The Diary

Cherokee Rose Marie Anderson sat on her small bed reading through her diary once again. She was getting ready to write her last entry during her stay in this horrible place.
It had been almost a year since she had been sentenced to this asylum, when she told some of the old stories and spoke her Cherokee language. They had called her insane and sick. During that year, she had worked hard to convince the doctors that she was mentally stable. Now her work had finally paid off. She was moving into an apartment on the outskirts of London later this afternoon.
Cherokee thought about the events leading up to her placement. The disappearances of some of her Indian friends. The uniformed officers who came to take them away. When they sent Dad to Germany and her and Jori to England, and lastly when they took Jori from her and put her here. A lot had happened between her 17th birthday and now. Could that have really been almost a year ago?
She looked around at the plain white washed walls of her room. She remembered the day she first came here. The day she resolved to get out of here so she could make sure the Cherokee spirit didn’t die with her. She recalled the days of writing and talking English and the nights of practicing her Cherokee.
She knew that teaching the Cherokee culture and language directly would be dangerous and risky, but she could easily write the stories and syallbary in her diary and pass it down. Someday, one of her descendants would find her diary and read it. Then it would be safer to know what really happened and they could till the world. Oh, she couldn't wait tell that day.
“Someday,” she said to herself dreamily.


Several Years Later…….

"So...It looks like we're stuck inside today. What do you guys want to do?" Kelly Marie asked her twin four-year old cousins, whom she was babysitting this rainy Saturday.
The twins looked at each other for a second before turning back to Kelly and saying "explore" in unison.
"Well, okay, but I'm warning you. There's not much to see in this old house," she said, but they had already left, running toward the stairs leading to the attic.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Kelly rushed to catch up with them. When she reached the top of the stairs, she glanced around taking in the dust and darkness. Boxes and trunks were stacked everywhere. You could hear the rain tapping on the roof and see it through the small window in the back.
Katie, the oldest of the twins by 3 minutes, had found a box of old dress up clothes and was playing happily. Caleb however was struggling with the lid of a trunk in one of the far corners.
"Here, let me help you," Kelly said as she walked over to him. The trunk was beautiful. Detailed hand carvings were set into a deep mahogany wood. Kelly lifted the lid. At the sight of just boring old books and photo albums, Caleb decided he didn't want inside the trunk anymore, but Kelly couldn't bring herself to close the lid. Curiosity was begging her to explore the trunk further.
She pulled out a big photo album and uncovered a slightly faded wedding dress. When she tried to pull it out she discovered that it was wrapped around a jewelry box. She tried to open it with no results. She gave up and brought her attention back to the dress.
It was an elegant dress, covered entirely with sequins. She held it out in front of her trying to imagine herself in it. Her curiosity once again got the best of her and she found herself slipping it on. When she got it on, she gasped at how it fit her almost perfectly. Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of cold metal on her back. She gently pulled the dress off and searched the inside for the culprit.
Sewn loosely to the back lining of the dress was a thin pink ribbon holding a key. Kelly carefully removed the stitching and inserted the key into the jewelry box.
"Click!" It worked!
Inside the chest were all kinds of things. Kelly decided it had to be someone’s memory box. She found children’s drawings, locks of hair, picture after picture, and books.
One book caught her eyes. It was an old worn leather covered book. It had printed symbols on the cover and it looked homemade.
“Kelly! Come play dress up with me!” Katie yelled at her.
“Hold on. Let me read some of this book I just found and then I will,” Kelly said as she snuggled into the closest corner and began to read.

Dear Diary,
Guess what? Today’s my 17th birthday! I am so excited! Only one year left and then I’m off to college. In a way, I can’t wait but I don’t really want to leave Dad here with Jori all be himself. Jori’s so sweet. She turned 5 last month and now she keeps reminding us that she’s a big girl now. Dad keeps telling me I shouldn’t worry so much, but I can’t help it. Well, Andy’s telling me to hurry, so I better get back. I just wanted to write in you for the first time. Talk to you later,
Cherokee Rose Marie