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.

Dua puluh tahun setelah lulus sekolah, Matteo menyetir kembali ke kota lamanya. Kapsul waktu angkatan mereka akan dibuka. Pada tahun terakhir, seluruh kelas menulis surat untuk diri mereka di masa depan. Seorang guru menyegel surat-surat itu dalam sebuah kotak logam dan menguburnya di bawah halaman sekolah.

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.

Upacaranya singkat. Kepala sekolah membuka kotak itu di aula sekolah. Ia membagikan amplop satu per satu, masing-masing dengan sebuah nama di bagian depannya. Matteo melihat teman-teman sekelasnya membuka amplop mereka, tertawa, dan saling mengoper lembaran kertas. Amplopnya sendiri tidak ada.

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

"Pasti hilang," kata kepala sekolah dengan ramah. "Atau mungkin Anda memang tidak pernah menulisnya."

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.

Tetapi Matteo ingat persis. Ia menghabiskan satu malam penuh untuk menulisnya. Ia menulis tiga halaman tentang rencana-rencananya. Ia menggambarkan kota, pekerjaan, dan jenis pria yang ingin ia jadi. Ia ingin tahu seberapa salah dugaannya dulu.

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.

Ia berusaha menyembunyikan kekecewaannya. Ia mengobrol dengan teman-teman lama dan makan sepotong kue yang kering. Sepanjang waktu, matanya mencari satu orang yang benar-benar ingin ia temui. Vladimir, sahabatnya di sekolah dulu, berdiri di bagian belakang. Rambutnya lebih beruban, tetapi senyumnya tetap sama, senyum miring itu. Mereka sudah lima belas tahun tidak bicara, sejak sebuah pertengkaran bodoh yang tak satu pun dari mereka ingat dengan jelas.

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

"Aku menyesal soal suratmu," kata Vladimir. Lalu seseorang memanggilnya, dan ia menghilang di tengah kerumunan.

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.

Kemudian, saat Matteo membantu menumpuk kursi, ia melihat amplop Vladimir di atas sebuah meja. Amplop itu jauh lebih tebal daripada yang lain, dan dibiarkan terbuka. Di dalamnya ada dua surat. Yang satu bertulisan tangan Vladimir. Yang lain bertulisan tangan yang lebih Matteo kenal daripada tulisannya sendiri.

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."

Itu suratnya, ketiga halamannya, sedikit menguning di tepinya. Di bagian belakang, dengan pulpen biru, seseorang menulis: "Kamu akan melakukan semua ini dan lebih banyak lagi. Kalau kamu tersesat, datanglah mencariku."

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 membacanya sambil berdiri, dengan sebuah kursi di tangannya. Sekarang ia ingat. Pada hari penyegelan, ia ingin merobeknya. Ia merasa isinya terdengar bodoh. Vladimir mengambilnya dari tangannya dan berkata, "Kamu akan berterima kasih padaku dua puluh tahun lagi."

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

Ia menemukan Vladimir di dekat pintu, sedang memakai jaketnya.

"You kept it," Matteo said.

"Kamu menyimpannya," kata Matteo.

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

"Aku menyimpannya dengan aman," kata Vladimir. "Apa aku terlalu lama mengembalikannya?"

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

"Ayo minum kopi," kata Matteo. "Akan kuceritakan betapa salahnya aku dulu."