July Blog Challenge Day 3 - Create a Fictional Character

**Okay, it's a day late. so sue me, lol! I was so stupidly busy yesterday, but here is Day 3's Challenge!**

Oh! This one should be easy!!! Today's challenge is to create a fictional character and describe them in 500 words or less. Let's just see what I can come up with here...

**Puts on glasses and thinking cap**

Okay, my character is Sassafrass Bodine. Here we go!!

Nestled back in the woods of Honeybadger Hollow, West Virginia, lives Sassafras Bodine. Along with her brother Raccoon and their alcoholic uncle Peppercorn Salamander, she lives in an old farmhouse that is in desperate need of repairs, but she’s proud to call it home. The youngest of the bunch at only 15, Sassafras stands at 5'7" and rail thin-not more than 115 lbs on Thanksgiving Day. Her wiry, frizzy red hair is normally kept in puffy pigtails on either side of her head, but when brushed and styled smooth, comes down to mid-chest. Most of her skin is dotted with tiny light brown freckles, but her cheeks below her eyes have thick clusters of freckles, but they’re not quite as noticeable since her fair skin is tanned from spending so much time in the sun.

Sassafras loves catching crickets, crawdads, lightning bugs, frogs, salamanders, and anything else that moves down by the creek in the woods behind her home. She spends a lot of time with Raccoon, who is 17 and very protective of his sister. She sees him as her best friend, and he treats her like such. She never really liked to play with Barbie dolls or other girly toys as a young child, but she’s beginning to grow curious about becoming a woman. She hides her interest in makeup and dresses behind her dirty overalls and t-shirts, but it’s getting harder to hide her newfound interest.

Raised around boys her whole life, Sassafras is tough. She is independent, self-sufficient, and at times a bit rebellious. She and Raccoon frequently get themselves in trouble, and end up in situations that most kids wouldn’t, but it’s not entirely their fault. Living so far from town-which is a terribly small town to begin with, and has no real entertainment for kids-Sassafras and Raccoon have no real formal education nor many friends, not to mention they have nothing to do. They have to make their own fun, and that often involves firecrackers, stinkbombs, and other mischievous paraphernalia.

This country girl might look tough and act every bit the part of a boy, but what most people don’t see is the heart of gold she hides away. Sassafras loves nature and animals of all kinds, and sometimes, late at night when she’s alone, she cries just to get the pain out. She likes to head to her hideaway in the woods that only she and Raccoon know about, surrounded by trees and rocks, buried into the side of the hill where nobody could find her. She often went there to hide from the world, and to cry late at night. She didn’t always know why she cried, but mostly it was to release all the emotions she kept pent up inside.

Sassafras is a complex girl-a firecracker with attitude and a dream of becoming a veterinarian. She’s a true country girl and will break hearts when she gets older.

Topping out at 487 words, I introduce you all to Sassafras Bodine!

(Photo from Google Images, not mine)