Journal #2 - Chapters 4-7

From the perspective of Dill:

School was finally out. I was really excited to go see my girlfriend in Maycomb. Her brother was pretty cool, too, I guess. Anything is better than spending another lonely summer in Mississippi. Since I had no father, I didn't really have a lot to do. There aren't very many kids my age there. I was so excited to spend the whole summer in Alabama, excited enough to propose to my love, Scout.

When I arrived I proposed immediately. It didn't matter what her response was so I figure we are engaged now. I also made up a few lies to go along with my excitement. Whenever I'm nervous or excited I come up with lies. If you ask Jem and Scout, they will say unanimously that my lies are believable. They probably don't even know they're lies. Another reason why I tell them I because they impress people, including Scout, I can tell. Even though were engaged I would still like her to be impressed by me.

After the long trip to Alabama, I saw Jem and Scout. We were a little bit bored in the beginning until Jem had a brilliant idea to play a game called Boo Radley. It was very fun, even though Scout didn't really like it that much. We played for days; there were so many things about the Radley's that were interesting. Even if they were lies, they were convincing, just like mine. Eventually Atticus got suspicious as to what we were playing, so Scout started getting paranoid that we shouldn't be playing.

Me and Jem decided to evade Scout because she was such a girl sometimes and me and Jem wanted to do some of the funner, braver stuff without her. We came up with dangerous plans and gave our biggest plan the most thought. We decided to write a letter to Boo Radley. He was very mysterious. We also came up with the plan because we wanted some excitement; the Boo Radley game was getting boring. Our plan became like a chameleon. It had to be perfect so that if anything went wrong it could still work out some way.

I convinced Jem to tell Scout about the plan because she looked lonely sitting outside with Miss Maudie all day. We told her about it and made her go through with it. We would slip the note into the shutters asking if Boo would come out and talk to us. We were so bored any little excitement would give us a thrill. As Jem started putting the note into the shutters on the window, his hand teetered back and forth in the air. I could tell he was nervous. I was only slightly nervous because I would be leaving by the end of summer...if I made it out alive. There goes my braveness, but I still had to act like I wasn't scared. At the same time I didn't want to die, but the plan was perfect and there was no going back.

Jem's hand never made it close enough to stick the note on. After a couple of minutes of trying, however, Mr. Finch came and got Jem and Scout in trouble. I acted like I wasn't part of it. Then he found out about the game and I knew my mom would find out, too. I still thought the game was fun, and we would find something else to do for the rest of the summer if we couldn't play it anymore.

Sure enough we found other things to do. We eventually came up with another plan involving the Radley house. Even though the idea of that spooky house tormented me, I had to act brave for Scout. Also, I was very curious is Boo was even still alive. We decided to go peek in the house. Once again Scout was scared. I didn't really care anymore, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to go look inside the house. We peeked in. I could see a dark figure and a tiny light, but other than that I couldn't see much. My mom said I had to be home right after we were done playing, so I decided I would stay alive, and I let my curiosity die down. I wouldn't come back for an entire year. I could always check out the house next year...see if Boo was still alive...alive enough to kill me. I had to stop thinking about it. I had to be brave. When I said goodbye to Scout, who I was still engaged to, I was brave enough to kiss her. I was excited for next year, but most of all I was happy with what I accomplished that summer. Between the Radley's place and my relationship with Scout, I was indeed very brave, and can't wait for next summer.