  you've got to adapt. She has the ability to take control of a situation  with a calm and collected demeanor, and can organize several people in a  few minutes. Living in Eleven, Hettie has seen and experienced her fair  share of whippings, deaths, and starvation, and her mother was, like  most all other people in Eleven, skilled in helping people recover by  using home remedies. This skill has been passed to Hettie, and  contributes to her caring and protective nature. She isn't afraid to get  her hands dirty to get where or what she wants, but she will never  leave someone she believes to be helpless and deserving behind. She  doesn't have many book-smarts, as Eleven rarely has open schools, but  she knows her way around people, having dealt with her own children, and  she knows the excuses, lies, and mannerisms they use to wiggle their  way out of trouble.

Background:  Growing up the daughter of a poor couple on the outskirts of Eleven,  Hettie grew up learning hard work and obedience was how to adapt to the  environment. As she grew older, she became skilled in working the trees  and orchards, specifically the raspberry bushes when in season, as she  was thin and agile enough to make her way through the prickly barbs to  collect them. After her father died by being shot by a Peacekeeper when  she was seventeen, Hettie found her husband a year after the death which  cost her mother and siblings everything. Her sister, Esther, was the  only one to make it past twenty-five with Hettie, the rest either dying  in childhood or by having a misdemeanor, but it is not uncommon in  Eleven for that to happen.
She married her husband Solomon, a  cart-loader, when she was twenty, and her sister followed five years  later by marrying Simon. Hettie and Solomon lived a modest life by  moving slightly closer to the Town Square, still living in sub-standard  conditions like everyone else. They had their first child, Esau  (ee-saw), when Hettie was thirty, and Hettie has been graced enough to  have only lost one child thus far in her five births. Huck and Zinnia  are both the one's Hettie always has to watch out for both in the fields  and at home, as they both are rambunctious, and even more so when  together. Esther and her family are very close to Hettie's, and her  children are often found playing in the backyard with Hettie's own  children.

Family: Harriet (nèe Tusch) Graham-87; Charles Graham-Deceased.
                Etta (nèe Oavani) Burris-Deceased; Irvin Burris-Deceased.
                The Graham Children: Hettie-47, Esther-40; Jacob, Bonnie, Walter-Deceased.
                The Burris Children: Solomon Burris-45; Six siblings-Deceased
                HETTIE & SOLOMON Burris' Children: Huck-7, Zinnia-11, Borden-13, Esau-17. Flora-2, Deceased.
                 ESTHER & SIMON (44) Cole's Children: Briony Cole-3,  Lucy Cole-7, Briar Cole- 10; Pregnant with twins, Charles II and  Henrietta, 30 weeks. Mesa-1, Deceased; Polly-5, Deceased.

Reaped

Reaction: The  Graham name was called, and so under those rules, all females from  Hettie's elderly mother to Esther's youngest daughter Briony were  called. The name, however, excluded their husband's, though that  mattered not as it was female's. Hettie, knowing that her mother  deserved to live her last few years alive in Eleven, and Esther both  being pregnant and having very young children, decided that it was up to  her to take the stand, as she would never let any of her or Esther's  children participate. As such, she nominated herself, under the promise  that Esther would help Solomon and the children should she not make it  home. After a few tears and 'don't go's', Hettie made her way up to the  stage with a composed demeanor, though she would not look her family in  the eye's, for fear she would break down.

Strengths: Climbing- after having been tasked with climbing for more than half her life, she believes she still has the skill in her.
Foraging-  like most in Eleven, tributes are graced with knowing edible from  non-edible, and Hettie is no different, the only addition being she also  knows common remedies for injuries.
Stealth- Hettie knows that she  can make her way without alerting most people. In Eleven, you have to be  agile and quick on your feet to work in the orchards.

Weaknesses:  Strength- though being able to climb makes her decently strong, she in  no way compares to those like her husband, who lift and carry heavy  loads all day, and she isn't one of the one's to use a scythe unless  extra hands are needed for harvesting crops.
Sight- Hettie does not  have the best sight, and she'll admit it. Though she can see, she cannot  see far in the distance, colours mixing so that a figure looks like a  shadow.
Emotions- Susceptible to feelings of pity and heartbreak when  seeing young tributes in pain, Hettie could make herself a target if  she lets her feelings get in her way.

Weapon: A scythe, or knives, as those two she uses in the fields and orchards.

Token: Zinnia made her a bracelet out of corn husk and acorns that decorate it.