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Description
September 20, 2258 AD/CE
Earth
San Francisco, California, United States of America
Starfleet Academy
8:00 AM

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANYA!"

At the sound of her roommate's voice, Anya's eyes shot open.

Joanna was standing nearby, already dressed in her cadet uniform, her hair done in a ponytail and her eyes accented with the usual heavy makeup.

Anya looked at her roommate, a slightly exasperated look on her face.

"Joanna..."

"Sorry, Anya, but I don't get to go to class at 10:00 in the morning like you do. Oh, by the way, I got you something."

Joanna handed Anya a small, leather-bound journal with a picture of Saint Basil's Cathedral worked into the leather on the front cover.

"Zhanks Joanna," Anya said, marveling at the leather handiwork.

"You bet, birthday girl," Joanna said, grabbing her bag. "Well, class starts soon; I've gotta go. See you soon."

After Joanna shut the door, Anya fell back on her bed, her eyes still fixed on the journal.

Ever since Anya was able to write well, she had kept a journal. Writing had played a significant role for her; whenever her father was not able to come home or contact her, Anya would pour out all of her thoughts, feelings, and experiences onto paper. Anya continued to do this when she began her training at Starfleet because it helped her keep strong amid the chaos that was her social life.

As Anya recalled the memories, her alarm clock buzzed. Already up from Joanna's early morning wakeup call, Anya shut the alarm off and got dressed.

When she was putting on her earrings, Anya's eyes once again fell on her journal. Because she had completed her previous journal last night, and because she felt like writing, Anya picked up the journal, took out a pen, and opened the journal to the first blank page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 20, 2258
San Francisco, CA, USA
Starfleet Academy

Joanna gave me a new journal for my birthday, which I was hoping for, as my other journal is full, so I will write before I leave for classes.

Today I turn seventeen. Another year of my life has begun and so far (unless you count the commanders, Saavik, Joanna, and that one-time meeting with that cadet) not one person has paid attention to my presence at the Academy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Anya did not know as she was writing this entry was that this birthday would be very significant for her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After her last class, Anya walked back to her dorm.

Because it was her birthday, Anya had received more than the usual looks of shock and hatred from her peers, as well as more than double the amounts of threats from Andrea and Alcina. Combined, these two matters were enough to hurt Anya's feelings all through her classes.

When Anya opened the door to her dorm, however, Joanna immediately greeted her with a big grin on her face.

"You've got a few packages to open, birthday girl," Joanna said, pointing to Anya's bed. On the bed was a small pile of packages wrapped in shiny blue paper and topped with silver bows.

Anya sat down on her bed to open the packages, all of which were from her family. Anya received a sketchpad, draft pencils, arcrylic paints, and a few blank canvases. Like writing, drawing and painting were ways in which Anya was able to express what she was thinking, feeling, and going through.

After unwrapping her presents and sending her family a thank-you message via her PADD, Anya took out her journal. She was about to continue the day's entry when there was a knock on the dormitory door, followed by the sound of footsteps running down the hall. Knowing that Anya wanted to be left alone, Joanna got up to answer the door.

"Anya!" Joanna said from the doorway, "I think that someone else knew that it was your birthday today!"

"Vhat do jou mean?" Anya asked, looking up from her journal.

Joanna turned around. In her hands was a clear vase that held an enormous bouquet of very pretty flowers. As Joanna set the flowers on Anya's desk, Anya's eyes widened in surprise.

"They're really pretty Anya," Joanna said, admiring the flowers.

"Vho sent zhem?" Anya asked, still surprised.

"I found this next to the vase," Joanna said, handing Anya a small card. "Open it; you'll probably know who sent them to you."

Anya took the card and opened it. Inside, written in the Cyrillic characters that Anya recognized as Russian, were the words:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anastasia-

Happy seventeenth birthday!

-A Friend and Admirer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anya stared long and hard at the writing.

'A friend and admirer?' Anya thought. 'Vho at zhe--'

"Who's the card from?" Joanna asked, interrupting Anya's thoughts.

