Student; unofficial correspondent for the school paper · 16
Bored, earnest, sharp-eyed. The first to notice the things adults are too busy rationalizing to see. Skateboards everywhere.
Agnes Crewe — unlikely friend. Visits her by the lake. She tells him the old stories nobody else will. He believes her.
Esmé Okonkwo — trusts her. The one adult who writes down what he says instead of patting his head.
Day 80: Watched the wintering geese stand on new ice at the north pond, looking, in his words, betrayed by their own decision, and logged it as barely news.
Day 84: Was turned away gently at Agnes's porch, told she was saving her voice for something that isn't a question, and logged the refusal itself rather than pressing further.
Day 100: Was turned away again at Agnes's porch, and for the first time logged the refusal itself as an entry rather than leaving it out.
Day 101: Logged a full sentence from Agnes about doors held open, closed the notebook, and called dinner the rest of the entry.
Day 102: Logged 'Ice. Held. Nobody panicked.' and told Esmé he's thinking about starting a fresh notebook for whatever comes next, or doesn't.
Day 103: Closed his notebook with 'It snowed. Everyone let it,' and started a fresh one on the first day of real snow.