feeling...

Peaceful right?

feeling... sharp. dangerous. full of attitude. which, I guess, is just what a girl about to go to college ought to feel like. When you, future Anna, get this, it'll be ten years from now, and the passport that you got today will have expired. How was going to school in another country? Was it far enough away from your parents? What prompted past-you to write this (besides the fact that the trusty sketchbook/journal has gone missing) is the fact that, among all of the suitcases you were looking for in the attic today, you also found a hefty dose of family history. History from 1840. A picture of the family goat. Hand drawn sketches of the cottage. Letters back and forth between two feuding families. One family claims its daughter was starved to death whilst visiting the other. The other family is outraged because of a false arrest upon an unfounded accusation of THEIR daughter being a member of a house of prostitution. All insults and accusations in flowery, minute, faint 1840's penmanship, of course. I don't even know what the point of this email is. I just think it's weird that on the eve of your departure to distance yourself from your family, just when you're feeling incredibly independent, the attic delivers. Now, past-you wants to stay connected, be Bess's great great great great granddaughter, add her own tale to the many family stories. Past-you wants to stay in the attic forever, reading the family history. But I guess that's why college is good. So you can get the hell out of that attic and this house and make your own history. Go on.

Epilogue

3 days later

Ten years ago, I was a senior in high school aching to go to college as far away from home as possible. I wanted to see other countries and make...

Ym won ssreoit. To felt evael neev adn i gtyenhievr htta as dite mnmatlenuo fetl wsa tbu to ndnaepl ko home — ,ti i pheluof. Gnwsi tnihmegos on my pognnie liek pu was ufuret bforee me. .
.
Uro eb how ocles the s’ti nkwo cna you ag,ina anc pwdei thw?a azcyr waay urtuef ubt velsi nodw ieosmtesm adn. Llw,e ssolne well atht rtelte botau hsa dlnaree shit nhmsot elivd owh tht,a grhotuh i eoebfr rwettin nte wsa rfeta eht tbu ynnaeo 0202 gao ayrse knows xsi erptty. Rerthob gdondseia — nracec i my whti swa dan.
.
Tihgr hrete lmsoat unhgoe s,ay ot htsta’. A hte venre peer,eenicx ot eevn lgoecel mih eavullynet fof be efw ihtw ni diifenhs tog omech cpatlyi years thne dan ihwt aefrt oguthh dne i i pehl eht iantgk. My nrgeey-aot-a pyiactl llegoec odtl oelcg,el di’ fi elsf urtncoy, thta ro eb wielh aoenrth tetedadasv eb i og to ro ni i ayhpp nadtniegt ekma ocelgle venre enve to ories,emm tog. Btroerh oems eogeh-ploelc nwo wkno eth hrupmosoa tbu ntihngo htat i fo mpeoadcr fo ot ym ossl the slos si.
.
18 a sropen klei bcak tmmessieo enfdfrtie dan i elfe olok reh eary i fmor ta old ym lesf oetllmpecy. Lelralap in vsee,iunr tnhe ousetid ehreowmes reh a einmagi eimt utb i giesnxit of. ’hess ganwint aawy lrette lief w,ordl rttsa thta ittsnig get and in hteer ot otabu rtniwgi dna ehr tihs. Ndeirsf nad auobt icsooek ’tyehre unaghigl mscui lgtkain dan no noit nrigednwa sawkl dna m,oor sshe’ the mkangi dna sngttii ,tra nda nda nda floor nwo usjt nhet fro ignog her brhse’rot regtoeth nad nwod. Noe ehy’etr tkiangl eliandc ermo be of fo nad oatbu elik ubota imet nad zreiglnia ghsil,t hte hatt geon oen gihtr onne vhae woh nto life dya nawt liwl nath noe ti lgkaint to hemt look eemrsmio ar,yse lwli toher the matrste het eardms og ady dhol in ees torgethe to lwil pgnisnde ot ehty ot hnronret on nwo, ot atht ent htaw ylno. Tesb eh nrfied was my.

This user has written an update to this letter.To see what they wrote, please

Write new comment

Load more comments