Ugh! I don’t get it! How can something be super-awesome AND super-awful at the same time?

I THOUGHT this was gonna be the best vacation ever. And it kinda was. Lotsa cool stuff happened. I rode on a boat and I went to a lighthouse and I got a really pretty pair of earrings! Plus I had a TON of fun with Mama and Papa and even Tristan (but he’s still a dummy). And I even made a new friend too!

But it was kinda the WORST vacation ever too. After the first couple days, it was like Mama and Papa failed ALL their Marriage rolls. And it ruined everything! They were all sad and grumpy and I have NO clue why.

Well, okay. I have ONE clue. Mama and Papa both said it’s got something to do with “bad memories”. But I still don’t really get it. What could be so bad that it made Mama not buy me that pretty dress? Or made Papa act really weird at the wedding? Or made them both so sad? And MAD?!

They’ve been fighting like CRAZY ever since that stupid wedding. And I’m used to it, since they get in stupid fights ALL THE TIME. But this time it feels different. I don’t know why. I can’t really explain it.

And it’s not just awful ‘cause it feels different. I wish they waited til we got home before they decided to start arguing every single day! This was supposed to be a super-awesome, fun vacation. But they ruined everything with all their dumb fighting.

I’m happy we’re going home tomorrow. I think that’ll make things better. We’ve just gotta get away from this place. Tristan told me Mama said Brindleton Bay was haunted with ghosts. But I know ghosts aren’t real. So that can’t be it.

But I DO think there’s something really really wrong about this place. I think it’s CURSED or something. And like Onkel Tam would say, it’s giving a -2 penalty to everything… especially Marriage rolls. Ugh!

So being away from the curse has gotta help, right? Then maybe everything will finally feel normal again. And even if Mama and Papa are still fighting, at least it’d be their NORMAL type of fights and not… whatever the heck this is! I can’t wait til it’s all over.

Plus, I can’t wait to see Zelda too. Writing stuff down in this journal’s kinda fun, I guess. But it’s not the same as talking to somebody. I’ve gotta tell her about everything that happened. Even the good stuff, like making a new friend.

This sounds SO weird, but I keep thinking about that Xander kid I met (but not like THAT. Ewwwww!). I just can’t believe I made a cool new friend, but now I’m never gonna see him again! It’s so stupid. I wish there was a way we could still play together. Especially after he taught me all those cool new English words too! I tried to write down all the ones I could remember, but I probably messed some up.

I was gonna try asking Papa for help, but he was so weird after the wedding that I didn’t wanna. Plus, I was sorta mad at him and Mama after the wedding too. And not just ‘cause of the fighting. They made me leave early! It’s their fault I’m never gonna see Xander again!

I didn’t even have time to ask him for his phone number or something… But I guess we wouldn’t really be able to talk anyway. You can’t point at stuff over the phone like you can in person.

It’s still so dumb that Papa and Mama made us leave though! I was having fun. And I didn’t even get to REALLY say goodbye.

Now do you see what I’m talking about? This trip was the best AND the worst at the same time. And now I’m just kinda sick of everything and ready to go back home!

I miss sleeping in my real bed and being around people who speak German instead of English all the time. Plus, sharing a room with Tristan is SO annoying. I would die if we ever had to share at home! It’s the worst thing EVER. Bleghhhh! Why are little brothers so awful?

Anyway, I’m gonna be REALLY busy when I get home though. Once I get back, me and Zelda only have two weeks to finish our costumes for GeekCon! Papa was lazy and BOUGHT his costume. But I wanted to make mine like Onkel Tam does. And he said he’d help us and even let us use his sewing machine to make them too.

This is gonna be my first time making my own costume. Ever! I’ve drawn lotsa pictures of costume ideas before though. Last summer when Onkel Tam DMed me and Zelda’s first D&D campaign, I drew pictures of ALL my character’s clothes. Even her pajamas!

Me and Zelda don’t know EXACTLY what we wanna dress like yet, but we’ll figure it out. We keep changing our minds between wearing pretty dresses like princesses, or cool costumes like superheroes!

Ooh! Or maybe there’s a way we can do both! Maybe we can be superhero princesses who can slay the dragons all by themselves and don’t need any robots to come save them! (See? I remember SOME English!)

Okay, I should probably stop writing now. Mama just told me we need to have dinner soon, and then we’ve gotta go to bed right after ‘cause we’ve gotta get up SUPER early tomorrow and go to the airport.

Ugh. I’m still really excited to go home and see Zelda and stuff. But I’m NOT happy about spending another trillion-jillion years on a stupid plane again!

Mama just keeps saying ‘you’ll survive’ every time I try talking about it. And I really hope she’s right.

I mean, I DID survive a trillion-jillion years on the way here, so I can probably last a trillion-jillion years on the way back too, right?

And it’ll be worth it if it gets us away from this stupid curse.

—————————–

Hey guys! Sorry for such a short chapter this time (but hopefully the last two longer chapters make up for it!)

I just wanted to take a second to make a little post because I doubt the next chapter will be done in time for Tuesday… which happens to be a very special day.

Tuesday, December 11th marks three years since I started A2A! 😱 I am thinking of doing a couple special posts on my forum thread on that day, but I wanted to throw a sappy little note in this chapter too!

The last three years writing this story have consisted of a lot of ups and downs (both on the page and off), and I wanted to take a moment to thank you guys for sticking by me and my story and always being wonderful and supportive, especially during some of those harder times. ❤️ I never really talked publicly about most of those difficult/drama-filled moments, so you might not have even realized you were helping me. But you were. And I’m so grateful.

All of your support has really helped me make it through those awful moments and hold on to the joy I feel writing this story. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. ❤️

We’re finally in the home stretch! Sort of 😛 Hopefully this time next year, we will be nearing the coveted Gen 10. And I hope that most of you reading this right now will still be there with me when we get there. Love you guys!

-Amanda/CitizenErased14