Here's a new chapter and it's longer like i promised :) I lied the last chapter and said this one would be Miss Maudie's fire, that event is next though :)
R&R please!
Scout, Jem, and Dill sneak into Boo Radley's backyard:
Boo Radley:
I sat down in the old rocking chair, watching the sunset on the horizon as I did on most evenings. Nathan was out of the house at the moment, taking his usual stroll about the neighborhood. I'd always been curious of what would happen if I were brave enough to set foot outside of this place. But I already knew what would happen.
There would be a huge commotion about the neighborhood. "Look it's Boo!" the kids would shout and then turn away from me as if I were some kind of monster. Not that it mattered to me what other people thought. Maycomb was always the same and you couldn't live here for one day without receiving an insulting nickname.
So I stayed in the house, sticking to my usual routines that never consisted of facing this corrupt world. Instead, I spent the time I had to myself studying. One of my most enjoyable pass times was reading. Books could take me to a world beyond my imagination. I could escape from these dark walls that blocked out reality. There were too many horrible things going on in the world. Life in this house was simpler.
At the moment, I was reading The Gray Ghost. It had become a favorite of mine when I had seen those three kids reenacting it close by. The kids I remembered are named Scout and Jem Finch, and their friend whom they called Dill. Scout and Jem, who had grown up in the town, were just like the rest of Maycomb. They were trapped in the ways of the town, following the examples of their notorious neighbors. However, they were also very unique, as their father was Atticus Finch, a respectable man who worked as a lawyer in Maycomb County. He was said to be a great lawyer and took his job very seriously.
Yet, they still liked to attempt to send me notes or try other ways to bother me. I didn't understand why they did those things. But it didn't surprise me when I'd seen them sneaking around the backyard last night. It was very amusing to watch until they reached the back porch. I'd grabbed my shotgun and fired up at the ceiling, making a hole in the ceiling. It was a clear warning to them that I wanted to be left alone. I realized that they probably wanted to see what I looked like. I had to make it clear to them that I wanted to stay in my house and that they shouldn't bother me like that anymore. I wasn't angry with them for being curious but, they had to be taught to mind their own business or they'd turn into Crawfords.
After I'd scared them off, I'd found Jem's pants left behind. They were dirty and torn so I took them inside to clean them up. I carefully stitched up any tears and placed them neatly outside of the fence knowing Jem would come back for them.
Mayella Ewell:
Sometimes in the evening when I'd finished all of my chores and Father was still out hunting, I'd make my way across town to Deer's Pasture and lay back against the soft, green grass. I would usually gaze up at the stars twinkling overhead and think about my mama. She always took me here when I was a little girl. We'd watch the stars together at night in the summer and we would try to find constellations in the stars. We weren't sure what a lot of them looked like but, we had fun guessing.
I had managed to get out of the house one night in the summer. I walked along the road until I reached the trail leading to Deer's Pasture. As I walked along the trail I could feel the smooth stones under my feet. Grass tickled my feet as I wandered over to the large oak tree. I ran my fingers along the rough bark as I slid to the ground and leaned against it.
It was so rare that I was able to come here and when I did, I was always overwhelmed by a sense of calm. I felt warm and secure here under the tree, as if my mother was lying right beside me, singing a sweet lullaby. Here, in this meadow, I could finally escape from the world and pretend my reality was just a horrid nightmare that I could soon wake up from.
I stared up at the stars the way I had on those special nights spent with my mama. I found a constellation that looked like a small ladle and with it, the North Star. It had always been my favorite star in the sky because it was always the brightest.
Mama died when I was thirteen years old. I never knew how or why she died but one day Papa sent my siblings and I into the forest, telling us to retrieve some kindling.
I could hear a loud voice roaring at another from inside the forest. I wasn't very concerned because it was just like my parents to be fighting. They rarely got along but, the noise only got worse. I heard glass shatter and a bloodcurdling scream. I had a very bad feeling in my gut and I was too afraid to turn back right away. My brothers had been too busy to hear the fight.
When we got home later on, Mama was missing. Papa told us a nigger had come and attacked them. Papa had fought him off but the nigger had killed Mama. He then forbade us from mentioning it ever again. My brothers' obeyed him but, I didn't. I never talked about Mama in front of Papa however, I found that it was important to talk about it with my brothers. If I wasn't there to constantly remind them that they once had a mama then she might be forgotten and I was terrified of that. Something about Papa's explanation seemed odd to me though, my brothers were soon loathing all niggers and blamed them for everything.
The sound of footsteps in the meadow jolted me from my thoughts and I jumped up from where I was. I quickly moved behind the oak tree. Papa didn't usually come here but he might get mad if he ever saw me.
I peeked out from behind the tree trunk and could make out three kids sneaking through the pasture. There were two young boys who were being followed by a smaller yet, tough-looking girl. They looked like the kids I'd seen playing around with that tire. Two of them I remembered were Finch's. Papa said they were always causing trouble and Atticus Finch, their father, was one of the reasons why the county was so unfair to us. They were heading for what looked like the Radley Place.
Curious, I waited in the meadow and a few minutes later there was a loud gunshot coming from the Radley Place. I snickered; they probably had gotten themselves into trouble with Boo Radley. It wasn't until a few minutes later when I saw them race past again, one of them was missing pants. I wondered where they had gone.
I rolled my eyes as I watched them running away scared of old Boo Radley. I'd never met Boo Radley but I heard some things about him and how he never came out of his house. Honestly, I couldn't blame him for not coming out of there. if I had a choice I lived with only Burris or one of my other brothers and had no one to boss me around, I would only come out of my home to come to Deer's Pasture. That way I wouldn't have to deal with cooking or planting seeds all day long. I longed for the day when I could go about freely and do anything I wanted to. Maybe in the future I'll find some kind of freedom but, until then, I would just have to keep going.
Hope you enjoyed it! :)