The Time Capsule

Twenty years after he left school, Matteo drove back to his old town. The class time capsule was being opened. In their last year, the whole class had written letters to their future selves. A teacher had sealed them in a metal box and buried it under the school yard.

Vinte anos depois de sair da escola, Matteo voltou de carro à sua antiga cidade. A cápsula do tempo da turma seria aberta. No último ano, a turma inteira tinha escrito cartas para seus eus do futuro. Um professor as havia lacrado numa caixa de metal e enterrado sob o pátio da escola.

The ceremony was short. The head teacher opened the box in the school hall. She handed out the envelopes one by one, each with a name on the front. Matteo watched his old classmates open theirs, laugh, and pass pages around. His own envelope wasn't there.

A cerimônia foi curta. A diretora abriu a caixa no salão da escola. Entregou os envelopes um a um, cada qual com um nome na frente. Matteo viu os antigos colegas abrirem os seus, rirem e passarem as páginas de mão em mão. O envelope dele não estava lá.

"It must have been lost," the head teacher said kindly. "Or perhaps you never wrote one."

"Deve ter se perdido", disse a diretora com gentileza. "Ou talvez você nunca tenha escrito uma."

But Matteo remembered it exactly. He had spent a whole evening on it. He had written three pages about his plans. He described the city, the job, and the kind of man he hoped to be. He wanted to know how wrong he had been.

Mas Matteo se lembrava exatamente. Tinha passado uma noite inteira nela. Tinha escrito três páginas sobre seus planos. Descrevera a cidade, o emprego e o tipo de homem que esperava ser. Queria saber o quanto havia errado.

He tried to hide his disappointment. He talked to old classmates and ate a piece of dry cake. All the time, he was looking for the one person he really wanted to see. Vladimir, his best friend from school, was standing at the back. His hair was grayer, but his smile was the same crooked one. They hadn't spoken in fifteen years, since a stupid argument that neither of them could remember clearly.

Tentou esconder a decepção. Conversou com antigos colegas e comeu uma fatia de bolo seco. O tempo todo, procurava a única pessoa que realmente queria ver. Vladimir, seu melhor amigo da escola, estava no fundo. O cabelo estava mais grisalho, mas o sorriso era o mesmo, meio torto. Não se falavam havia quinze anos, desde uma briga boba de que nenhum dos dois se lembrava com clareza.

"I'm sorry about your letter," Vladimir said. Then someone called him away, and he disappeared into the crowd.

"Sinto muito pela sua carta", disse Vladimir. Então alguém o chamou, e ele sumiu na multidão.

Later, while Matteo was helping to stack chairs, he noticed Vladimir's envelope on a table. It was much thicker than the others, and it had been left open. Inside were two letters. One was in Vladimir's handwriting. The other was in handwriting Matteo knew better than his own.

Mais tarde, enquanto Matteo ajudava a empilhar cadeiras, notou o envelope de Vladimir numa mesa. Era bem mais grosso que os outros e tinha sido deixado aberto. Dentro havia duas cartas. Uma era com a letra de Vladimir. A outra era com uma letra que Matteo conhecia melhor que a própria.

It was his letter, all three pages, a little yellow at the edges. On the back, in blue pen, someone had written: "You will do all of this and more. If you get lost, come and find me."

Era a carta dele, as três páginas, um pouco amareladas nas bordas. No verso, a caneta azul, alguém havia escrito: "Você vai fazer tudo isso e mais. Se se perder, venha me procurar."

Matteo read it standing up, with a chair in his hands. He remembered now. On the day of the sealing, he had wanted to tear it up. He thought it sounded stupid. Vladimir had taken it from his hands and said, "You'll thank me in twenty years."

Matteo leu de pé, com uma cadeira nas mãos. Agora se lembrava. No dia do lacre, quisera rasgá-la. Achava que parecia boba. Vladimir a tirara de suas mãos e dissera: "Você vai me agradecer daqui a vinte anos."

He found Vladimir near the door, putting on his coat.

Encontrou Vladimir perto da porta, vestindo o casaco.

"You kept it," Matteo said.

"Você guardou", disse Matteo.

"I kept it safe," Vladimir said. "Did I wait too long to give it back?"

"Guardei em segurança", disse Vladimir. "Esperei demais para devolver?"

"Come and have a coffee," Matteo said. "I'll tell you how wrong I was."

"Venha tomar um café", disse Matteo. "Vou lhe contar o quanto eu errei."