Life was good to me once I moved in with Scout. I fell in love with her all over again and even with our new enviornment and circumstances, it just seemed better. We lived in the very liberal New York City, we were young adults with very active sexual appetites, and there was no one around now who could stop us.

Moday through Friday, Scout worked in her office (if you could call it an office) and that left me alone almost the whole day to write whatever I pleased. My new relationship had me bursting with inspiration and it was safe to say that Scout would always be my number one muse. The weekends found us mostly naked and in bed while watching television. We would would go to the park sometimes during the day and go to the bars at night sometimes but nothing beat the quiet times at home under the covers.

Autumn was passing quickly and I didn't want to let this glorious season go by. Even on the days when Scout was away at work and I needed a break from writing, I would go to the park and walk. The trees color in the south, too but there was something about being in the north that made it all the more magical. I also felt a sense of haunting that I couldn't explain. I suppose it could be that Halloween was around the corner already.

I never liked Halloween since I was about nine years old. I went to bed that night still buzzing from all the candy I had eaten when my mother wasn't looking. That was nothing new. I will never forget that I had dreampt of Jem and Scout that night. I was back in Maycomb and we were all swimming down at the Eddy when a large alligator showed up out of nowhere. I could tell that the gator was hungry and so couldn't Jem because he immeadiately guarded us away from it. The alligator snapped it's jaws in fury and I managed to go underwater and swim to the shallow end. I had escaped but I looked around but there was no sign of Scout in sight. I jumped back inside and swam out in hopes that I would reach her in time but I never found her. All I found was Jem floating in the water with the alligator munching on Jem's arm that he had bitten off. Then I woke up. That dream haunted me for days on end until I got a letter from Scout, telling me what had happened on Halloween night. I remember thinking how I couldn't have felt anymore helpless and sad as I did then. I never told her about that dream because I didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was.

When Halloween finally came, I waited for Scout to say something about the day but she never did. That was the strange thing about the Bob Ewell ordeal, she discussed it once and then never again. I figured there was no sense in bringing it up if she wasn't going to and that feeling holds true today. I guess if you make a habit of not remembering something, you will eventually forget about it without trying. I believe that's what Scout has done and frankly I am proud of her. She shouldn't have to carry all that baggage with her.

"It's nine o'clock," she said as she got up to lock the door. "You think that's the time the kids go home?"

"Maybe," I replied, not moving from the couch.

"I want to go to bed."

"Go to bed, then. Even if the kids are out, all you have to do is not answer the door when they knock."

"True," she said as she took her shirt off and unhooked her bra. "You going to join me?"

"In a few minutes," I say as I enjoy the view.

"Suit yourself," she said as she finished undressing in the hallway.

I slump back on the couch and just wonder how I got so lucky for a few minutes. God, my girlfriend was a brick house! I then jump up, turn the tv off and scurry into the bedroom to go to sleep with my lady. She smiles at me as I walk in and I smile because I'm all too happy to undress myself and crawl into bed. When I finally do, we kiss each other goodnight and then roll over on the opposite sides to fall asleep.

I didn't realize how fast I had fallen asleep until I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of crying. I felt Scout shake next to me in the bed and the shakes were in rythym of the sobs.

"Scout," I whisper as I rub her back. "Wake up, sweetheart. You're okay."

"I'm sorry," she choked.

"Why are you crying?" I asked as I flipped on the lamp light so I could look at her. She sat upright and her face was soaked with tears. I took her wet face and kissed her cheeks. My lips tasted of salt afterwards.

"It never fails," she whimpered. "Every Halloween night, I have the same goddamned dream."

"Tell me about it," I encouraged. If she dreams about alligators I'm going to shit.

"I go to the graveyard by myself at night and I always end up at Bob Ewell's grave. The ground moves and shakes until I see a hand rise from the grave to try to get me. Every single Halloween night, Dill."

"I never knew."

"I didn't want you to know."

"You know," I swallowed. I figured now would be as good as any to reveal my own halloween dream. "The night you and Jem were attacked I had a nightmare about all three of us being chased by an alligator."

"Did they get us?"

"I escaped and I couldnt' find you so I jumped back in the water to go get you and that's when I noticed the alligator got Jem and chewed his arm off."

"I could be understanding of an alligator; they wouldn't know any better than to attack someone, especially if we were invading their territory but why would Bob Ewell want to hurt us? I know the trial and everything but all of us didn't deserve to get hurt the way we did. How did he know he could do such a thing to us, Dill?"

"Because humans are monsters, too."

She didn't repsond to me. The tears welled up in her eyes again and she collapsed into my arms. I rocked her back and forth and tried my best to comfort her. My poor friend, she was still in so much pain.