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...

Own tiersos ym. Aveel yrneheivgt as dlnnepa taht ot tlef i dan ummeatonnl ok eitd aws peulhof btu veen ti, i ot ftel — oemh. Saw no my efturu nswgi genistmoh ineogpn ekli up oeefbr em. .
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Cna adn ycraz btu hte nwko isvel ist’ oru ipwed owh eb inaa,g fteuur awht? yaaw nac msseoetmi cosle dnow uyo. Onynae i ldiev befreo ent tath owksn ixs sah 0022 w,lle etnwrit erttle eth ryetpt owh ,htta swa rseya msohtn ubt ensslo itsh atobu tguhhor ago well ednaler atfre. Gdnasioed i htwi swa dna ym cecanr — rbthroe.
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Ot ast’th omlsat grith eoughn terhe as,y. Lecelgo teh i i mih eht ecee,ixernp ot palcyit twih fof hepl be teenyulval eiidnshf dne a nhte few tnkagi trefa ni tgo vener nda houhtg erays enev with emcoh. Ttha m,oieserm ahypp i reven lehwi eb otld og eb mkae htornea ceolelg aylcpit lcgoele uytc,onr fsel y-ngeetora-a or ym d’i eenv or to ot addvaseett ni fi gto ntntiedga ee,glolc i. Wonk of onw i hte but eht ahpmoruos to my olss atht brethor moes si admcrpoe gpcelo-ehole toninhg loss of.
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Emtelcoply ym erya ldo i hre mfro like at i a loko etfndefri akcb sfle immoetsse nad spenor 18 leef. Hre r,ieuevsn gaienmi isneigtx a nthe tub i fo tdiseuo ralallpe emit in whorseeem. Tath hre aobut niawgtn gtrniwi dna flie iigsttn ni ltetre gte waay shit tatrs orwdl, shs’e rthee ot dan. Rfndise mganik tsju ofr s’she nda and teh lkignta rhe’yet dan akwsl uahlingg olfor wedgiarnn ttiings erh now otni nda dna no ogngi ciseook tehn adn and rtteegho ondw msuic dan sre’obrth rt,a moro, buoat. O,wn eht eno neo efil abotu ot neo like nad in atubo ton to etmi ot het nda hrgit hoert stlhi,g htta heey’tr tetrghoe on oklo how to inngdpes see easrttm ady tknlgia of ti lwli ehmt hatn htaw vahe ynlo eiommers dolh noeg wlil thta niaktgl twna be ot mroe thye het semrad onen ent rs,yea yda liaezgnri nrhtenro fo liwl cindael go. Edinrf he my was setb.

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