Not-So-Important Memories-- or are They?

"And... there!" exclaims an older man. He pats the dirt down with his shovel, smiling at himself with approval. The man has graying hair, kind brown eyes, and enough stress lines to last a lifetime. He surveys the ground surrounding the patch of land he just filled back up, memories flooding back to him.

All of a sudden, he is back in the 12th grade, talking to his friends outside while his teacher drones on about the importance of time capsules. He is tired of standing here, for he is ready to go home already.

"Jeremy, come here!" calls one of his friends. Jeremy pushes back his shaggy brown hair and runs over to his friend.

"What is it, Matt?" Jeremy asks. Matt has dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He fidgets in his place as girls crowd around him. Girls always seemed to like him. Matt pulls him near.

"Get me out of here!" Matt whispers angrily. Jeremy pushes away and grabs Matt by the sleeve.

"Where are you taking him?!" one of the girls whines. She makes sad eyes at Matt, but he pays her no mind. He needs to get out of there.

"Away from you, obviously. Why don't you leave us alone?" Jeremy retorts to the clingy girl, Emily, her name was.

"Students!" the teacher yells, grabbing everyone's attention, while Matt and Jeremy continue to talk. "I hope you have been listening. Tomorrow, you will need to bring in your items for the time capsule, and we will open it back up in just 20 years."

"Wow, she really thinks she'll still be alive by then," Jeremy sniggers.

"Thompson!" the teacher shouts. "Something you would like to share?"

"No ma'am, Mrs. Malik," he says quietly as the others laugh to themselves. Mrs. Malik nods and waves the students back to class.

Matt and Jeremy walk back to class with their other friends, James and Blaike.

"Yo, Jeremy, what did you say that messed Malik up?" Blaike asks.

"I was just surprised she thought she'd still be here to open it up," Jeremy responds, which causes the four to snicker.

The four blow off the rest of their classes, and, instead, go to buy some cigarettes. They all take one and light it.

"You really gon' bring something tomorrow?" James asks to no one in particular.

"Maybe. My folks'll make me, I bet. But I'll probably give her a lighter. Maybe it'll blow up the whole capsule about 10 years in," Matt answers. "What about the rest of youse?"

"Of course not. Why would I?" Blaike says with his usual spunky attitude. "Jeremy?"

"Yeah. Something stupid though. It doesn't matter as much as she said it did." The others agree, nodding their heads. They all start to walk home, each going in their separate directions.

Jeremy gets home and looks for what to put in there. "Somethin' stupid. Gotta be somethin' stupid," he mutters to himself. AHA! I got it! He puts it in his back smugly.

The four of them arrive at school the next morning, anxious to see what the others had gotten to put in there. James pulls out a rubber band with his name on it, and he laughs at his decision. Blaike pulls out an orange. He says his mom wanted him to at least bring something. Matt, true to his word, takes out a lighter. A blue lighter, nothing fancy. The boys laugh at it, but in their laughter a ominous vibe hung in the polluted air.

"What did you bring, Jeremy?" the others ask. He refuses to tell them, and his excitement builds up. He anticipates the time when Malik would call his name to bring up his item, but little did she know- wait, did anyone know- that he would take out a skeleton labeled 'Anita Malik.' He smirks.

Finally, the time comes to put everyone's items in the capsule. His grin grows, and it seems to go from ear to ear. She lists off the names, and they bring up their objects.

"Albert, Idina. Barnes, Donald. Calloway, James." James walks up with his rubber band, and Mrs. Malik looks at him with contempt. "Dimitri, Sally. Dawlin, Emmelia. Fern, Emily. Garner, Blaike." Blaike comes forward carrying his orange with reverence. The gang of boys snicker as he walks up, but the instructor disapprovingly shakes her head at him. The names go on, until it reaches 'Thomas, Jeremy.'

Jeremy walks up and hands Mrs. Malik the skeleton. She gasps and breaks out convulsing sobs. The boys look at him while laughing, but the other students glare at him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mr. Jay, the principal, asks while holding up the skeleton.

"I wanted my class to have something to remind them of their time in high school," Jeremy says.

"You cannot do these types of things, young man! Year's detention!"

"But I graduate in just two months," Jeremy says.

"No matter. You can still serve detention. Now I must ask you to leave. I have more important matters to attend to," Principal Jay says.

He is back. His students call his name to get his attention. "Mr. Thompson, are you alright?" the children ask.

"Yes, students, I'm fine. Hey, did I tell you why it is so important that we do these capsules?" Jeremy says. The children shake their heads.

"Well, when I was your age, I thought it was stupid too. I'm talking to you, Simon," Jeremy says, craning his head towards a boy with curly brown hair. "I did not want to do this at all. I even brought an awful gift to put in there to make fun of my teacher! But now, after my friends passed and the capsule was opened, I would give anything to have put in a more meaningful gift. These things are some of the only connections you'll have to your school age times as you get older. But anyways..."

"Wait... when do we open these?" a girl asks him.

"Good question, Delaware. We will open these in twenty years. But back onto what I was saying, this is the story of how I felt when they made us do these. I was in 12th grade, and I was called by one of my friends to help him out..."