"I don't know; eet ees signed 'A friend and admirer.' And eet's vritten in Russian."

"Probably done by someone at the Academy who likes you and who wasn't sure if you could read English."

"Joanna, zhere are four problems vith zhat zheory. One: not a lot of people pay attention to me at zhe Academy. Two: no one ozzer zhan my family sends me anyzhing vritten een Russian. Zhree: alzhough I ken't speak English clearly, I ken read, vrite, and understand eet perfectly. And four: no one, except for zhe commanders and Saawik, has called me 'Anastazia' unless zhey mean serious business."

"Well, SOMEONE at the Academy who obviously isn't family and who likes you a lot but doesn't know you that well TOTALLY means serious business, Anya. Why else would you get flowers from an unknown admirer on your birthday?"

"I don't know," Anya said.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. Again, Joanna got up to answer it, giving Anya the opportunity to take out her journal and pen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later

Classes were the same; as always, praises from the commanders and snubs from my peers. My family sent me more art tools for my birthday. In the situation that I am going through, art, reading, writing, and studying have given me the strength to move forward when my family can't contact me.

However, something happened to me that was DEFINITELY out of the ordinary. When I was about to write in this journal, someone knocked on the dorm's door and ran off without waiting for Joanna or I to answer it. Guess what whoever (or whatever) knocked on the door left? A vase with a large bouquet of colorful flowers in it--for ME!! NO ONE has sent me flowers since my graduation day six years ago!

And what was even more strange was the card that came with the flowers. I am not saying that it isn't strange to send a birthday card with a bouquet of flowers. I am saying that it is strange to send a birthday card with a bouquet of flowers in which the message is written in Russian. Stranger still was the signature: A Friend and Admirer. A friend and admirer? Who at the Academy would admire ME?? I'm Anastasia Nikolayevna Turetsky, child prodigy from Saint Petersburg, Russia. I'm not THAT pretty to have an admirer.

Or am I?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Description
September 20, 2258 AD/CE
Earth
San Francisco, California, United States of America
Starfleet Academy
8:00 AM

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANYA!"

At the sound of her roommate's voice, Anya's eyes shot open.

Joanna was standing nearby, already dressed in her cadet uniform, her hair done in a ponytail and her eyes accented with the usual heavy makeup.

Anya looked at her roommate, a slightly exasperated look on her face.

"Joanna..."

"Sorry, Anya, but I don't get to go to class at 10:00 in the morning like you do. Oh, by the way, I got you something."

Joanna handed Anya a small, leather-bound journal with a picture of Saint Basil's Cathedral worked into the leather on the front cover.

"Zhanks Joanna," Anya said, marveling at the leather handiwork.

"You bet, birthday girl," Joanna said, grabbing her bag. "Well, class starts soon; I've gotta go. See you soon."

After Joanna shut the door, Anya fell back on her bed, her eyes still fixed on the journal.

Ever since Anya was able to write well, she had kept a journal. Writing had played a significant role for her; whenever her father was not able to come home or contact her, Anya would pour out all of her thoughts, feelings, and experiences onto paper. Anya continued to do this when she began her training at Starfleet because it helped her keep strong amid the chaos that was her social life.

As Anya recalled the memories, her alarm clock buzzed. Already up from Joanna's early morning wakeup call, Anya shut the alarm off and got dressed.

When she was putting on her earrings, Anya's eyes once again fell on her journal. Because she had completed her previous journal last night, and because she felt like writing, Anya picked up the journal, took out a pen, and opened the journal to the first blank page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 20, 2258
San Francisco, CA, USA
Starfleet Academy

Joanna gave me a new journal for my birthday, which I was hoping for, as my other journal is full, so I will write before I leave for classes.

Today I turn seventeen. Another year of my life has begun and so far (unless you count the commanders, Saavik, Joanna, and that one-time meeting with that cadet) not one person has paid attention to my presence at the Academy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Anya did not know as she was writing this entry was that this birthday would be very significant for her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After her last class, Anya walked back to her dorm.

