Name: Chance Raphael Harrison
Name Meaning: None
Age: 17
Date of Birth: February 13
Astrological Sign: Aquarius
Bloodtype: AB
Alignment: Neutral
Strengths: Video games, anything to do with fixing things, housework,
driving, playing the saxophone. He's had his street squabbles every
once in a while, so he can defend himself if needed. He's pretty
strong and fast as far as boys his age go, and often plays his
favourite sport: soccer.
Weaknesses: Chance is extremely protective of his family, and has a
soft spot for girls. He is squeamish when it comes to blood, and
isn't very tolerant to pain, pending. Not to mention he's extremely
ticklish.
Likes: Soccer, any and every arcade in town, Vibes, PT Cruisers, Hummers, Jaguars (the car, that is). He also has learned to enjoy being alone, in which he plays his sax, draws, or sleeps, and unlike most kids he enjoys being
around older people, and sometimes finds himself lurking around
retirement homes, talking to and visiting residents.
Dislikes: He has an intense hatred for guns, and dark alleys, as well
as kids who disrespect old people. He doesn't like small, cramped
spaces, elevators, or cockroaches.
Greatest Fear: Blood, death, darkness, losing the rest of his family,
being held at gunpoint.
Motivation: He is driven by his past, what he saw when he was 12: the
lives of both his father and five-year-old sister taken by the hands
of the same people. He strives to succeed in school, get a
scholarship in art and music, become rich and get the rest of his
family that he lives with (his mother, and grandfather) out of the
slums and into some place better.
Favorite Food: Loves Chinese food, and puts hot sauce on just about
anything. He also adores his mother's seafood dishes, and has a soft
spot for lobster. Most healthy foods are his friend, and though he
is not a vegetarian, meat is often expensive so he does not get it
often. He has a wide variety of tastes, and is willing to try
anything once.
Least Favorite Food: Anything junky and unhealthy. He is repulsed by
milk, and tea, as well as honey. Also, eating large amounts of
sweets make him sick, and he e specially cannot stand soda, and
zucchini.
What grade are they in: 11th grade
Marks: straight As, an occasional B, and once he made a C in history
Favorite Class: Band, Language Arts, P.E.
Least Favorite Class: History, Math
Personality: Chance can pretty much be described as your basic
teenager, but with a slight burden on his shoulders. He tries his
best to live his own life, yet at the same time take care of his
widowed mother and widower grandfather. He is very artistic, and has
a sensitive side that often shows in his art, along with the other
aspects of him. Deep down, he is angry from the death of his father
and sister, and sometimes plays his feelings on the sax, making up
tunes from his head and remembering them. He can be playful and seem
carefree around other people, especially his peers, so they don't
find him "Strange".&nb sp; Around older people he is polite, gentle,
well-mannered, making him seem two-faced.
Appearance:
eye color: hazel
skin: Black
height: 6'0"
hair: crazy, untamed, a wild afro that seems to expand in
every direction, and black as well.
Chance has a wacky wardrobe, neon green is his favourite
colour, and he often wears that with black pants (baggy, of course,
with tent-sized pockets), and one black-and-red striped armwarmer on
his left arm. He is also always seen wearing a rasta headband, and
dirty Converse with black and white checkered shoestrings. Other
times he simply wears white or dark green muscle shirts, but always
what looks like the same pair of black pants.
Social Status: Mixture of geek, nerd , weirdo, punk with a sensitive
side and a knack for fixing things.
Love Life: Chance is basically straight and plans to stay that way,
but he has absolutely no problem with homosexuals or bisexuals. At
the moment he has no real love life; he's not exactly infatuated with
girls, because he has so many other things on his mind, but this all
can change very quickly.
Family, Friends: He has a few close friends at the arcade he hangs
out at the most, workers and personnel that he has close bonds with
from many years of coming there and getting to know them.
His immediate family includes only his mother and his grandfather,
both of whose spouses are dead. His grandfather, Remus (Remmy is his
name around the house) lost his wife to natural causes: she was dead
beside him when he woke up that fateful morning. Though he hates to
be alone, he is still somewhat spry, and can seem even more childish
than his grandson. He carries around a small pair of bifocals he
never uses and a very old-looking watch he claims stopped working the
day his wife died. He loves his grandson but sometimes reminds him
to cheer up, even though he knows Chance only wants to protect he and
his mother. The neighbours sometimes refer to Remus as "Old Mr.
