Henry Elsner

Henry has brown hair, green eyes, and a light skin complexion. He wears a gray suit with a pink tie covered in white polka dots,His glasses are boxed shaped colored brown

Henry was born to Frances Elsner, being a 19 year old girl back in 1923. Henry was verbally abused by her, with her often telling Henry that she wanted him dead, and how it would make her happy if it came to be. Frances would also physically abuse Henry as well, slapping him, throwing alcohol bottles at him when she was drunk, or burning Henry with cigarettes, leaving painful marks. Despite treating him so poorly, Frances was clingy towards him, saying how he was the only person she had. Henry was an outcast at his school, mainly from Frances tearing all of his friendships apart. Eventually, Henry comes to meet a girl who was also an outcast, named Nancy O'Connell at the time. The two became friends, with Henry being fascinated with her chromesthesia (synesthesia), thinking Nancy had “magical powers”. Eventually, Frances finds out and tries to tear apart their friendship by not letting Henry go out of the house unless it was for school. Despite this, Henry and Nancy would see each other in secret, with their friendship growing stronger through the years. Henry and Nancy were always there for each other’s ups and downs.

Henry is described as a shy, friendly, and down to earth guy. Despite his timid nature, he is more talkative and outgoing than Nancy. He loved writing and had a passion for it and enjoyed making stupid jokes. Despite having a happy life with Nancy, after he had finally cut ties with his abuser, Frances, he would end up with flashbacks and nightmares relating to his abusive childhood (however, this wasn't present in the original story). Henry also avoids serious situations and tries his best to make sure everyone is content, since he is uncomfortable with conflict. When things take a turn for the worse, instead of confronting his problems, Henry flees them altogether (which leads to his demise later in the case). He hates drugs, alcohol, and most importantly, smoking, since these objects make him think of the abuse he'd endured.

In the original story, Henry becomes friends with Nancy which lasts for many years. When the two are older, Nancy then suggests the two to marry since they could both get away from their households, along with the fact that living together would be perfect for them. Henry accepts, and later tells Frances about moving out. Frances gets upset due to her clinginess to him, and tries to manipulate Henry into staying with her. Henry feels bad, but still doesn't stay. He eventually marries Nancy, and the two move to Chicago. After being there for some time, they come to befriend most of their neighbors (mainly Patty Rosalind). After lots of happiness and peace with the couple being away from their toxic households, Nancy then gets the idea of how Henry could also leave her as easily as he had left Frances, and began to have panic attacks and frequent depressive episodes. Nancy would then beg for Henry to never leave her. This repeats for months, with Nancy’s behavior reminding him of that of Frances. After lots of thinking, Henry would decide to permanently leave Nancy. The day before he does, he quits his job as a journalist and packs up his things in a suitcase. On the day, Henry gets out of bed at night when Nancy is sleeping, goes to grab his suitcase and heads downstairs. He feels bad for leaving Nancy and decides to write her a letter on his typewriter, containing his reasonings for her to read when he’s gone. Afterwards, he decides to get a glass of water as a refresher, but Nancy eventually catches him.

In the revised story, Henry becomes friends with Nancy which lasts for many years. When the two are older, Nancy suggests the two to marry since they could both get away from their households along with the fact that living together would be perfect for them. Henry says yes and tells Frances about moving out. Frances gets upset about this and tries to manipulate Henry into staying with her. He feels bad but doesn't stay and eventually gets married to Nancy. Everything is great with Nancy and Henry moving to Chicago and moving into a house. The two becoming friends with most of the neighbors (mainly Patty Rosalind). Henry meets a person named Ray Barnett who lives in the neighborhood. Ray tried talking to Henry while he walks to work but Henry avoids them due to their cigarette smoking which reminded him of Frances. Henry also began having many flashbacks and nightmares relating to Frances' unwell parenting.Eventually one day, Frances called Nancy asking if she can stay in touch with Henry, which Nancy asked Henry about. Despite being disturbed by it, he agrees since not only does he want to mend his relationship with Frances, he thinks this would help his flashbacks and nightmares go away, along with Nancy and Frances finally getting along as mother and daughter in-law. Things go well for the next few months until Frances began telling Nancy and Henry lies, telling Henry that Nancy said she will hurt herself or Henry if he leaves her. He doesn't believe her but the thought scares him, he along with Nancy hold their tongues for weeks until they talk things out and conclude that what Frances was saying is bogus. Henry eventually snaps, calls Frances, and gives her a piece of his mind. The whole neighborhood hears this, including Ray. A week passes and Henry wakes up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water.