Blackout

I was never a “poor little rich girl.” I had a lot of money, sure, but I also had parents who loved me, and who balanced the urge to give me everything I wanted with instilling me with a strong sense of personal responsibility. I never thought of my money as a burden. The only burden was the way it made people look at me. That was what I couldn’t stand, and that’s the reason I chose to go into the field I went into. I was good at being a Fictional. I was never that good at being a spoiled brat.

There are things money can’t buy. People who love you, a job you’re good at, a sense of personal respect… those are on the list.

—From Dandelion Mine, the blog of Magdalene Grace Garcia, July 31, 2041. Unpublished.

Buffy was complaining today about how we need a new transmitter for the van, and we can’t afford it right now. She wants us to ask the Masons for a loan. She doesn’t seem to understand that having parents who are in the media business doesn’t mean we can turn to them for every little thing we need. Sure, they’d probably give it to us, but we’d be giving up something a lot more valuable. We’d be giving up our independence. All it’s going to take is one loan, and they’ll have the leverage they need to start worming their way into our business. They want it. I

know

they want it.

And I am not going to let them have it.

—From

Postcards from The Wall

, the unpublished files of Georgia Mason, originally posted on July 31, 2041.