Harrison", though he prefers to be either called Remus, or Remmy.
Chance and his mother take after each other somewhat. Tesla ("Tess")
Harrison is a struggling black woman trying to support her son and
her senile stepfather by working several jobs, though mostly she
works as an RN at the nearest hospital. She is artistic like her
son, a true poet, and an artistic type at heart. She is only 38, a
lot of her life still ahead of her, and is very supportive of her
firstborn. Tesla can be found writing poetry, perfecting her cooking
skills, or writing short stories, in her little free time.
Sometimes, she can suffer from bouts of depression, and it has
resulted in several dangerous situations in the past. As far as
appearance goes, Tesla is an average-sized woman, a little on the
short side at a height of 5'2". Her hair she usually keeps natural,
frizzy and everywhere at once, uncontrollable. She usually wears
earthy tones, natural hues of red, green, blue, faded orange and
beige-yellows, nothing too bright or attention seeking, as she also
dresses very modestly. Her eyes are almond shaped, and black, almost
brown to match her hair, and her skin a little on the dark side, like
dark chocolate.
Roger Harrison, Chance's now dead father had the family living well
before he was killed. He was a generally happy man - he loved his
wife and daughter and son dearly, and tried his best to provide for
them. It was easy for him, as he was a semi well known baseball
player, and was paid greatly for playing the sport he loved.
Oftentimes he would try to convince Chance to participate in sports,
but the boy simply could never get away from staying inside and
tinkering with things, or helping Tesla with housework. When the
other child was on the way, he vowed that no matter what gender, he
would would carry on his family's legacy by bringing forth a new
sports star. And indeed he did get his wish, getting five year old
Tess (a shorter version of the name Tesla, named after her mother) to
play soccer at an early age. Chance and his father did not share
many similarities, his father being a white man, and Chance being
black like his mother. The only two things they share is their
height, and glittering hazel eyes. As mentioned before, Roger
Harrison was killed, along with his daughter. His untimely death was
due to a slowly prospering smuggling business, that shiped illegal
contraband across the border from South America and into the U.S.
Because of his prominent and wealthy status, Roger found himself able
to pull a few strings so that each mission was a success. In return,
the baseball player was offered all the drugs and money he wanted, in
which he took the latter, the only catch being that his family be
kept out of his secret life. However, everything took a turn for the
worst when he was unable to get the right connections so that a
multibillion dollar shipment of cannabis could get across the border,
he found the lives of he and his two children in danger. Trying all
he could to complete the mission, Roger found himself vowing to clean
up his life afterwards, and never get involved with such risky
affairs. But of course there were strings attached, and as soon as
he stopped aiding the band of smugglers he was involved with, he
found himself in a predicament that he learned of only too late, and
thus the life of he and his daughter was taken.
Tess Harrison was Chance's five-year-old sister. As expected, he
loved her, and often played dolls with her when she asked, much to
the dismay of his father, though his mother thought it was adorable.
Tess was born when Chance was 7, so he remembers the birth of his
little sister vividly, though it was unfortunate that they were some
years apart, or else they perhaps would have gotten along much
better. Tess Harrison was more like her father, sharing his light
complexion and love of outdoor sports activity.
Birthplace: New York. Chance and his family moved to New Eden in
search of work, money, and cheaper places to stay.
Current Residence: His family is lower middle class, and lives in a
quaint apartment complex that can get dangerous at night. It
contains a basketball court, a pool, and a rundown tennis court that
no one uses. The buildings are somewhat shabby, and some residents
can seem somewhat odd, but in all it's a good place before dark. The
landowner frequently changes the mortgage for better or for worse
depending on economy, and is actually a selfish young gentlemen who
couldn't care less about the well-being of the residents that live
there. Often time gangs can be found lurking in the dark alleys and
stairwells t hat the complex provides.
History:
Chance and his sister were the product of a biracial
relationship, his parents meeting in a coffee house. They didn't hit
it off at first, but after the exchange of a few poems and vows, they
were happily married, and soon had one beautiful son - something they
had been hoping for since before their marriage. Though the doctors
at the neonatal care unit claimed the unborn baby to be female, by
chance it was a boy, and that is what they named him. Chance was an
unusually good child; he grew up far from poverty in a nice
neighbourhood with wonderful neighbours and an even better school
system. He made friends easily, and though he didn't like to run and
play as much as other boys, he was still well liked among his peers.
