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The Time Capsule

Secrets in the attic

By Jacqueline BrockertPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
1
The Time Capsule

Jo ran her hand over the dusty box that she had placed on the kitchen table in front of them. She smiled as she read the words: DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 2020. She had written those words with a red marker. Today was their twentieth wedding anniversary, and twenty years ago, she had contrived the idea of making a time capsule, to be opened on this day.

"Do you remember anything that you put in here?" Jo asked, gently shaking the box back in forth.

"I just remember all the duct tape you made me use, so we wouldn't open it before today." John laughed, pulling the box towards him. He began to cut the duct tape from the lid.

She smiled across the table at her husband of twenty years, and the father of their two little girls. The kitchen table had changed over the years, with its stains, gouges, and the dog’s bite marks, but the house really hadn’t changed. It was the same house they had saved for, and barely been able to afford.

"Well, ready to do this?” He grinned at her, a twinkle in his eye, as he placed the lid to the side.

Right on top was a photo of the couple standing on the steps in front of their new home. She was wearing her favorite green dress, and he, his baseball hat and a big grin, his finger pointing at the house.

"Who knew then, that we would replace the roof, have a major sewer problem, termites, and burst pipes-one repair after another. But it’s ours. Our glorious money pit," Jo laughed, picking up the picture. From the box, she lifted a receipt from when they had bought their first groceries as husband and wife. She noted the cost of bread was $1.38. John turned over a yellowed newspaper with the date of 1-2-2000.

"Think about it - we were all worried about the big scare of going into this century with the Y2 bug. We were sure we would lose all technology, the world would be forever in darkness, and instead - here we are, safely in 2020," John laughed, as he glanced at the article in front of him.

They ruffled through more receipts and pictures they had taken on that first day, and tucked away in the box. Jo pulled out a movie ticket stub from 1999, for ‘Star Wars-The Phantom Menace’ the big blockbuster hit.

"We saw that movie together three times!" John exclaimed, grabbing the stub and flipping it over in his hand. Jo reached toward the bottom of the box and her fingers touched a hard textured surface - a notebook of some sort. She pulled it out, puzzled, and realized it was a ‘little black book.’

"I didn’t put this in there. This must be yours?" Jo questioned, holding out the notebook to John.

"Oh...I forgot all about that.” Blushing, John took the book from Jo, and placed the book on his side of the table. He placed his hand over the top of hers, and their eyes met. Jo placed her hand on the book.

"Is it a secret?" Jo asked slowly.

"I...Well, I guess not. Go ahead and open it." John said pushing the book toward her.

She looked at her husband again, perplexed, and turned to the first page of the book. It read: 'Things I never told Jo.'

"We were just married, trying to figure it all out, and I thought if we made it twenty years, we would laugh about it." John said softly.

She turned a page and read the first entry: 'I smoke secretly when I take the trash out after dinner.'

"Why do you think I take the trash out now, and always insisted on gum for you? I knew about it," Jo said flatly.

"See, it’s mostly easy stuff like that." John laughed.

She turned another page, and read the entry: ‘Things I hate about Jo’s cooking’, mentioning meatloaf and baked chicken and the way ‘she never salts anything.’ Jo laughed loudly, and turned another page. ‘She likes all this true romance and I wish just a few times we could watch ‘Boy meets World’ on TV; I just like the silly shows sometimes.

"Twenty years later, and I agree with all of this." Jo smiled, turning another page. She looked closer at the next entry and then turned the book for John to read. He pulled it over and quietly recited it aloud.: ‘I took three hundred dollars out of our savings, and bought stock shares on a tip from Timmy.’" He closed the book.

"Wow, now that was a complete cover up from me. Let's see, what would three hundred have done for us on some of those ramen noodle nights? That one surprised me," Jo said, folding her arms.

"It was stupid. Timmy always had hairbrained ideas,” John noticed that the stock certificate had fallen from the book.

“I should have told you.” John cupped his hand over Jo’s, and lowered his eyes. “I checked on that stock over the next few years, and it never went anywhere.” After a moment, John reached into the box and retrieved the last memento. He read the piece of paper aloud: ‘On our 20th wedding anniversary we will have saved enough money for that honeymoon cruise, which we will take!’ Their eyes met. Through kids, and the fact that life gets in the way of real dreams, they had very little savings - and no chance of a cruise. They packed the photos, letters, news clippings, receipts, etc., into the box, and John took the dog out for a walk. Jo put the cover on the box and tucked it under her arm to take it back to the attic.

She stayed up reading a book as he went on to bed. She enjoyed the quiet of the house at this time, and reflected on the day. Not all of their dreams had come true…the honeymoon was just a big dream that they forfeited to get the house. She and John had a good life. Jo heard the furnace kick in, and sighed as she realized a long winter was ahead of them, and that dreams sometimes were left for paper in boxes.

The next morning had been a fiasco with the kids. The ten-year-old was back on a kick of not eating cereal, and wanted only to sneak fruit snacks for breakfast. The seven-year-old was feeding her cereal to the dog, and then the dog’s tail had knocked down a backpack, which splashed into the dog’s water bowl. She barely had the girls dropped off at school, when her car’s “check engine” light came on. After arriving home, Jo had just finished dishes when the phone rang.

"Pack your bags. We’re leaving right after work today." John said excitedly.

"What has gotten into you? We are not leaving." Jo said, irritated, and flipping a toy on the table.

"Yes, your mother will watch the kids, and we are taking that honeymoon," John said.

"We don't have the money." Jo interrupted, concerned about the car, and wondering what had come over her husband.

"Yes, we do! Turns out the stock certificate is worth twenty thousand dollars! So, I turned it in and booked us on a five-day cruise to Mexico!” John said triumphantly.

"Are you kidding me?! John ...Honey... Thank you now, for stealing the three hundred dollars and lying to me!" Jo exploded into the phone.

"Now those are not the words I thought would be spoken by my wife of twenty years!" John thought as he ended the conversation. He crushed his cigarette out in the ashtray and looked at the entry in the black book. Jo believes the stock certificate story and maybe someday...another twenty years from now I'll tell her the real story of how I came into the money.

married
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About the Creator

Jacqueline Brockert

Have self published four books in the Karma Corn Series. Writing took a back seat to mourning and loss. My sister suggested writing again with Vocal and today I am here...starting slowly.

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