The workers find the box while repairing the playground. It is a metal biscuit tin, rusted at the corners and wrapped in plastic. The whole school gathers as the principal lifts the lid. Inside are letters from a class of twenty years ago: drawings of rocket cars, a list of favorite songs, and a page titled 'What We Will Be.'
工人们在修操场时发现了这个盒子。那是个铁皮饼干盒，四角生锈，外面裹着塑料。全校师生围了过来，看校长打开盒盖。里面是二十年前一个班留下的信：画着火箭汽车的图、最喜欢的歌单，还有一页写着“我们将会成为什么”。
One line reads, 'By now, nobody will read books.' The children laugh, then stop, because the library is half empty and the computers are always full. Jenna, who is in fifth grade, reads the line again. It does not sound like a joke anymore. It sounds like a guess that someone forgot to check.
其中一行写着：“到那时，没人会再读书了。”孩子们笑了，随后又安静下来，因为图书馆空着一半，而电脑前总是坐满了人。读五年级的珍娜把那句话又读了一遍。它不再像个玩笑，倒像是一个被人忘记核实的猜测。
At the bottom of the tin lies a photograph of that old class and a small brass key. No one knows what it opens. Jenna carries it for a week, trying it on lockers, mailboxes, and the old piano. The principal announces that each class may bury a new capsule before the end of term.
盒子最底下压着一张旧班级的合影，还有一把小小的黄铜钥匙。没人知道它能打开什么。珍娜把它带了一个星期，在储物柜、信箱和旧钢琴上试了个遍。校长宣布，每个班都可以在学期结束前埋下一个新的时间胶囊。
Jenna's class argues about what to include. Someone suggests writing predictions again. Jenna says predictions are only guesses, and guesses can make people careless. 'What if we write what we hope?' she asks. The room goes quiet. Then a boy in the back says he hopes his grandmother will teach him to make her noodles.
珍娜班上的同学为放什么争论起来。有人提议再写一些预言。珍娜说，预言只是猜测，而猜测会让人变得不认真。“如果我们写下希望呢？”她问。教室里安静下来。接着，后排的一个男孩说，他希望奶奶能教他做她拿手的面条。
They fill the new tin with honest things: a packet of seeds, a bus ticket, a page of jokes, and letters that begin 'Dear person who finds this.' Jenna writes about the empty library and the key no one could match. She writes that she is afraid of being wrong and tired of pretending she is not.
他们把新的铁盒装满真实的东西：一包种子、一张公交车票、一页笑话，还有一些以“亲爱的发现者”开头的信。珍娜写了空荡荡的图书馆，也写了那把没人能配上的钥匙。她写自己害怕犯错，也厌倦了假装不怕。
On the last day, they bury the tin beside the playground. The brass key stays in the principal's drawer, still waiting for its lock. Jenna likes that. The future is not a promise, she decides, and it is not a test. It is only an invitation, and someone will open it.
最后一天，他们把盒子埋在操场边。那把黄铜钥匙还留在校长的抽屉里，仍在等它的锁。珍娜喜欢这样。她认定，未来不是承诺，也不是考试。它只是一份邀请，总会有人打开它。