His father often came home with surprises for him: baseballs signed
by famous players, high quality mitts, signed batts, and Chance was
excited, but perhaps n ot as much as expected. He was more excited
when his sister was born, visiting his mother at the hospital with
his father every single day, asking questions, wanting to hold her.
At home he helped with the housework, fixing bottles, playing with
the baby. Most of his friends didn't understand wh y someone would
rather play with their baby sister rather than play outside, but
Chance was never that type, anyway. He grew closer and closer to his
family as he got older, and for a while everything was fine.
However, when Chance came home from chool one day to find a part of
his front yard blocked off and his mother sobbing and crying in the
bathroom, everything started to go horribly wrong. His father and
sister had been brutally murdered, victims to a drive-by shooting in
their front yard where they often played soccer. He remembers
watching as their bodies were taken away in body bags, and the closed-
casket funeral that took place weeks later. Things slowly
deteriorated after that, because Roger Harrison had been supporting
the family on his money alone, leaving his mother with no reason to
work. As the last of the money ran out, they sold the house and most
of their belongings, and packed up and moved from New York to New
Eden, a place they heard offered cheap living places and wasn't very
crowded. The only place they could and can still afford is a
moderately-sized three-bedroom apartment with two bathrooms and a
small kitchen. It was more like an innercity townhouse, and they
were grateful. Chance's mother oftentimes went into periods of
depression, and at one time had to be driven to the hospital in the
midst of trying to bleed to death. Since then, Remus Harrison moved
in with the family and took up the third bedroom, accompanying
Chance's widowed mother and offering as much help as he could.
Now, things have settled. The death of Roger and Tess Harrison was
two years ago, and Chance and his mother still sometimes grieve over
the loss of sibling and spouse, but try not to let it stop them from
being happy. Chance has a somewhat protective attitude toward his
grandfather and mother, something which they both worry about at
times, but don't bring up.
Writing Sample:
The blood was spattered on the road, so he knew there was something
wrong. He turned to see the bright yellow schoolbus pull past the
crime scene, kids he knew from school gawking at his front yard. The
young boy, only about twelve or so was forced to witness the
devestating result of a drive-by shooting. A drive-by shooting that
never should have happened here.
Oh yes, something was terribly wrong.
Two ambulance, lights still flashing, blocked the view of whatever
had happened. Two police cars also had their kool-aid blue lights
flashing, bringing a roiling, uneasy feeling into the pit of his
stomach. Something not far from nausea and dread. Police officers
milled around the curb, putting up red tape, spray painting the
outlines of victims on the street.
Victims of whom he may or may not have known.
Otherwise, the normally peaceful neighbourhood was calm. He could
see neighbours thinkin g they were being secretive, flashes of pairs
of eyes peeping through windows and blinds, doors cracking. He
wanted so badly to believe this was a dream, his twelve year old mind
flitting through possibilities.
Neighbours fighting? Property feud? A passerby being robbed? And
he wanted to believe it, until he saw his front door open. An
officer wearing shades stepped in with a yellow pad and a pen, not
even bothering to shut the door. He was too horrified to move. The
bright green backpack he wore seemed to weigh tonnes - he dropped it
in the street, standing helplessly beside his mailbox.
And his eyes averted back to the blood on the street. Whose blood
was that? Who would dare dirty the property around the beautiful
three-story home? Such an atmosphere of pain and grief seemed to
envelope the home he was coming to this afternoon. It was as if a
black cloud threatened to swallow his house whole; everything in it ,
everything around it would be an uninhabited crater, and he would
never see his family again.
And he was close.
"Chance Harrison?" a male voice. Chance looked up.
"I have something to tell you ..." a paramedic, frowning deeply,
uniform stained with - was that blood? An officer stood nearby. The
two adults nodded to each other, and so begin the story. So began
the story of how Roger Harrison made a few wrong choices here and
there, and how he paid the price with his life - and the life of his
daughter. Chance learned that he was to die too, and that it was
just luck that he was still at school, and had come home at the right
time; enough time to miss being a victim, and instead become a
witness. They spared him the gory details.
But he wanted to die. He wanted his body to be one of the bloody
messes on that road too, and as soon as the story was finished, he
found himself tearing through the tape, falling facefirst in front of
something so repulsive that he found that afternoone's lunch
threatening to come up. Faintly he could hear his name being called,
but he ignored it. He saw his father for the last time that day, and
his sister. Bodies hardly even worth looking at, torn carcasses on
the street.
It was just chance that he hadn't ended up like them.
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