Leon

# **LEON E. SEEMSPIN**

## EARLY LIFE

I had been a particularly happy kid. Parents who loved me. A cheerful little brother. A handful of friends. I was a perfectly normal child. The only issue was I had to work at eight years old. My family wasn’t very fortunate. I had worked at a farm and my little brother, Noel at a mine. After our decent hours we would get our dinner for the night as payment. Summers were scorching and winters were frost bitten. If you missed a day, you missed a meal. It was still a relatively positive childhood nonetheless.

## RECENT LIFE EVENTS

I awoke in the morning like every other day. I got ready for the day, a white tank top, baggy black ripped jeans, a bronze belt, and a skull sweatshirt tied around my waist. As I walked down the creaky stairs I caught up with Noel leaving the house for his job at the mine.

“Noel, wait up!” I said as I ran outside to catch up with him. The boiling sun hit my skin like a piercing arrow.

“It’s gonna be a rough day for us both, this heat gonna boil me alive.” Noel said quickly as I caught my breath behind him. As we walked through the town chatting together we heard rumors circulating the town. About someone threatening to burn the place to ashes. No one took it seriously though, rumors spread like wildfires in a small town. There's a new rumor every week. We ignored it, too concerned about our own issues. Noel and I split up for our respective occupations. I got to the farm and began getting ready for a difficult day.

**5 hours pass**

I walked out of the farm with a large chunk of cooked beef and a new definition of tired. I headed to the mine to wait for Noel to come out. A couple seconds later I saw him covered head to toe in dust, debris, and sweat.

“You look like a wreck.”

Noel chuckled and nodded in agreement. We walked and chattered as we got to our house. Noel opened the thick wooden door as we both walked in. Noel spoke with our mom as he walked in the house but I had devoured the cooked beef and passed out in my bed. I woke up perhaps hours later to Noel shaking me awake and the sun blazing brighter. It wasn't the sun blazing though. It was a large scolding fire. Noel and I got on our feet and came up with a plan. The fire across the town was too big to save anyone without risking ourselves. We decided to make a run to the main gate. We sprinted down the stairs and out the door. As we sprinted past the burning buildings it felt as if time slowed down. The fire scalded through our neighbors' brittle bones and flesh. Our adrenaline was pumping throughout our bodies. The inferno smelted hundreds of dreams, lives, and hopes. After what felt like a lasting nightmare Noel and I got to the gate. Noel tried barging it open but the scorching iron gate burnt his side. We kicked and tousled at the gate but it stayed shut. We gave up. Not our lives but opening the gate. We huddled against the stone walls defending the old town. We watched from the wall as the fires slowed and it became ash. We fled the town as soon as the flames ceased, we didn’t want to see anything else we didn’t need to. We tried to sleep in the woods till morning. Neither of us could. In the morning we decided we’d use our small amount of adrenaline to split up and cover more land and resources. Noel would mine as I’d get food. We promised to meet by the walls of the ruins at sunset. He never showed. I stayed by the walls for about 4 days. Until it finally hit me. He was gone. Unsure what had happened to him I got up and began to explore hopelessly. As I wandered and thought the worst my mouth started to close tightly shut.

## PRESENT LIFE

As I wandered the terrain as I started seeing things I interacted with them until I realized they weren’t there. I now ignore what I see. There is something wrong. I cannot pin-point what the hallucinations are but sometimes they come in sound, other in hearing, and some in feel, I see more than anything. It is strange. I can’t label it. Before I even attempt to figure anything out, I need to get on my feet again. I have so many questions. What or who caused the fire? What happened to Noel? Why am I seeing things, is it a response to the fire? I don’t know much but I’ll answer all of my questions. I hope.

## PERSONALITY

Leon is driven by justice and answers, anything that will help get him closer to his questions, he will take. If you offer information he’ll trade it for an arm and a leg. He searches far and wide for his brother whenever given the chance. Outside of searches and information, Leon is a caring person. He holds the people he appreciates close, and pushes away anyone interfering with him negatively. He is decently smart and uses his resources. He doesn’t believe violence should be used at all either. Not as a last resort of sorts, never. He wishes the best on everyone, even the people that hurt him most. But, things can always change. When people offer grace, forgiveness, or change he accepts with a whole heart. Despite being relatively happy during the day, he sulks at night. The dark demeanor outside makes him seem less lively and more depressive. He always takes off to sleep whenever he can at night, then in the morning he’s a new person. All Leon wants at the end of the day is friends.

## EXTRA INFORMATION

Lee has schizophrenia and PTSD caused by trauma and often see’s, feels, and hears things that aren’t truly there; his symptoms are not severe. Lee’s absence for a mouth actually symbolizes feelings of sorrow and feeling as if you cannot tell people how you feel.

## FUN FACTS

* Lee sleeps with a shark plushie named Vinnie
* He screams when he hears cave ambiance noises
* His natural hair color is blonde
* Lee's favorite color is pink