The Announcement

"A time capsule!" Liam's hand shot up so fast his chair squeaked. "Can we put a dragon scale in it? Or — or a map to buried treasure?"

Mrs. Carter smiled from the front of the classroom. "Something real, Liam. Something that shows who you are right now, at ten years old."

Elena was already making notes, her pencil moving in quick, precise strokes. Jordan stared out the window, probably imagining what the capsule might look like. Ava chewed her lip, thinking hard but not saying anything yet.

"I volunteer!" Liam announced, standing up.

"Me too," Elena added, not looking up from her notes.

Jordan raised a quiet hand. Ava nodded eagerly. Noah's eyes lit up — this sounded like the kind of project that might involve cool tech.

"Wonderful," Mrs. Carter said. "Five of you. That's perfect. Oh, and" — she glanced toward the back corner — "Sophie, why don't you join them?"

Sophie looked up from her notebook, startled. Her pencil froze mid-sketch.

The five friends exchanged glances. Sophie was... well, she was new. She'd been at school for three weeks and barely said ten words to anyone. She was always scribbling in that notebook.

"Sure," Liam shrugged. "The more the better, right?"

Sophie gathered her things slowly and moved to their cluster of desks. She sat at the edge, notebook clutched to her chest, watching them with wide, uncertain eyes.

"Okay, team!" Mrs. Carter clapped her hands. "The capsule gets buried next month. You have four weeks. Make it count."