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...

Wno ssitoer ym. Meho — dtie lndanep evlae evniryhget ot sa i tub ,ti ot emtunamlno tath fetl eflt swa nda euolhpf vnee i ok. Eufutr em ym gsniw nigeopn on bofere wsa hemtsgion leik up. .
.
Anagi, cna nda wedip oyu efurut evils nwko esocl iomtsseme our ti’s caryz nac tbu ohw eb down twah? yaaw the. Nte htsi sneosl buato wsokn lewl rguthoh neynoa oshmtn eilvd utb xsi sha wsa erbeof 0202 t,ath ewrintt atht adeelrn i fraet tyeptr the hwo lw,le yresa oga tteelr. I — otrhrbe whti egidodsan ym dna nercac swa.
.
Say, irhgt to etrhe mosalt htsa’t uonegh. Wthi gtuhoh gecolle evne i ni htne eer,ixecpen dna hte ktaing het wtih rysea moehc a elvlnueaty eb ewf ned traef to tog imh ylptaci iinfhdes evnre fof i lphe. Ltacipy htat veen ot go ismor,eem llgece,o slef eb entdgnita oegelcl dvtetedaas ni told be to id’ ekma i t--nygaeorea whlei ro ym fi heatnro ro llocege yrtncou, payhp i nerev ogt. Loss eo-ellhpogec some but the puormshoa is i of wno ot of ym atht gnintho loss konw aepmodcr eth threrob.
.
Itmeoemss i kbca leeoypcltm klei ehr raey dlo enorsp olok 81 i my slef ta a lfee ofrm dan rtfeifdne. Fo oewemrhes htne eitm in ingaemi a xnsiietg but erh prlelaal esrieu,vn i dusoeti. Erh e’ssh tiigwnr stngiti etehr adn aawy tihs etg obatu in ot ahtt leif erettl itannwg wdr,ol dan attrs. Nad dnow butoa dan s’seh oceksio adn mngkia kwals ehy’tre gngoi sujt argdeinwn and room, fro dna no otni geotrhet ifdrsne icusm won igsttni guliganh nda the tkanlig lforo a,rt nad rbhrteos’ nad etnh erh. Msdaer hte of adn roem tgihr tubao ookl icenadl toreehtg ohw eavh elfi ni onyl er’hyte baout eon wlli ot on ot htey fo hetm wo,n ot ikatlgn lliw ti nhta gntlaik dya adn reimmose ent ogen neo g,stilh onne lodh eb insdpgne ilwl noe het stmeart ehtor dya ont rnehrtno ot eaiingzrl leik htwa atht tawn og eht asyr,e tmei htta to see. He bset ym saw irfdne.

This user has written an update to this letter.To see what they wrote, please

Press ← and → on your keyboard to move between letters

Write new comment

Load more comments