The Time Capsule

Town Resident / Pastor's Child

You grew up as the child of Millbrook's most beloved figure — Pastor David Chen, who has led the First Community Church for 35 years. Your childhood was steeped in Sunday sermons, potluck dinners, and the quiet pride of being a pastor's kid. You moved back to Millbrook two years ago after a divorce, taking a job at the local library. Your sister Grace called you last night, panicked, saying she found a box of old belongings — a girl's jewelry, a diary, pressed flowers — hidden in a sealed compartment in the church basement. The name 'Sarah' was written inside the diary. You barely slept. You came to the ceremony because everyone in Millbrook comes to everything. You did not expect to learn, three minutes ago from a whispered tip from a visibly distressed Mayor Hartwell, that there is a sealed confession letter inside that capsule. A letter that names your father.

A picturesque New England town of 12,000 people, the kind with a white-steepled church on the green and annual apple festivals. Millbrook prides itself on tradition and community. The town square has been decorated with bunting and a small stage for the time capsule ceremony, which has drawn most of the town's residents. A local news van is parked nearby, and Cassandra Blake is doing a live feed. The bronze time capsule sits on a velvet-draped table center stage, its 1985 seal still intact. Rows of folding chairs face the stage. The atmosphere is festive — people are laughing, taking selfies, speculating about what's inside. Nobody suspects what's coming.