runs quite fast

Sonia smoothed down the ends of Eddie’s collar. She was nervous, more nervous than him, it seemed. She hadn’t expected this, you see. Neither of them had.

                Her son couldn’t run as fast as other children; he was sensitive, he didn’t have a fighting chance, and that’s exactly what he needed. He wasn’t like that, her Eddie, no, no. And she wouldn’t be able to protect him from this. Not like when he was being picked on by that dog down the street who somehow knew Eddie was the weakest link and wouldn’t let him home from the bakery with all the bread still intact and he would come home weeping and apologising with empty arms. She couldn’t smack the nasty kids down like she did that dog when he would enter the arena, when those nasty bells would go off and the countdown would begin. She couldn’t protect him from the screaming watchers, glued to their screens and counting their coins, betting on her son’s ability to knock down another child and plunge a knife into them again and again as the life force drained out of them. Not her Eddie. Her Eddie couldn’t cross the road without choking up and gasping for air.

                Her Eddie was sensitive, he was kind. He couldn’t do something like that–no, he wouldn’t. He would sooner be knocked down and a foot would land on his chest and tear straight through the skin, right through his ribs and crackling lungs, and that would be the end of her Eddie. A lover not a fighter who would sooner come to his young end than hurt a hair on someone else’s head, even if his life depended on it.

                ‘You’ll have to try, Eddie bear. You’ll have to or else I don’t know what I’ll do.’

                Eddie nodded, his eyes brimming with tears. He wouldn’t know to do without her either. He never had been without her, and he had never quite thought about it. He didn’t dare to, for he knew he wouldn’t like the thought and knew that deep down, entertaining the idea would send him into such a panic and give him such a fright, that he surely wouldn’t recover from it. His mother wouldn’t be there to protect him, not this time, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with that.

                ‘I’ll try,’ he said, but he wasn’t quite yet sure if he believed it himself. He had woken up that morning with the assurance from his mother that she would never let him be picked. That if that woman pulled his name out of the sea of papers, she simply wouldn’t have it. His name was only in their once and that he would be excused, surely – his ill health was enough of a reason. And if they wouldn’t listen, she would simply take him home with her anyway and they would have to choose someone else – because that boy in your class, you know the one, with those glasses and the messy hair, he deserves it much more, or that other boy, the one with the curly hair, oh, you know the one – that they would not be taking Eddie Kaspbrak away from his mother for such a stupid reason, because she needed him and he needed her. It only dawned on the two of them what a stupid tale it was to tell themselves.

                They stood in the Justice Building, however, unsure of what to do with their last few moments together, at perhaps the last time Eddie Kaspbrak would ever see his mother again. She would see him again, there was no doubt about that – his face was ready to be plastered up on screen along the other unfortunate twenty-three souls who were preparing to rip him limb from limb in front of everyone as Sonia was forced to watch in horror.

                Sonia nodded and forced a tight-lipped smile out. She grabbed a hold of his arm and squeezed hard, all too aware that there was not a single soul in the world to turn to once she was sent out from this room and Eddie was forced onto that damned train ready for the world to tear him apart for sport.

                ‘Smile for your mommy out there, Eddie bear. I’ll be watching you.’

                The door behind them creaked open and a peacekeeper entered. Sonia looked desperately between him and her sweet boy and all of a sudden, it hit her. It really hit her and her roars started. Eddie could have sworn he saw walls of the justice building starting to crumble around them.

                ‘Oh, Eddie! Not my Eddie!’ she wailed.

NUMBER OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES:      1  /  2  /  3 +    TONE OF VOICE:      high  /  average  /  deep  ACCENT:      maine DEMEANOR:      confident  /  shy  /  approachable  /  hostile  /  other POSTURE:      slumped  /  straight  /  stiff  /  relaxed HABITS:      head tilting  /  swaying  /  fidgeting  /  stuttering  /  gesturing  /  arm crossing  /  strokes chin  /  er, um, or other interjections  /  plays with hair or clothing  /  hands at hips /  inconsistent eye contact  /  maintains eye contact  /  frequent pausing  /  stands close  /  stands at distance

COMPLEXITY:

vocabulary:  ◼◼◼◻︎◻ emotion:  ◼◼◼◼︎◼ sentence structure:   ◼◼◻◻◻

PROFANITY:

frequency:   ◼◼◼◼◼ creativity:  ◼◼◼◼◻︎ watchfulness:  ◼◼◼◻︎◻

BOLD ALL THAT APPLY:      arse  /  ass  /  asshole  /  bastard  /  bitch  /  bloody  /  bollocks  /  bugger  /  chickenshit  /  crap  /  cunt  /  dick  /  frick  /  fuck  /  horseshit  /  motherfucker  /  piss  /  prick  /  screw /  shit /  shit-ass   /  son of a bitch  /  twat  /  wanker

GIVEN PROPER RELIGIOUS CONTEXT:      christ on a bike /  christ on a cracker  /  damn  /  goddamn  /  gods damn  /  hell  /  holy shit  /  jesus  /  jesus christ  /  jesus h. christ  /  jesus, mary, and joseph  /  sweet jesus

THIS OR THAT:      contractions or enunciation  /  straightforward or cryptic  /  jargon or toned  /  complexity or simplicity  /  finding the right word or using the first word that comes to mind  /  formalities or abrasiveness  /  insult or injury  /  praise or equivocation  /  frankness or lies  /  excessive hand gestures or minimal hand gestures  /  name-calling or magnanimity  /  friendly or blunt nicknames.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING OR HEARING YOUR CHARACTER:   almost always  /  frequently  /  sometimes  /  rarely  /  never.

DOES YOUR CHARACTER’S POINT ALWAYS COME ACROSS WHEN THEY SPEAK:   almost always  /  frequently  /  sometimes  /  rarely  /  never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS:   almost always  /  frequently  /  sometimes  /  rarely  /  never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS:   almost always  /  frequently  /  sometimes  /  rarely  /  never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE ‘WHOM’ IN A SENTENCE:   yes  /  no  /  only ironically.

WHICH WORD WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT:   but  /  though  /  although  /  however  /  perhaps  /  mayhaps.

HOW WOULD YOUR CHARACTER PICK UP THE PHONE:   hello  /  hey  /  hi  /  yello  /  yo  /  yeah  /  [name]  /  what’s up  /  sup  /  who is this? /  what do you want? /  can i help you?

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS:   walk away  /  ask if that’s everything  /  say that’s everything  /  give a proper goodbye  /  tell their company they’re done here  /  remain quiet  /  they don’t.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER ADDRESS OTHERS:   titles  /  first names  /  surnames  /  full names  /  nicknames.

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONG TO BY HEARING THEM SPEAK:   upper  /  middle  /  lower.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS:   accent  /  vocabulary  /  tone  /  level  /  politeness  /  brusqueness  /  it doesn’t  /  other. (speed)