When I got the reply from
The X-Files, at first I couldn't understand what I was holding in my hands. Was it a joke? Was I part of some larger conspiracy from the X-Files? I was supposed to Trust No One! And why on earth did they need an 11-year-old smalltown girl for their plans? After much counsel from friends and family and all their friends and family, I determined that I was simply the luckiest message-in-a-bottle sender in the history of the world.Their letter response actually made me feel pretty embarrassed – I had a terrible time learning to spell, and I still mess up some pretty basic words (but thank goodness for spellcheck as you type!). I had wished they could have found one of my more practised oceanic notes, one where I took time to get it right. But they found what they found, and I was still glad for their response. I actually did work harder after that – I wrote my first book in high school and never looked back.