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...

Srtoeis my now. I sa dan evlea ot to tefl ufophel tub etnmaumonl i pdeannl ited fetl mhoe swa ,ti ngriyveeht atth eevn — ok. On wnsgi ym inonegp reebfo me reftuu pu ikel gtenhoims swa. .
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Lvise mimoetsse h?wat the rcyaz furuet tis’ iwpde ruo who anc oyu nca utb eolsc yaaw be and odwn wokn ,aniag. 0220 rtwntie iths rtafe isx teltre pryett eayrs has foebre i dlvei radlene ,that elwl aws ll,ew esslon knswo oaubt ntsomh btu ago aenyno hwo gtuhrho htta ent the. Was nad ym i ogdsndiea teobrrh — nreacc iwth.
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Nehgou rgith to atolms htas’t ,ysa treeh. Akgint to efatr olecleg a edn i i eht fof cmeoh in neev xerecee,pin hnte eevrn with ihednfsi yapilct gouhth levuleytan pehl eb aeyrs otg thiw the and wef imh. Meer,soim neve co,lgele i tath be neoga-y-rate in go ’id entrhoa yppah yplcait if hielw dolt tngtedina venre eclgelo got flse eakm or oeclelg atdetdsaev i ot be ro to my o,ncruty. But hte of i wno rohpasuom eth esom htta wnok cl-lepehgooe si ym tgnnioh sslo htrrobe ecomrpad to osls of.
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Bcka i ehr dol my fele fsel olko yera a 81 eoimmstse eeytpolcml nfeerfdit klie i mfor at sronep dan. Geinaim ru,eseivn sorewheem of i iemt rhe ni dsueiot ehnt tbu allalerp a extsnigi. Ni yaaw dna boatu etelrt erh rehte tiwgnri ot shti atht row,dl dna es’sh lfei srtta tgnsiti gte wnintag. Dirangnew hten ,tar nda rof yete’rh niglkta on nad tgstini esndrfi onit reh obuat ksoioce juts and eht nad dan rlofo ,moor wsalk nda s’hse gonig dan odwn ughainlg umcis ikagnm nwo hbteor’sr thgoreet and. Liwl to hte lwli ahtt no kolo leif see nda dna eno tigrh w,no to rhotteeg matster ti ilek nitaklg sra,ye day of th’yree nto ntwa oneg eht hmet noly alcndie rrtheonn rmaeds onen og eb etn het roem illw fo hodl rhteo neo eavh eisoremm to ot galzniier atubo ntah ttah eno owh ady pegnsind gialntk ni ot yeht hwat utoab hsli,gt etmi. He tsbe indref aws ym.