September 15th 1910
Manitoba, Canada
Dear Brother,
The trip from Scottland was alright. The boat ride was fairly long but there was a nice breeze. A majority of the people that traveled to Canada were men or women; although I was surprised to see as many children as I did. Some of them were younger than 10, not many years away from my age. On the many days travel to Canada, I made a few friends amoung the travellers. One of them said I could come to live and work that their farm. As you know Brother, I've always wanted to live in the country. Working on a farm is going to a lot of work but I'm ready to live on my own, as you know very well.
When I got off the boat I went with his family to collect our bags and catch the next train across the country. I remember asking him where their land was, he said it was in Manitoba. I couldn't wait to see the extensive land that I would have to till. When we got on the train, his family let us sit separately from them. I noticed that his older brother had winked at him, I had giggled. His brother, younger sister and parents had taken the two seats next to us and the two behind us. I have to say Brother, he is quite handsome for a younger boy. I'm confidant in saying that his accent gives him away. I'm positive he's Russian. I'm sure you're not very happy to be reading this. I know how much you don't like Russians.
The train was okay. There were a lot of bumps and the train car kept making very unsettling noises, but the company was good. We talked about life on a farm. I learned he had spent most of his life on a farm. His parents had bought one back in Russia just before he was born. He told me that in selling the farm, they made a little bit of extra money, but unfortunately, not a lot. We had opened the window so a breeze could flow throw the train car. It was quite a muggy day so the breeze had been a relief for many of the other people travelling by train.
When we reached the stop in Manitoba I was shocked by the state of the land and realized it was going to be a lot more work than anyone of us had realized. When we got the information for the land, we found out we had to build our own house. Not having a house for the first few weeks was defiantly hard. The days were windy and muggy. The nights were even worse; freezing and wind storms almost every night. Within the first month we had made a relatively nice house. It was warm and could hold all of us, and plus it managed to keep the rain and wind out rather nicely.
Other than the weather and the unfortunate beginning, everything has gone almost without a hitch. The weather has managed to stay stable at a reasonably warm temperature and the winds have died down to a small breeze. Every morning I have to wake up a little before dawn and start work, breaking at noon to eat lunch. Nights are very early. The sun has almost gone beyond the horizon when we are about to sleep.
All together the trip was bearable. Meeting the wonderfully nice family from Russia and the handsome young boy. In my next letter, I might tell you his name. Please write soon, I miss everyone at home. Hope you are all doing alright. Wish dad good luck at work for me and wish mom good luck with her health, I know it's not been so good lately.
Love,
Amelia
Standing, I breathe in the clean air. It's the cleanest it'll ever been and has ever been. Smiling at the water, I take off my shoes and strip down to my underwear. As I wade into the cool, clear water I close my eyes, breathe in one last time, and dive into the water; opening my eyes only when I know water surrounds me. I'm always amazed at the sights I see. Coral reefs, exotic fish, only me and the wild; just how I like it, and just how it's been for many years.
I breech the surface of the water and look around; I'm not very far from the shore. Looking at the sky I see storm clouds approaching from the West. Sighing I swim back to my clothes and run to get back home. It hasn't raining in a little over a month so this was defiantly a blessing. Slowing down as I reached the edge of the forest, I lay my clothes on a branch and tried to get the remaining water out of my annoyingly long hair. Checking the sky again, I saw that the clouds where almost over head.
Cursing, I ran as fast as I could. I live with my brother in a tree. I think they used to call it a tree house, but i'm not sure. After the big storm happened years ago, the last remaining humans broke apart all over the world. I guess we've slowly forgotten the old language. Arriving at the tree, I whistled and saw my older brother poke his head out of the window. Smiling, I watched him lower the ladder we use to get to and from the house.
It's a fairly large house. Two floors in size, it can only hold two people; me and my brother. The second floor is designated specifically for sleeping, that's where our beds are. The first floor has a fire pit, where we cook all the food, and a make-shift couch. Over the years we have managed to scavenge things from the towns nearby; books, paintings, glasses, bowls, eating utensils; which we are very thankful for. Climbing into the "living room" I hugged him and climbed upstairs to get some dry clothes.
"It's about to rain!" He said cheerfully. Coming back down the ladder, I smiled and dropped onto the couch.
"I know, it's going to be wonderful. What are we having to eat?" I asked leaning forward. Walking to the fire, he hauled up a rabbit. He knows I love rabbit is I ran over and hugged him again. "Well, let's get cooking!" I screamed happily, just in time too, for the water droplets started to fall. The sounds of thunder and the strange yellow light of lightening carried all throughout the night as me and my brother slept.
The world "ending" was what everyone used to call it. I don't know what they were thinking because it's the best thing that could have happened.