to: Solvunn

[beautifullies]

𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑢𝑛𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝑠, 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡.

𝑇𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡: 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛. 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒'𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦. 

𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘. 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑀𝑟. 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠.

𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑔, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

Comments

[wwrench]

I'm willing to bet the first archaeologists weren't exactly professionals either. 😜

[An emoji from Wrench is practically gregarious. There's no doubting the man is getting more comfortable with Claire.]

Anyone ever asked the locals how long they've been here? Or when their families first showed up?

[beautifullies]

[ What an honor. If she knew what 'LOL' meant, he would get that in response because she does indeed laugh out loud. Something about his words also settles an anxiety she hadn't known she was carrying. ]

𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼'𝑚 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.

[ She can be intense when she feels she's onto something, and she doesn't want to make anyone suspicious of her motives as a Summond. ]

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒; 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑.

[wwrench]

I've been delivering some of the totems to families who had people that didn't make it back from the island. Sometimes they want to do something to remember them. I'll think about asking more about their families, if the time seems right.

[The time never seems right for Wrench to initiate conversation with any stranger, really, but he's met some he thinks might be more open to the suggestion of conversation than others. No one seems surprised to have their suspicions confirmed, but a few from the commune have wanted to reminisce.]

I never really imagined having the chance to discover anything new. Back where I'm from, it seems like everything's already been figured out.

[beautifullies]

[ She pauses to think about the families receiving news, but he's right that some seem more willing to sit down and talk. It's just a matter of finding those people. ]

𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑.

[ That's only about 250 years past, but it's surprising how quickly things are lost to time. ]

𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼𝑆 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑐𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐. 𝐼𝑡'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠.

[wwrench]

Ten?

[Wrench would be surprised too. Of course, his understanding of lineage might differ from most others. He barely remembers anything of substance about his parents; wouldn't even want to if he could. Grandparents are thus rendered a moot point, and anything beyond that scarcely bears consideration.]

You know I have to ask what you discovered at seventeen.

[beautifullies]

𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔.

[ He's not wrong to assume it's a long shot, but until she's in the weeds, she's going to hope there's something older hidden beneath the ground. ]

𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚, 𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐼'𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝑀𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡; ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐼'𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒.

[wwrench]

I can't even go back two.

[That's more than Wrench typically speaks about himself, at least where his personal history is concerned. He regrets it immediately. Treating the conversation with Claire comes naturally, until it doesn't. His next reply is rushed, and probing.]

Where were you, in the world? Were you able to figure out the people it came from?

[beautifullies]

𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒. 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑.

[ The only people she's ever really told these stories to are Jamie and Frank, and it's nice, stretching those muscles in her mind that have kept memories locked up lest she get lost in reminiscing. ]

𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎, 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟. 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔.