Anna hurried up the stairs – her daughter was calling. Actually, it was her youngest child, of five children. The year was 1913, and she was thirty-six. God, was she really that old? Life was moving fast for her. She heard a high-pitched voice coming from the largest bedroom, her and her husband's own. As she opened the door and walked swiftly into the master bedroom, carrying a basket of laundry, she smiled.

"Erika, silly girl. What are you doing here in mama and papa's room?"

The little girl, dressed only in a nightgown, dashed over to her mother and embraced her, giggling, "Mama, we're playing hide and go seek; Fritz, Brigitte, and me!" she stopped to catch her breath, "I'm counting, and they're hiding."

Anna stroked the four-year-old's dark brown hair, grinning, "Well, you know... I think I saw Brigitte heading towards the dining room."

Erika looked up and Anna gave her a wink. The tall brunette moved to her dresser and started placing the garments neatly inside. Erika was behind her, looking in some boxes, making a great deal of noise, while her mother hummed a song softly to herself. As she was just finishing the trousers, she felt Erika tapping on her shoulder.

Anna turned around and answered, "Yes, Erika? What do you want to tell me?"

Erika smiled and responded slowly, "I found something, mama!"

Anna lifted up her daughter and spun her around, then placing her her on the bed beside the old, rugged container, "Is it in the box?"

Erika nodded and grabbed a faded old stack of papers from inside the box, holding them up in front of the woman's face. Anna took them from her child and gasped, "Oh."

Anna had wondered where these had gone, these letters from so long ago. The newest ones were on the top; and as she flipped thought the stack, she noticed that she must have organized them in chronological order. Some old love letters from Otto from when he was off studying in Stuttgart were there; the pair of them would write back and forth constantly, proclaiming their endless and undying love for each other. And a bit later on the timeline, a wedding invitation from Thea. And look, the very first letter... it was from Wendla, in a girly scribble. She couldn't have been more than seven when she wrote this. Anna recalled receiving letters from each of her friends in turn when she was vacationing in Berlin with her family.

"Erika, you know what these are, dear?" Anna asked softly. Erika shook her head no, and Anna continued, "They're old letters that I got when I was younger... I must have kept them, but I certanly don't remember it."

After she had finished explaining, Erika listening intently all the while, she told her daughter to go play while she finished up the laundry. Anna did no such thing, and instead held the notes in her hands, beaming. She chose a small slightly torn paper from the very bottom of the pile, the one from Wendla. Hm, no wonder it was torn, it had been shoved carelessly into her suitcase along with many others during her vacation that year. Anna thought that she really should have been more careful. Sitting down on the bed, she began to read.

Dear Anna,

Hi! I hope you're having fun in Berlin. Thea is jealous of you, I think. Martha is too. Ilse thinks you're having the time of your life and I am glad you get to go on a nice vacation. I hope you're doing something fun. I would say that I bet Berlin is nice, but mama says ladies don't bet. Today I went mushroom-picking with Greta and then helped mama make peach jam. What did you do? I'll see you soon.

From,

Wendla

She'd have to invite her friends over to look through these tomorrow. Maybe when Otto came home she'd show him too. In the meantime, however, she decided it was best to see if Erika needed help finding Fritz.