Because it was her birthday, Anya had received more than the usual looks of shock and hatred from her peers, as well as more than double the amounts of threats from Andrea and Alcina. Combined, these two matters were enough to hurt Anya's feelings all through her classes.

When Anya opened the door to her dorm, however, Joanna immediately greeted her with a big grin on her face.

"You've got a few packages to open, birthday girl," Joanna said, pointing to Anya's bed. On the bed was a small pile of packages wrapped in shiny blue paper and topped with silver bows.

Anya sat down on her bed to open the packages, all of which were from her family. Anya received a sketchpad, draft pencils, arcrylic paints, and a few blank canvases. Like writing, drawing and painting were ways in which Anya was able to express what she was thinking, feeling, and going through.

After unwrapping her presents and sending her family a thank-you message via her PADD, Anya took out her journal. She was about to continue the day's entry when there was a knock on the dormitory door, followed by the sound of footsteps running down the hall. Knowing that Anya wanted to be left alone, Joanna got up to answer the door.

"Anya!" Joanna said from the doorway, "I think that someone else knew that it was your birthday today!"

"Vhat do jou mean?" Anya asked, looking up from her journal.

Joanna turned around. In her hands was a clear vase that held an enormous bouquet of very pretty flowers. As Joanna set the flowers on Anya's desk, Anya's eyes widened in surprise.

"They're really pretty Anya," Joanna said, admiring the flowers.

"Vho sent zhem?" Anya asked, still surprised.

"I found this next to the vase," Joanna said, handing Anya a small card. "Open it; you'll probably know who sent them to you."

Anya took the card and opened it. Inside, written in the Cyrillic characters that Anya recognized as Russian, were the words:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anastasia-

Happy seventeenth birthday!

-A Friend and Admirer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anya stared long and hard at the writing.

'A friend and admirer?' Anya thought. 'Vho at zhe--'

"Who's the card from?" Joanna asked, interrupting Anya's thoughts.

"I don't know; eet ees signed 'A friend and admirer.' And eet's vritten in Russian."

"Probably done by someone at the Academy who likes you and who wasn't sure if you could read English."

"Joanna, zhere are four problems vith zhat zheory. One: not a lot of people pay attention to me at zhe Academy. Two: no one ozzer zhan my family sends me anyzhing vritten een Russian. Zhree: alzhough I ken't speak English clearly, I ken read, vrite, and understand eet perfectly. And four: no one, except for zhe commanders and Saawik, has called me 'Anastazia' unless zhey mean serious business."

"Well, SOMEONE at the Academy who obviously isn't family and who likes you a lot but doesn't know you that well TOTALLY means serious business, Anya. Why else would you get flowers from an unknown admirer on your birthday?"

"I don't know," Anya said.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. Again, Joanna got up to answer it, giving Anya the opportunity to take out her journal and pen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later

Classes were the same; as always, praises from the commanders and snubs from my peers. My family sent me more art tools for my birthday. In the situation that I am going through, art, reading, writing, and studying have given me the strength to move forward when my family can't contact me.

However, something happened to me that was DEFINITELY out of the ordinary. When I was about to write in this journal, someone knocked on the dorm's door and ran off without waiting for Joanna or I to answer it. Guess what whoever (or whatever) knocked on the door left? A vase with a large bouquet of colorful flowers in it--for ME!! NO ONE has sent me flowers since my graduation day six years ago!

And what was even more strange was the card that came with the flowers. I am not saying that it isn't strange to send a birthday card with a bouquet of flowers. I am saying that it is strange to send a birthday card with a bouquet of flowers in which the message is written in Russian. Stranger still was the signature: A Friend and Admirer. A friend and admirer? Who at the Academy would admire ME?? I'm Anastasia Nikolayevna Turetsky, child prodigy from Saint Petersburg, Russia. I'm not THAT pretty to have an admirer.

Or am I?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~