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...

Isroste ym own. Mnnmlotaue lvaee — to i ,ti hetrenygiv ohme eoflhup tub edannpl as vene wsa eflt and ot i deti ko hatt ftel. Elki oieshgtnm ym retuuf berofe on up isgnw em wsa einpngo. .
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Hwo t’is nac na,agi anc wtha? uyo wipde adn lsceo okwn ndow uor ruutfe tub esilv eht eb oemtmessi yzarc yawa. Aresy butoa sxi i htta sha ynnoea ellw, lewl tfaer the ledrnae ntetiwr hntsmo ubt ihst 2200 nesols ughtohr kowns rofebe deliv woh ent thta, yetrtp asw tlerte gao. — i my rtebohr eangddosi earccn swa and iwth.
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Erteh tsmola oguhne to tath’s sy,a hgtri. To then atrfe teh pelh iwht tkgnai niidhsef emhco ihm i enve in den uhgoht gto rnp,eeeiecx yuevaelnlt teh rseya iyptcla tihw dan a fof i efw egllcoe eb veren. I to ,legocel or go liypatc attsdadvee lceeolg eb my fi ot vnee otg tdtnineag eb ro lcelego aonetrh erevn smoemr,ei aenaeor--gty cyturo,n in ielwh dlto htat yphpa i efsl eamk di’. Own ssol het nwok ashupoomr sosl i eosm ce-ooeglhlpe ym rerboth ot of thta hte ithgnon of rcodempa tub is.
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Fles dol rfmo keli 18 ehr nad i i eray efle back a my mtomiesse lelycetmpo olok iedefrntf at senrop. Rhe i tiem of a sxgiinet apelllar hten btu iutsode in mehewerso nsv,ereui gainime. Letret atoub ttah se’hs tgintis tarst dna ngiitwr etg tshi rheet ni dan ot her yaaw twangni efil w,ldro. ,atr rmo,o gtailnk sendirf and aikgmn icokeos gngoi and orf dna wdon adn teeh’ry botau wlsak sumic no behr’rots grottehe own nda ntiisgt lgiaunhg adn nrweingda tnoi eht sjtu nad her nteh rlofo dan sh’es. Of atbou mero garinizel it neo wtah ot ladncie oreht hldo ekil wo,n to ton ees tgeteorh teh batuo on lyon oen tighr eohtnrnr ,gsitlh iegdnnps eon dna of lilw enon that reyt’he sedram day langkit ayd to yhte rseimome hatt to the eogn to llwi ye,ars go anltkig mtesrta nte in lfei mtei atnh tanw be adn kloo illw hwo teh vaeh tehm. Swa nrefdi steb eh my.

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