Name- Elijah (Eli, Jijah) Kershaw

Age- 16

Gender- Male

Personality- Elijah is usually quiet and timid, afraid to challenge those bigger than him.  He longs to be bigger and stronger, to have some way to make life better for his family.  He is incredibly pas.sionate about his family and breaks out of his fear to protect them any way he can if they are threatened.  He wants the best for his family and is afraid of letting them down.

Looks-

Something like this.  Eli is very small for his age - only 5'1" - and in the midst of poverty has found work as a chimney sweep (more info below).  He has blond hair, freckled cheeks, and dull gray eyes that are usually blended together with soot.  He always has various scrapes, scabs and burns, some worse than others.  Some come from his job, some from his abusive boss.

Status/Cla.ss- Eli and his family are very much in poverty.  His father has died of disease and his mother is barely strong enough to stand, let alone to find any sort of job.  Eli has three little sisters: Patience (10), Lissa (6) and Catherine (3 1/2).  (Catherine calls Eli "Jijah" and Eli calls her "Catty.")  The three girls sell small things like roses on the streets, which worries Eli to no end.  Eli himself is, as stated before, a chimney sweep.  He works with 7 other boys (even though this exceeds the legal limit) for a sly and cruel man that works them hard for little pay, sometimes docking them for false reasons.  Still, Eli's small income is the main source for his family to scrape by on.  Eli's family lives crowded in a single room with three other families, in an even more crowded part of the city.  He often finds himself in the homes of the wealthy due to his work.

Dress - Wears the same thin, worn shirt and trousers all the time, along with a patched sweep's cap.  They are filthy as he rarely has a chance to even rinse them out with water.  He usually carries his chimney brush on the chance that someone will see him and he can work for a bit of extra money.

Dear Diary,

Today I went for a carriage ride with mother. Of course, as usual it was absolutely horrible. It was a very hot day today, so of course I got to spend it bundled up in layers of dresses and shawls. The carriage was hot and musty, and honestly the only good that came from it was that I was allowed to see the country side. The scenery was beautiful, but I still wished I could have been riding Cloud Dancer (my horse in case you didn’t know, Diary).

But mother insisted and so here I am, writing in my diary in a stuffy enclosed space rather than enjoying the fresh country air. I ought to tell mother that Mr. Phillips (A famous doctor) has recently said that breathing air that comes not from the cities, but from out in the country-side where the air is fresh is much, much better for you.

Well, I’ve said my piece and mother tells me that I must get my nose out of a book long enough to speak to her about my upcoming marriage to John Smithson.

Yours,

Rowena

ript'"> 

Dear Diary,

I found out that my brother wanted to be a peasant, though he still wants to be wealthy. It confuses me. I might need to go soon. Mother wants me to clean up and go downstairs for supper. She's forcing me to get married, I'm not rady yet. No man has fell inlove with me yet. I'll never find some one.

My mother is making me mad. Se's not understanding want I need or want. I don't need to get married yet. I think it's wrong of her to tell me to do things like that. Well, mother's calling for me. Goodbye Dairy. I shall come back after supper.

-Penelope

Dear Journal,

It's me again. William Sanders. Today, I'm leaving the palace and live my life as a peasant. I know, I know, why must I want to be a peasant, when I'm very wealthy. I've been poor all my life. Now that I'm wealthy, I want to choose to be a peasant. I don't have to be one, I want to be one.

I must go now. Goodbye Journal. Goodbye.

~William