Read:Call Me Cordelia

SCENE: Anne is in her bedroom.

Anne: It would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry tree, all white with bloom in the moonshine. Don't you think? You could almost imagine you were dwelling in marble halls, couldn't you?

INTRO

Anne: Well, I tried to write out something poetic and pretty for my first video, but it ended up turning out to be ridiculous and awkward. People don't talk like that in real life, do they? Sometimes I like to pretend they do.

Call me Cordelia. I like to make up things. A lot. [laughs] Mostly things about other people's lives. For instance, what if the girl who sits in the back of my math class is a closet botanist? What if the clerk at Walmart wakes up really early and works the morning shift so he could watch his favourite rock star's show every night? I analyse stuff too much, and people find that pretty weird. They obviously have no scope for the imagination.

But I guess my absolute favourite thing to do is to imagine things about myself, if I didn't have the life that I have right now. I like to imagine what I'd be like if I wasn't me! [laughs] I often like to imagine what I'd be like if I didn't have this red hair, for instance. One, it doesn't go with most shades of pink, which is absolutely one of the worst things, because pink is one of my favourite colours, and I can't wear pink without it looking like I don't know what colour schemes are. But complaining about red hair will not imagine the red hair away. So. [sighs]

Isn't it splendid to think about all the things that there are to think about, though? It's just such a splendid world, it just makes me so happy to be alive. But ... I'm glad that we don't know everything. People wouldn't be half so interesting if they knew everything about everything, right? There has to be a level of mystery. But I guess most of the time, I just like to think about if I have a family. That I don't have to move around so much. That would be just really nice. Just the thought that someone wants me, you know?

I should probably mention that I'm a foster kid. My parents died when I was little, but that's OK, it really -- it really is OK, because I have a family now! A family that actually picked me! They're older, like in their 50s or something, and they keep looking at me like they have no idea what to do with me. But I think they're just not used to me yet. They're both so sweet. Matthew is, at least. Marilla is a little strict, but I think she does have a good sense of humour. Maybe just a sarcastic deadpan sort of one that I haven't broken into yet.

On the drive here, I kept asking my social worker a ton of questions about my to-be parents. What do they look like? Do they have pets? Where do avocados come from? Are they strict? Do they have ... [makes a face] twins? And she kept saying that she didn't know and would I please stop asking so many questions. But how are you supposed to get answers if you don't ask questions? And where do avocados even come from?

Wow. It is such a relief to be able to talk to something that doesn't tell me to shut up. People laugh at me because I have an extensive vocabulary [laughs] and I ramble, but I don't care!

As you can tell by all the questions that I asked my social worker, I really wanted to know about where I was going. I've dreamed about so many places I could end up, and then I got here, and the dream -- it's beyond my dreams -- it's just become a reality. The trees are so beautiful and the houses are so quaint and cute. It's just adorable. And I bet it's beautiful in the spring and in the summer and in all of the seasons! [laughs] And have I mentioned the trees yet? There are so many of them! And I can't wait to see them all covered in leaves and cherry blossoms.

I love it here already, more than anything. Dreams don't usually come true, do they? But I think this one has. And no amount of imagination can make it better. And, if it is a dream ... I'll keep dreaming as long as I can.

Anyways, I have to go and unpack all my worldly goods [thumps luggage] and finish decorating [gestures at the wall]. I was too excited and I already put my lights up. But I should probably get going. So I suppose ...

[there is a knock at the door]

Marilla: Anne? Anne Shirley? Come to dinner.

Anne: OK.

Marilla: Now?

Anne: OK, coming.

That was Marilla. Yeah, my name isn't actually Cordelia. I ... made that up. It's ... it's Anne. Anne Shirley. Basically the most boring name in the history of everything. The real me, I guess, not the me I imagine. [laughs] But, if you're going to use my name, spell it right. Anne, Anne with an 'E'.