Kelsey carefully pushed her brother's wheelchair down the ramp leading from her parent’s house down to the back yard. It was early in the evening and Kelsey, along with her brother Thadius, had just finished eating dinner with their parents.
She was exhausted.
“I love our parents, I do, but man, these dinners always leave me worn out. Thankfully, we can use you as an excuse to get some fresh air.” she said, chuckling softly and patting her brother on his shoulder.
Thadius grinned while stretching his back, his arms reaching for the sky. “Yeah, I know they’re worried, but ever since the accident it feels like they’re walking on eggshells around me. I just wish they’d go back to acting like they did before it happened.”
Kelsey grimaced at the mention of his accident, but didn’t let it leak into her voice as she said, “Enough of that, we haven’t been out here to the property in years, where do you want to go?”
Their parents owned dozens of acres of land, and Thadius, being the best older brother ever, had taken it upon himself to ensure there was always something fun to do when they were kids. She smiled, thinking of all the games the two of them used to play in the woods. Now in her late twenties, she looked back fondly on memories of building treehouses, playing hide and seek, and the numerous games Thadius had invented for them.
"We should head down to the lake, see if that old fort is still there. It's been, what, almost 20 years since we built it?" Thadius suggested, pushing himself out of his wheelchair and into the passenger seat of their parents' golf cart.
Kelsey nodded in agreement, carefully folding her brother's wheelchair and placing it in the cart's rear compartment. She then climbed into the driver's seat and set off toward the lake. They remained quiet during the brief journey, opting instead to absorb the sights and sounds of the stunning landscape surrounding them. This property, nestled in a valley just outside the Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, had been in their family for generations, treasured as a personal haven of largely untouched nature. It was the sort of landscape that would fit on a postcard.
Arriving at a large lake, the centerpiece of the property, Kelsey parked the cart and took a moment to appreciate the perfectly still water and the vibrant and lush tree line surrounding it. It had been over five years since her last visit, and she had missed exploring the untouched wilderness's various nooks and crannies. Since leaving for college and starting a career as a developer working on a physics engine for a large video game company, she hadn't made time to explore nature as she once did in her childhood.
Thadius broke the silence first. "I had forgotten how beautiful this place is. We still have a few hours before it gets dark. Even with all the brush in the way, we should be able to make it there and back before nightfall."
Kelsey hummed with excitement, shifting the golf cart out of park and pressing the pedal down, propelling them forward with a jerk. Thadius grunted, reaching for the handhold on the roof, but offered Kelsey a knowing grin, deliberately not giving her the 'annoyed big brother' reaction she was aiming for. She returned the grin as she steered the golf cart around the lake toward their old fort. About three minutes later, they arrived at the edge of a denser section of the woods, where they were forced to leave the golf cart.
Kelsey got out of the golf cart, walked around to the back, and retrieved the wheelchair from its holder, positioning it next to her brother. He quickly pulled himself down into the chair and secured his legs in place.
Pushing a wheelchair through the woods was challenging, made all the more difficult by older brother's sarcastic commentary on every bump and jolt along the way. After about 20 minutes of maneuvering over uneven terrain, they reached a small clearing with a broken-down wooden fort at its center.
The fort was a modest, child-sized structure with four walls and, originally, a roof. Well,
technically the roof was there, it was just broken down uselessly inside the walls. I guess this is what we get for using a flat roof. Other than the roof being destroyed, the rest of the building was in remarkably good condition for how long it had been out in the elements. That was probably in part because of the treated wood that was used in the construction.
Their mother and father owned a lumber mill and they had, with their parents' guidance, used their savings from their allowances and holidays, along with a significant family discount in order to buy quality wood for the fort. It was all her brother’s idea; she believed that constructing this simple wooden structure was what inspired Thadius to become an architect as an adult. To that day she had never seen her brother quite as happy as when they drove in the final nail, completing their little fortress.
Kelsey and Thadius were silent for several long moments, taking in the sight of the cabin, letting their nostalgic feelings settle before Kelsey began pushing her brother forward. “I hope that old time capsule we buried is still there. We were supposed to open it when I graduated high school, right?” she mused as they arrived at the small doorway.
Thadius scratched his head. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. I don't even remember where we buried it. Also, my chair won't fit through the door; you'll need to help me inside, little sis."
Kelsey, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, carefully lifted Thadius from the chair, maneuvered him through the door, and helped him to lean gently against the interior wall. Once her brother was comfortably positioned, she began to clear away the remains of the collapsed roof. After tidying up, she sat down against the opposite wall, glancing at her brother who had taken out his phone to take pictures of the inside of the fort.
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"It feels a lot smaller than I remember," she commented, picking at the dirt floor with her nail.
"Agreed. But that should make finding the time capsule easier," he replied, glancing around the small room. "Any idea where we put it?"
“Not a clue! I guess I’ll just have to dig everywhere.”
For the next half hour, Kelsey dug in random spots around the room while they reminisced; her fingers eventually brushing against something metallic. Eagerly, she cleared the dirt to reveal a small, sealed metal tube, a purchase her brother had made with some of his savings. It was a simple design, made of aluminum, capped with a metal lid at one end.
