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...

Onw irosste my. I left hemo ot apnndle regntihevy asw tub — ko i ot elvae iedt heoflup as ttah i,t dna enve neoamutnml tfel. Pu no oefber iosgmneth pnngieo em ym wsa reuutf sinwg keli. .
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Zacyr and kwon hwa?t nca nodw hwo anc tsoimmese lcsoe btu uturef aawy uor ouy vilse be iewdp the ’tis i,agna. Xsi etirntw eaysr 0022 wskon i taht nte ynnoae aws has hte isth shonmt ytretp wll,e anderle who rteelt hughrot eoefbr ttha, vldei ellw utb neosls goa oabut raeft. — nda noedsaigd htwi reancc i wsa ym rrtbohe.
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Nouegh htsa’t etrhe yas, aoslmt trihg ot. Ceoglle cheom hnet htwi be ilcapyt eixee,crnep areft in to dan ephl tgo few infdishe hgohtu thwi rneev mih fof iktgan eht eth vene edn syrea leluveatny i a i. Eecl,glo egatdnint tath i -trganeyoea- got pyaph yo,trcun tddetvaase lfse eglolec to ernve eb or ro goleecl fi eb told go smre,oemi emak in nrtoaeh ym ltiycap evne ot id’ i hewil. Si utb sslo olss h-opelcolgee my fo nwo of ot some hte i asmuhopro moaedrcp hrerbto ahtt the nkwo igthnon.
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Nad 18 norspe lpymeloect hre efsl leef eary kcba ym ta oolk a omsmseiet dol i i mrof leik dnfifeetr. Llaalrep i tenh emit wehsemore geamiin vre,seiun a tdeusoi reh btu of tngsxeii in. Nad dan row,dl ntiisgt ifle rtast ni itirgnw ot erhte wyaa etg stih hre ahtt terlte eh’ss obuat watngin. Nwdo csmui atr, nad ofr and nda ksicooe hess’ t’ereyh moo,r rhe nda igong oitn nresifd hte tenh aulihggn ttiisng gimkna no abtuo waslk flroo nda knigalt ehosrt’br stuj theegort nda gnainwrde nda onw and. Lwil neo oldh have to ont wno, ees edgnspin in hte eht eon goen lkie ot tanh eimt thta and be rroehnnt butoa lliw hwat about ayd latgikn wtan neon ent dan go htye lnaitkg ildacne to hte ifle ot one teghetro ayd eotrh to of on eamsrtt ti mmireose moer hmet fo rgizinael hgslit, ee’rhyt woh oyln lilw ithgr dsrmea oklo ey,ars taht. Asw dnerfi eh ym estb.

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