Wrote this one-shot for English last week, decided it's worth a shot to upload it.
Dill ran up the steps and pushed the door open, banging it as usual on the wall and chipping off a little more paint.
"Jem? Scout? I brought the books you asked for in your last letter….Cal, where's Jem and Scout?" Dill looked confused. Usually by now they would have shown up and ushered him back outside.
"Dill, Scout and Jem got sent down to Finch's Landing for the summer. Their daddy decided it'd be good for them all to get out of town for a while after, well, you should know, I bet Jem told you all about it in his last letter. Anyway, I'm just supposed to come in here about once a week and do some cleaning and such. Here honey, do you want something to eat?" Dill had a strange look on his face. Cal decided that it was just a young boy's reaction to learning he wouldn't see his best friends for another year.
"It's okay Cal, I'll go find someone else to play with." Dill turned and swung open the door, pushing it against the wall a bit harder than was usual for even him.
Cal looked out at him through the screen as he walked down the street. That boy's changed since last summer. Maybe not as much as Jem and Scout, but he's still changed, she thought to herself.
"Hey Dill" an unfamiliar voice quietly called after him as he passed the Radley place.
"Hey" he called back almost automatically. Dill paused. Had Boo Radley just said hey to him? Wait until Jem heard! Dill continued down the street.
"Dill?" the voice questioned, "Do you want to come in?" Dill looked back. It was Boo Radley, standing on the porch of his house in a pair of brown pants that were a few years too small on him, and a white shirt. His hair was unkempt, and a strand of it kept falling into his face. Boo kept pushing it out of the way, reminding Dill of Jem. Jem often made the same gesture, and Scout often commented that he looked like a schoolgirl primping for a boy. On Boo, it didn't look out of place.
"Um, sure" Dill replied. What else could he do? He'd wanted to meet the man for years, and now he could brag to Scout and Jem that he'd even been inside the Radley's house.
"Good" was Boo's only reply. He opened the door, and led Dill inside. The young boy's curiosity wasn't disappointed by the site. There were loads of curiosities in the Radley's house to satisfy any boy for several years. A giant moose head hung on one wall, surrounded by several small animals that looked like they were wearing plate armor.
"Armadillos" Boo said when he caught Dill looking at them with interest. "Dad and I caught them when I was about your age. Went down to Georgia and saw a couple. Was fascinated, so Dad let me have a couple of shots and a gun, so I went out to kill an armadillo. I succeeded, as you can see." He gave Dill a sideways glance. The boy was fascinated. It'd been a long time since anyone was fascinated with anything Boo'd said.
"Can I touch one?" The words were barely out of Dill's mouth when he reached up and pulled one off the shelf. It was lighter than it looked.
"You know, they can roll up into little balls like rolly-bugs do. It protects them, just like the rolly-bugs. I always identified with them. They can hide from people or other animals they don't like. If you or I tried that, we'd get yelled at for disturbing peace."
"I know, since I got a new dad, life's kind of stunk. He said we'd do lots of things, but he never made good on his promise. I wanted to hide from him. That's why I ran away up here last summer. I really like your house. Wish I'd had a hideaway like this last summer when I'd run away." He looked wistfully around the room.
"Well, if you ever need a place to stay, I'd be happy to have you son" Boo Radley offered.
"I'd like that." Dill simply replied.
A/N So, did you like it? Is anyone even reading this? Well, anyway, please review!