“Found it!” she exclaimed as she shuffled over to sit next to her brother. She wrestled with the cap for almost a minute before it gave up and popped open. Thadius leaned over his sister’s shoulder expectantly.
As Kelsey tipped the tube, an assortment of five items tumbled into her palm. Two cards, each depicting creatures from their favorite childhood video game series—one for her and one for Thadius. Two pieces of paper, each rolled up and secured with rubber bands, bore their respective names. The final item was an old polaroid photo of their family, capturing a younger Kelsey with long, wavy red hair and bright blue eyes, her smile wide and effortless. Thadius, slightly older, featured broad shoulders, dark brown hair that was almost black, and the same bright blue eyes shared with Kelsey, a gift from their mother. The photo also included their parents and their little sister, who was just a toddler at the time.
Kelsey fought back tears as she handed the photo to Thadius. He paused for several long seconds, a tear trailing down his cheek, before reverently placing the photo in his shirt pocket. "I forgot we put that photo in there," he murmured, his voice heavy with sorrow.
With a small smile, Kelsey offered him the rolled paper marked with his name. "These should be interesting to read," she said, her voice steady but tinged with emotion.
She felt bad for her brother. She wished she had remembered that the photo was in the capsule; she would have opened it with a bit more care. Kelsey watched Thadius as he opened the piece of paper and read through the letter from his younger self. She knew her brother felt partially responsible for what happened to Kennedy, but that was silly, it wasn’t his fault that some asshole decided to drink and drive. But, as she had learned over the years, no one can logic away guilt. She just wished he would go to therapy and work through his problems, but he was just too stubborn for something like that, always claiming that he would be fine eventually.
Maybe he’s right though, he does seem better every time I see him.
She noticed his expression soften as he read the letter, a slight grin forming, allowing his earlier emotions to fade. Observing this, she glanced down at her hands, set aside the two cards, and opened her own letter.
"Hey future Kel,
I really, really hope people still call you Kel and you didn't turn into a boring grown-up. Thadius and I just finished our super cool fort, and he had this weird idea to write letters to our future selves. I think it's a bit silly, but I'm doing it anyway. So, here I am, talking to you, future me!
Okay, so I don't really want a bunch of stuff when I grow up. I mean, being rich and famous would be cool, but mostly I just wanna be happy. And not boring. Definitely not boring like how mom is always working and stuff. I hope you do cool things all the time, like hiking, or climbing mountains, or kayaking, and maybe even building more forts! But way better ones.
Remember this fort we made? It's kinda funny because Thadius did almost everything. I just handed him stuff. I feel a bit bad about it… maybe I'll let him win hide and seek next time we play. He likes chocolate chip cookies, right? Or was it oatmeal raisin? Hmm. Whatever, I’ll just ask mom.
Anyway, I don't really know what else people are supposed to say in letters. I guess just... I hope you’re happy, Kel. And I hope you remember to have fun. Oh, and be nice to Thadius. He's the best big brother ever.
Bye, future Kel!
Little Kel"
Kelsey finished reading the letter and stared at it sadly for a few long moments until Thadius nudged her side. “Hey, what's wrong, little sis?” he asked, wrapping up his letter and setting it aside.
Kelsey sighed deeply, looking over at her brother. “Nothing really, it's just... I became exactly the kind of person my younger self didn't want me to be.”
Thadius shook his head and chuckled. “Same here. My younger self wanted me to become a doctor. That little idiot must have forgotten that the sight of blood makes me sick.”
“My younger self wanted to make sure I didn't spend all my time working like mom did when we were kids. Turns out, that's exactly what happened,” she said as she stood up and handed Thadius the card with his favorite video game creature on it. She moved back to the other side of the fort and leaned against the wall opposite Thadius.
They sat in the fort, lost in simple conversation for another hour as the sun began to set.
Just as they were preparing to leave a bright purple light filled the air outside. Kelsey stood up quickly as a soft whirring noise began ringing in her ears. She looked up to where the roof used to be and took in a sharp breath, her eyes wide. "What in the world...?"
Like something out of a fantasy movie, an ethereal purple dome surrounded the fort, covering everything inside in a blanket of soft purple light. She stared in wonder for several long moments, and as she watched, the light radiating from the dome grew brighter and the noise in her ears louder.
She looked down at Thadius who had crawled to the open doorway to look outside. “What in the world is happening?” she asked as she moved through the doorway toward the edge of the dome.
"Why are you asking me!? How am I supposed to know!?" Thadius shouted over the loud sound the dome was producing.
Unsure what the dome was and afraid to touch it, Kelsey picked up a small rock from the ground and tossed it at the purple bubble. It stopped mid-air, floating as if caught by an invisible hand.
Staring at the floating rock, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She glanced over at Thadius, who was staring wide-eyed at the floating rock. Before she could speak, the sound from the dome intensified quickly, and the ground beneath her feet began shaking. It felt like the whole world was vibrating.
Panic set in. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest as the noise and light reached a crescendo. What the hell is this dome? What is going on? Before she could voice another thought the world around her went abruptly dark as she lost consciousness.