Jack And Anna - Back To Winnipeg

Journal 2

I mean, it wasn’t the only home we had. We had a house on Alios. Because Alios is one of those nice planets that eliminated poverty centuries ago. Everyone gets a place to live, even sketchy refugees with no papers or identification. You see, when Desa, Anna and I were erased, they didn’t just take everyone’s memory of us. They erased every trace of our existence. Birth certificates, medical files, tax records: all gone.

onlyNow, Desa has Kalia, and people still remember Kalia. So, that gives her some cred. But Anna and I…

The truth is I didn’t realize just how hard it was hitting her. I’m not convinced that Anna is one hundred percent neurotypical, but she’s definitely more extroverted than me. She felt the absence of those connections more keenly than I did.

Most people go through some kind of family drama at least once in their life, and Anna was no exception. She used to butt heads with her parents all the time, but I think, deep down, she always knew that they loved her.

I wasn’t so lucky.

My mom loved me to pieces. There was never any doubt about that. She used to read to me all the time. We’d hang out and watch old shows from her youth. How do you think I got into Buffy? We’d play video games and go hiking.

Buffy?But my dad…

I always felt like I was the freak he never wanted.

I can get by. Maybe that’s because, for as long as I can remember, I always felt like an outsider. But Anna…She needs her mom, and she needs her sister. A few weeks ago, she tried to reconnect with them. And it didn’t go well.