Samuel's (Grandfather's) Journal

Journal,

My days are limited, and I know that no one will read the words I write today, but my thoughts are jumbled, and I need to talk to someone, even if that someone is me. It has been a long few days, what with preparing for my final banquet and all. I have chosen a light green for my Final Plain clothes; because that is the color my wife was dressed in… I don’t believe that I will ever see her again in some kind of afterlife, but it seems almost poetic to wear the same thing she did.

The other day, I caught Cassia hungrily eyeing my pie, and I’ve chosen that to be my Final Meal. Speaking of Cassia, she came to see me yesterday with some strange news. She said that she was still matched with Xander (which I think is absolutely marvelous, and saves them the trouble of getting to know each other), but that she saw another boy’s face on the screen. She says that she saw Ky Markham’s face; the boy who was adopted by Patrick and Aida. I found this curious, indeed, but it somehow didn’t strike me as a mistake. The Society doesn’t make mistakes; everything is so well planned and thought out. Therefore, how could something like this slip through their radar?

When she told me this boy was an Aberration, I was shocked. How could my granddaughter be matched with an Aberration, of all people! This has to have been planned; a cruel joke of some kind! However, the Aberration title seems unfitting to this ‘Ky’. That poor boy, he’s been marked through with no fault of his own. He even works at the Nutrition Disposal Center; it’s hard, unfulfilling work.

The dead can’t talk, so Cassia was allowed to tell me all of this. She also told me about her new summer leisure activity; hiking. We talked about the Hill, and how wonderful it would be to hike there. I really hope they take the kids there; it would be a great experience for Cassia to get a taste of the real wilderness. I also told her to bring the compact I gave her to my Final Banquet. There is something I have to see one last time, and something that I really want to show her. I know she won’t think it’s safe to keep it, and the paranoia might lead her to destroy it; I know that’s what I would do if someone gave me something as precious as that. However, I know she has to see the beautiful old writing that my grandmother did such a good job of concealing.

As my Final Banquet is tomorrow, they have to take a sample of the inside of my cheek to preserve my body, so that in the future, they might be able to bring me back. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I really don’t want to be brought back into an alien land. My wife didn’t have a chance at that, and neither will I. I have decided to give my sample to Abran, and tell him to destroy it before he hands it over to the Officials. I trust him with my life, including my death, but I really want to die on my own terms, and not have even my death controlled by the Society.

Wait, there’s a knock at the door: it must be Agnes bringing my evening meal. I have to conceal this journal so they don’t take it from he, and don’t find out what I’m writing.

Forever,

Samuel Reyes

This character is the one that Cassia trusts the most, and will tell anything; her grandfather. He is in the nursing home for elders, and it is almost his last day on the Earth. The day after this journal is set in, is his Final Banquet and his eightieth birthday. This is the day that Cassia comes to visit him to tell him about her Match (and mismatch) and when the true rebel starts to show in Samuel. First, he shows Cassia the stolen poems from the compact that he gave her, then tells his son to destroy his tissue sample. As readers, we get to see how wise he really is, and how much he defies the Society (in his own ways). 

Grandfather is vital to the story because he encourages Cassia to fight for herself, and to write her own words. She doesn't understand the power of her own words, her own creativity, and how vital it is for her personal growth, and he encourages her to be herself. Predictions weren't very hard to make for this journal, because Cassia only sees Grandfather twice in the novel, and the second time is the last time anyone will ever see him. This journal was set after Cassia visited him for the first time, and the 'predictions' are what happens in the second visit. However, something that wasn't included in the novel, but that I included is how Grandfather thinks that Cassia's matching with Ky isn't a mistake. I added this because I think he's been around for a long time, and knows well how the Society functions, and knows their kinks and mistakes. He is smart and logical enough to know what truly is a mistake and what isn't (after all, this wasn't a mistake, but a cruel experiment set up by the Society).