Growing up my brother Jem and I led pretty normal lives. Especially when it came to getting in trouble, Jem had a knack for getting hurt. When he was nearly 13 he cracked his elbow after falling out of a tree. I always reckoned he was looking to see if there was any danger coming our way. For a month he couldn't shoot a gun which got him real mad, but he healed up quick. The only way you can tell that something happened is if puts both arms down by his side. But he couldn't care less, as long as he had both arms to climb he was happy.

After enough time had passed to let us look back on the events that led up to the accident, I always thought it was Ewall that started it. But Jem who was four years older than me, and in his mind much smarter because of it, said it started a long time before that. He pointed out that it all happened the summer that Dill came to stay with us, the summer that gave us the idea to find Boo Radley.

If I want to tell story right then I would have to say that everything started after the 61st President of the United States was elected into office. Without him there never would have been the push to abolish all diseases and warfare. Without him then Simon Finch would have never set up his pharmacy, and where would be without him? I wasn't in the mood to settle this with a shooting competition, so we consulted Atticus. He said that we were both right and should not shoot guns inside the house.

Being New Southerners, we clung to old stories of any relatives that we had. Most of the other people in town thought it was offensive if you didn't know the heroic tales of their ancestors during the Last Night. We only knew of Simon Finch and his medicine business because he was our Grandpa, which later turned into a partner business between Atticus and my real father. Atticus told us stories of how Simon began as a poor farm hand learning the uses of herbs to heal other boy's in the field; to how he packed up his bags at 18 and set out to study medicine in a place called New York City. He worked his way up from dirt poor to owning a respectable pharmacy in Saint Stephens. He soon became rich and married a socialite from Savanna and had a daughter, our mother. Much to her parents dismay she married a young pharmacist who was me and Jem's real father.

For many years Simon watched with dismay as the world slowly turned to chaos and when the recession hit he was only left with his good name. Some folks even say it was what killed him. My mama didn't mind being poor and went with papa and Atticus to college. Just before Last Night my family moved down to Montgomery and eventually found themselves in Maycomb.

Now a days Atticus had to use his knowledge of the law almost daily to make sure the town kept running. Recently the best blacksmith in town was attacked by the Haverford's because they found out he didn't believe in God, Atticus said there was a lot of people like that before the world ended. In Maycomb everyone new that the Haverford's were jackasses and general pests that caused trouble where ever they went. Mr. Haverford insisted that the son-of-a-bitch-had-it-coming, and to him it was a good enough defense for attacking someone as any. Needless to say the town found him guilty and set him away in exile.

Maycomb was an old town, which was saying something because most places were destroyed and left in ruin as reminders of the past. I had grown to know it as a tired run down town. The pavement was cracked where the grass grew though it, the court house was sagging after years of being used, and in the summer it was so hot that you could sweat even if you were laying down.

People seemed to move slowly during these times. Everyone shuffled to and from stores and houses. Every day felt like it was longer than 24 hours, but people were in no hurry, there was nothing to do and now where to go. No one was allowed out of the town boundaries in fear of the creatures that had changed in to monsters because of radiation poisoning. The only ones allowed out were the scouts, the very profession that I named myself after. In this town we needed scouts to get supplies and find out what was happening outside of our secluded world. This fact gave people a vague optimism that kept everything running

We lived in the main street of town with the rest of the families-Atticus, Jem, and I. We also had a roommate named Calpurnia who used to be a chef, she was like the aunt that we never had.

She was something else to say the least. She was what was known as a hippie, she hated authority and being forced to do anything, but oddly enough still got along with Atticus like they were long lost cousins. Calpurnia was also stubborn as a bull and blind as a bat, she was always ordering me out of the kitchen and never allowed me to play with the other kids after dark in fear of creature that could attack and eat me. We battled constantly and they always seemed to be one sided and ended with Atticus telling me to apologize to Calpurnia even though it was she who was being unfair.

Her tyrannical power was felt every moment that Atticus was off keeping the town safe from harm. But I still listened to her because she held a clue to the mysterious past of the Last Night.

When I was almost six and Jem ten, it was a summer that none of us would forget.

It was also the summer that Dill came to us.

We began our days lazily laying in the shade while Calpurnia made breakfast and Atticus got ready for work. I contemplated how far I could get to the town boundaries before lunch, and if Mrs. Dubose's had finally died from old age so I didn't have to avoid her house which made the journey a half an hour longer. A rustle in Miss Rachel Haverford's garden pulled me out of my day dream, I squinted to Jem moving towards the dividing fence between our yard and hers.

Jumping up I was hoping to find a puppy-her dog had just had puppies a few weeks back and they were cute little things-but instead there was a kid looking up at us with wide eyes and a confused look. He looked about my height and we just stared at each other waiting for someone to speak.

"Hey," He blinked then looked at Jem.

"Hello?" Jem looked just as confused.

"I'm Charles Baker Harris," he said "And this ground is very nice" he patted the ground next to him signaling for us to sit down next to him. I looked at Jem he shrugged and we both sat down. "What a name Charles Baker Harris." Said Jem while smirking.

"Folks call me Dill and can read anything." He replied looking down at his feet which were burying themselves in the dirt. Jem began laughing "Shoot so that's why you are so small and pale you read too much!"

"Jem shut up," I gave him a nice punch in the arm "So Dill how old are you? and where are you from?"

"I was from Meridian in Mississippi but I had to move and I am seven years old." He answered quietly and looked at his feet the entire time he was talking.

"So why are you in Miss Haverfords garden?" Asked Jem almost daring Dill to come up with a good answer. He looked up at Jem with those big eyes and explained to us he now going to be living with Miss Haverford, who was his aunt, because he had recently lost his parents to a fire where they worked while he was at school one afternoon about a month ago.

Jem sat back and we both stared at the ground before anyone worked up the courage to say anything.

"Dill do you want to join us for breakfast?" I asked. He looked up at me and nodded.

We all got up slowly and started back towards our house in silence.

Authors Note: I am trying to figure out if I should stick to the story of T.K.M.B or change it a bit...what you think?