November, 1894
	The Romanovs took care of all of the people under their
 reign, so it wasn't any wonder that they'd take care of family
 heirlooms just as accordingly.  So lovely they were, and they 
were so gentle with their things.  I was lost once, however, and
 I wish I would have stayed lost. A birthday gift for Elizabeth,
 Empress Alexandra's sister and Grand-Duchess, I was fated to be.
  That's what I became all right, polished and shiny with little 
stones set around my face.  Ladies' time pieces weren't 
incredibly popular at the time, so I suppose I was an odd sort of
 gift.

	I should have guessed there was some kind of curse on me.
  Not long after Elizabeth placed me in her treasure chest, she
 was murdered with Alexander III's four daughters.  Just a short
 while ago, Nicholas II, Alexander III's eldest son, succeeded
 after his father died.  The train the Emperor was traveling on
 derailed, and he was killed.
  
	Not many know what kind of person Nicholas was, but I
 knew.  Some saw him as a mean man that beat animals, and others 
saw him as a commendable character that gave to the unfortunate. 
 I saw him as a man that was consistently searching for his place
 in the sun.   But, all the negative things that occurred under 
the Romanov's sovereign made everyone believe that they deserved 
all the bad things that happened to them, and that's why the 
family was stuck with me.  Innocent as they were, they didn't 
know that when the Grand-Duke, Michael, gave me to Elizabeth, I 
was cursed by sorcerers of the Russian underground.   Because 
Nicholas was shy and reserved, he never found himself curious in 
matters of the supernatural.  He was not an abstract thinker, and
 never liked to deal with science or mathematics.  Even people 
that disliked Nicholas found him to be courteous and kind.

	Last spring, he became engaged to Princess Alix of 
Hesse-Darmstadt.  I think Nicholas' attraction came more from 
angering his parents than actually falling in love.  Alix could
 never get Nicholas to settle down.  He loved the theater and 
dancing, and he always wanted to have a good time.  I hope that
 she will think things over soon, because they are to be married 
sometime next year.

	It is now that Nicholas is taking over Russia, but I 
don't think that anyone is ready for this young man to do his 
duty.  His family still continues to give orders, and Alix tells
 him to be more firm with everyone.  Hopefully, everyone will get
 used to Nicholas being in power; but , in the meantime, he is in
 fear of everyone.  If it weren't for Alix being there to counsel
 him, I fear that Nicholas would resign and let the Grand-Duke, 
Michael, take over.

January, 1895

	Alix and Nicholas married.   Such a lovely bride she
 made!  Intricate designs on her headdress, and silk and 
chaffon-like materials flowed behind her.  After reigning as 
Emperor for some time, Nicholas should have learned how to become
 a real autocrat like his father.  Instead, I believe he doesn't
 really understand what a autocracy is.  He constantly watches 
other countries to see what decisions they make, and he even goes 
to his own mother for advice.  Nicholas continued Alexander's 
foreign policy, but he has special feelings for France and 
England.  I don't know what to make of him.  In the meantime, I 
sit in my case.  I continue to clutch on to my desire that my 
curse will wear off before anyone discovers my hiding place in 
Elizabeth's treasure box.  No one has been in her room since she 
died.  Well, actually, a servant or two may have come in to 
clean, but no one has lived in this room for nearly a century.  
I'm left here, in the dark and dust of my case, listening to 
everyone talk around me.   I hear every sound throughout the 
palace, and I hang on to every tiny fragment I ascertain.  It's 
lonely, but it has to be this way.

January, 1904

	I was finally discovered.  Much has happened over the
 years,  but I must say that this event took the cake.  The
 Emperor and Empress now have three daughters; the youngest 
called Anastaseya Nikolayevna.  Because the family moves into a 
different palace in the winter time, I was found when little 
Anastaseaya toddled into Elizabeth's room.  She was later 
discovered herself, and punished for wandering around without 
supervision.  I was a treasure that she immediately became fond
 of.  Remembering this, the Emperor decided that I will be given
 to her when she is old enough.   In the meantime, Russia is 
having negotiation problems with Japan.  I have a feeling this is
 going to be a long war.

May, 1905

	We lost the war, and I think it's all my fault.  The 
Russian navy was annihilated at Tsushima.  Why did someone have
 to find me?  I certainly hope I'm forgotten before Anastaseaya
 becomes a woman; my powers are stronger when I'm in someone's 
possession.


May, 1918

	Tragedy has struck this family.  Anastaseaya  asked for 
the pretty timepiece that she always admired a few years ago, and 
it hasn't been the same since in Russia.  After the Empress, 
Emperor, and their eldest daughter, Olga,  returned from 
Ekarterinburg, the whole family was lodged at Ipatiev House.  It 
was a prison, and I saw it all.  Dirty soldiers sitting at the 
table sharing food with the royal ones.  Filthy hands and sweaty
 bodies.  The language they used!  There were no plates or folks,
 and soldiers would not let them have any privacy.  The family 
members were only aloud to be outside for five minutes a day, and
 the drinking water was rationed.  Sometimes the priest comes, 
but no one may speak to him.  Oh, why didn't they just throw me 
away?  My mechanisms have all worn out, and I'm more for dress 
than for practicality, anyway.  Anastaseaya has hidden me for 
fear that the soldiers will try to take me from her.


July 1918 - Present

	What's this?  It's late, and a jailer has woken everyone 
up.  What's going on?  Everyone is dressing.  Anastaseaya!  She 
put me in her dress pocket.  I feel queer, like something is 
about to happen.  Oh!  I wish she would have left me in the room.
	We are being taken into the basement, and Alexis, the 
little boy, is sick; they have to carry him down.  His little 
face is so pale and weak looking.  They are all standing down 
here, alone.  Alexis and his mother are sitting in chairs, but 
everyone else has been ordered to stand.  The soldiers returned
.  My God, they have guns! No!  They shot Nicholas!  He was 
trying to protect his wife from the gun fire.  All of them, they
 are shooting all of them.  The soldiers are going through the 
families bodies...and one of them found me in Anastaseaya's dress 
pocket.  I'm not wondering what may become of me, I'm more 
worried about the future.  I have to go through the rest of my 
existence destroying until someone else has the good sense to 
destroy me.








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