Journal #7 chapters 26-29 Perspective: Jem

It was just another lame Halloween. Nothing too extravagant or different. Just the same thing we did last year. A big celebration at the high school. One different thing was that Scout was a ham in the play. She has this hilarious costume, too! It’s made out of chicken wire and brown cloth. With the paint, it looks just like a ham! And on Scout, it makes you just want to crack up.

The carnival was decent. I got twenty-five cents from Atticus and that was just enough for six games. There were a lot of kids there, and a lot of adults. It was really hard to navigate around the whole high school, but it was still really fun.

After about half an hour of playing, the play was supposed to start. I got my seat almost fell asleep. When Scout’s alleged cue, “Po-ork” was called, I woke. But it was all for nothing, I didn’t even get to see Scout in the play because she didn’t come out for her big debut. I later found out that she had fallen asleep in her costume and missed her cue. I had consented to meet Scout backstage after it was over, and we'd walk home together.

While we were making our way home in the pitch-black of night, I heard something rustle in the bushes behind us. I ignored it the first time, but when I heard it again, I made Scout stop talking so I could listen. Scout said she assessed it was Cecil Jacobs trying to scare us again, because that’s what he did when we were coming to the carnival. He was somewhat trying to persecute us. I told Scout I didn’t think so because he’d never wait so long, he would’ve already scared us by now. We were almost done passing the large field, when I heard it again, it was definitely someone following us. It couldn’t be anything else. One thing I didn’t understand for a while was how they could be following us in this pitch-black night. Then I looked at Scout and she still had her costume on. I could see it because of the glossy paint that was layered on the top to give it a hammier look. That must’ve been how the stalker was following us, and for us, it was a complete inconvenience. I started to get scared, so I quickened my pace. But when I did that, I could tell that the follower was also. Also, when I went faster, Scout would fall down more often, and that was worse than going slow. I tried to keep moving, and to keep Scout on her feet, but when we were almost to the road, the stalker tackled us! First he grabbed Scout and was dragging her by her costume back the other way, but once I got her back, he seemed to get mad. He leaped at me and got a hold of my ankle. When I twisted away, he got a hold of Scout. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. Thank God for the chicken wire; without it, he would’ve killed her then and there. I started hitting the whiskey-smelling man and he let go of Scout. He grabbed a hold of my arm and twisted it so hard I was sure it broke. I screamed out in pain and he threw me to the ground. From there, everything is hazy, and then it fades to black. The last thing I can barely remember is being placed in my bed. I was hoping I wasn’t dead, but I was completely unsure. I hoped I wasn’t- I was too young to die.

Jem