The Reaper's Mission- 2013

Chapter Five- Inside Karolyn's Notebook

Section A: Causes of the Revolution

It was the mid 1700's, the time before the war, and the Colonies were becoming restless under Britain's control. Though they still partially relied on their motherland for trading purposes, the Colonies were growing increasingly distant from their roots overseas. Like a child who has reached adulthood and begun experimenting with his or her own life away from parental control, the Colonies were beginning to want more freedom and distance from the suppressing ties to their parent country. Over time, the Colonies developed and grew differently from their oversea correspondents, and though the Colonies were still under the strict control of Britain, they began to set their sights on freedom and independence.

I stopped reading and pulled out the History textbook given to me that day and flipped to the page about causes of the Revolution to make sure that the notes weren't direct copies from a published textbook. Not a single phrase or sentence matched what I had read in Karolyn's notebook, yet it seemed less like she was taking notes and more like she was writing her own telling of history. I glanced back through her previous units of notes and found similar note-taking methods. Not only this, but as I read, I found sketches and doodles of historical figures floating around the pages, as well as the occasional political cartoon elaborating some historical aspect of the time. There were distinct characters for each figure, including Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and more. She could have been a graphic novel illustrator with the skill I saw in those pages.

What on Earth? I thought to myself as I stared at the notebook in my hands. I was hoping I'd learn something about Karolyn when I read her notes, but I didn't expect to find out that she was a prodigy when it came to recounting history. Not to mention her detailed sketches and knack for political humor.

Karolyn Grace Winters was becoming more interesting by the second.

That night, I found myself staying up late reading that notebook beginning to end, despite having lived through all of the events within it. The way Karolyn wrote was catchy and easy to get lost in, and I found my memories of history revitalized with every college-ruled page. When her notes stopped with the end of what we'd learned in class that day, I almost felt disappointed. I idly wondered if she would keep writing these retellings of history as a career, and vowed to read them should they ever continue.

That is, until I was reminded that the entire reason I ever even met Karolyn was because I was assigned to kill her.

Standing abruptly from my bed, I quickly shoved the notebook back into my bag and turned the lights out. Instead of thinking about the fact that I was strangely intrigued with the girl I was set to kill, I decided to go to bed immediately and hope for the best. Perhaps dreams and drowsiness would keep my mind off the thought that she would never get the chance to write her retellings of history, the chance to do anything at that.

In reality, I didn't sleep that night because I was too angry with myself over forgetting on the first day that I was there to kill Karolyn, and not to befriend her. Not that I needed the sleep due to Reapers' ability to forego it at will, but staying up all night enraged over being an idiot didn't exactly make for a cheerful morning.

When I got up for my second day of school, Ben was already gone, so I had the house to myself as I made myself breakfast (dry cereal and a tic tac). Since I was alone, I didn't get dressed in more than my boxers until I was about to leave, and snickered at the thought of Ben coming home to me wearing only my underwear a day after living together. This put me in a slightly better mood than I had been in from the night before, and I almost forgot how frustrated I was with myself as I headed off to school.

About halfway there, I bumped into Tracy and Darren, who recognized me and motioned for me to walk with them.

"Morning new kid," Tracy told me as I fell into step with them. "How'd you sleep?"