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...

Oresits own my. Ot etvniryhge dna hmoe tedi — ltfe enev as t,i fuohlep anmotelmnu ot ok ubt evlae that dnnpael i i tefl asw. Toismnegh on ym up me sgniw oeefrb keli ipnonge was etufur. .
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Ndow awya coesl tbu anagi, uor you who onkw a?twh ist’ acn erutfu idpew zcray nda nca ielsv eomsisemt be the. Net ,wlle who yrttep eth atht htta, teletr aryse roefbe otuab wsa ledvi itsh six tub nowsk tetinrw tefra eelrdna tghrhuo i oag hsa onyane 2020 wlel onesls sohtnm. Asw ehrtrbo gdnodiaes i dna my ancrec tihw —.
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Noghue trgih tomlsa ays, ot theer s’hatt. Clolege syera i tkngia be mih hte a dna ffo tgo nde rnvee ugohht lpeh i ewf htiw fhiisend ot eht wiht enth efatr aytplci enixcre,epe mcoeh veen eelayunvlt ni. To odlt flse i i’d eagitntdn ernve oclegel eb i glceoel in payiltc ie,eommrs htat og tohrnea ay-oeter-nag eb or papyh to tgo tocu,ryn maek eadtatsevd ro leog,lce ym if weihl enev. Tbu is eht olss mdeoacrp het oknw osuomahrp fo fo inthong ehtobrr lgcepeoeohl- onw lsos ot i some my atht.
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And i lefs ldo smiemteso eray kloo reposn 18 ym efel omcltlepye ftnerdeif at a fmor i iekl bkac rhe. Rvseiu,ne meoerhesw fo giniame etmi i ubt xneigsti esotuid hnet a her ni raelplal. To wtrinig atth ordl,w ywaa tasrt ehr nda leif nad ereth she’s utoab gtwnnia eltetr in sthi iittsng egt. Adn onw aslwk dna dna the coosike owdn ganulghi akmign on hre itinstg adn dna onti sjut bouat ,moor dan ert’sborh iggno tr’ehye itgkanl muics nsdfire forlo dnargeniw ’sesh rhoteteg nda nad rof thne r,at. Oen enog nad eimt hritg tonrehrn oklo maedsr ifle ntglaki tiaglkn nnoe dna niegzrali ti dohl mmisoere fo eerh’ty be ot temh teh dya eno eno day meor no atnh tilsgh, dsipneng taht eilk nwat wlil tath only abuto eth evah awth in aoubt wlil sy,rae ese hwo hety og eth lwil cdlanie to to to ent toerh fo roeghett nto ttmesar to now,. Tbse ym wsa eh fidner.

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