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...

Nwo ym esisrot. ,ti enve evlea tied ot sa ko to i flte flhouep i flte ohme tmnueanlom pnaeldn aws but taht adn — hieytrnveg. Orbfee utreuf iopenng isgwn pu saw hmsenogti me iekl no ym. .
.
Yaaw vlesi eth owh ist’ wta?h rycaz can oimeetssm ruo losec but cna ftureu ,again you eb wdno nda wnok diepw. Tenrtwi het ago teelrt that about syrea sah btu nksow 2002 nossel woh lewl six lewl, eoynan ldrenae i elvdi nte tepytr nomhst huohtgr atht, aterf saw siht erofbe. Rtohrbe asw and i tiwh arencc — my ddgsianeo.
.
Soltam ot ya,s etreh nouhge tash’t thrgi. Fisihdne ehpl be aersy whti rveen him off akgitn ip,erexneec the the terfa tog eocmh i dna cpltyia ot twih edn eenv loeglce ohthgu a ehnt i efw nteulaeylv in. Ot todl ogt i or og agtntnide rocynut, maek nveer vadttesade eb fi ot atth leiwh eelcgol ycaitlp gleoec,l ro i veen ni fles pphya gaee-troy-na ,memsorei my ’di eb lcegeol hnreaot. Utb loss sprhmaouo herbtro omse sslo i ym of hte won pcdraeom gitnohn nwok ot si the of oelop-cgeehl tath.
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Eyra adn bcka dlo ehr elfe olmycltepe 81 tedifrnfe tsemmiose i kloo nspeor keil at ym a slfe mfro i. A mesrohwee ueeni,vsr in rhe lraaplel hetn time i ntegsxii fo miieagn ioeusdt utb. Waya ihts reh hatt ni efli etg aotbu tiitsng sse’h itnwnga etreh tgnrwii ttreel nad dan tatsr to rwold,. Ngogi rhe te’erhy csoioek no dan lkanigt now sh’se gknima rm,oo inot dna outab nad ignistt fro rbesorth’ kslaw oolfr dan stju wdon inragnewd dna nhet nda dan and t,ar hgagnuil ismcu drnefis eth tgeehtro. Grizilnea ton ilwl itanklg ady to mthe ent miet pndsinge one ot to no be eilk het and erhot rsdmae none yreeth’ tath watn wath the thna go evah ni liwl of rttmsea rmeo geon nwo, woh hte neo it lnyo of ot nda dnlaiec lkiagnt irhgt igtl,hs heetogtr wlli dya rmeoimse see feil to ttah oolk ryse,a utbao eon tbaou dloh nronerht heyt. Eh asw ym stbe fneidr.

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