Audra's Point of View:

"Oh my gosh!"

"What is it, Mommy?" I asked. I was excited; maybe I found something special.

"I remember this! I made a personal time capsule when I was fourteen, right before high school. This has everything I loved back then." She explained, looking at the treasure in awe. "Where did you find it?"

"In the oak tree at the end of the farm." I answered.

"Can we open it?"

"If I can remember the combination…" Mommy said, fiddling with the lock.

Once inside, we all gathered in a small circle to the object of interest. Joshua had woken up, and was sitting on Daddy's lap, clapping his hands in an un-synced rhythmn.

"Hmm…I don't think I can remember the code." Mom sighed, after multiple attempts of trial and error.

"Have you put in the first year of the American Civil War?" Nadine suggested.

"Which is…?" Daddy tested.

"The American Civil War started in 1861 and continued until 1865; a conflict between the northern and southern states of America, killing 600 000 people in its 5 year duration." Nadine easily answered.

"That's my girl." Daddy beamed.

Mommy tried Nadine's suggestion, which caused the lock to give a satisfying click of approval.

"Huh. I can't guess what went through my head when I set that."

Nadine and I crowded around the opened box, finding all sorts of fascinating things. Dolls, artworks, essay papers, small jewellery, were all crowded together. But one thing caught my eye.

It was a small envelope, blank, with no address. Curiously, I took it out and showed it to my mother.

"What's this?"

Mommy stared at in confusion, and took it out of my hand. Opening it, she began to read aloud.

"Dear Future self,

It's almost midnight about now. I just can't sleep…I'm too excited. It must be strange to open a letter that you wrote when you're fourteen, but I wanted to try it out. Great Uncle Steve did this too, only he was talking about his chickens…

But I'm not going to do that. I want to read this, for who-knows-how-long it has been, and be awed of what I have accomplished, where I am now. I mean, I might still be in Kettlecorn – maybe still just a farm head's wife. But that must be hard to read. To see all of my failed dreams, my forgotten goals. I don't know if I should even write this, it will seem pointless if none come true.

I'm going to dare. Going on a ship that explores the world – I know that would make a difference. I hope to be achieving in school, to graduate from a good university, to be successful in life. But most of all…I want to read this…and to laugh at my uncertainty. To laugh at what I'm scared of right now, to assure myself that everything would be fine.

So if you're still reading, Future self, I want to be laughing at my sheepishness…not laughing at my impossible goals.

Sincerely,

Bailey Pickett."

"Why are you crying?" I asked, confused.

"Wow…I remember that night…" Mommy shook her head. "That brings back too many memories."

Daddy squeezed her hand. "It was beautiful, Bailes."

Ugh…

"Isn't it ironic that all of your dreams came true?" Nadine wondered.

"Only through hard work and dedication." Daddy seized the opportunity to lecture us. "Teaches you to believe in yourself, doesn't it?"

Mommy nudged him. "They're six."

"Never too early."

…

"Look! Look!" I urged my mother. "I made the best snowball ever!"

Mommy laughed. "I don't think we can use that on a snowman, sweetheart."

I frowned at the rolled up abundance of snow, and pouted.

"Then I'll just have to break it." I confirmed, trying my best to climb on. Slowly, cautiously, I stood up on the firm snowball and was astounded by the growth of height I gained. I could see into the old house's windows, where Nadine and Daddy were playing a game, with Joshua watching intently, Mommy packing snow into snowmen, and the bare forest behind her.

"Be careful." Mommy warned.

I began to prepare to jump. "On three, this is going to break." I confidently said.

"One…" I jumped on the snowball.

"Two…" I repeated.

"Three!" I exclaimed and gave my biggest jump.

But nothing happened.

Mommy began to chuckle kindly at me. "Why don't you come down?"

"B-but…"

I began to stomp my feet repeatedly.

"Why-" I hopped fiercely. "Can't-" I tried again. "Thi-"

I shrieked in surprise as the ground gave way beneath me. I fell into the soft snow, covered by the cold packets that buried me.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course." I said, struggling against my mother's hand wiping my face with a tissue. "Can I do that again?"

"You mean give me another heart attack?" she said, helping me up. "I'll pass."

I dusted off the snow on my jacket and looked up to her.
"Do you want to have snowball making race?"

"That's not fair!" I objected. "You're bigger than me!"

"Okay…so-"

"Mom, I never said I wasn't going to face you."

We both laughed and grabbed a fistful of snow as the start.

…

Nadine's Point of View:

"Daddy, you're playing easy on me!" I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance.
"I'm not!"

"Who can't list the first ten presidents of the United States?"

"James Madison just didn't come up in my head today." My father finalized, smiling at me.

I studied him intently, but nothing came up. I tilted my head in confusion, and my eyes moved back to the game.

How does Mom read him so well?

We were playing an old trivia game I dug up from my grandparent's basement. But the questions were way too easy, so we were just testing each other on questions that came in our mind.

Daddy moved his piece to the next box and thought out my question.

"Okay, how about list the three ancient dynasties of China, and the exact dates of when each started and ended."

I thought for a minute.

"Um…first comes the Xia Dynasty, which happened in 2100 BC to…1600 BC…then comes the Shang Dynasty that started in 1600 BC to 1046 BC…"

Daddy nodded in encouragement.

"…then comes the Zhou Dynasty that happened in 1045 BC to…254 BC?"

"Close. Two years off of the Zhou Dynasty though. It's 1045 BC to 256 BC."

I let out a cry of frustration, disappointed in myself.

"Oh, but you can still advance." Daddy reached to move my piece but I shook my head fiercely.

"No, I can't. That would be cheating. I didn't get it right, so we're tied."

"Okay, as you say. You sure play fair, don't you my little Nadine?"

The corners of my mouth turned up slightly at the sound of my father's compliment.

"I'm going to give you an easy one."

"Oh? I thought we weren't playing easy."

"Well, since your old age made you forget the fourth USA president, I suppose I can pull some strings." I teased.

Daddy gave me a look, and chuckled. "Alright."

"Tell me the reason why Hatshepsut became pharaoh, and what did she do in her twenty years of power."

"That's your definition of easy?" Daddy raised an eyebrow.
"Well it's not your definition of easy, now is it my dearest father?"

…

Bailey's Point of View:

I gazed at the finished work with satisfaction. Audra had gone in to alert Cody and Nadine to come out and see the project she and I had been working on for the past hour.

It was five snowmen that were - according to size and height – symbolizing each one of our family members.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

I turned to see Nadine running to me at full speed.

"I beat Daddy! I won! I won! I'm smarter than him!"

I hugged her, and caught my husband's eye. He winked playfully, but nodded.

"That's fantastic sweetheart." I smiled at her, and pulled away.

She did a little happy dance on the spot, grinning from ear to ear.

Audra came running back. "Look what we made!"

"Wow, it looks fantastic." Cody commented.

"Hat please!" Audra demanded.

Cody laughed, and obeyed.

"Now it's your turn!" she turned to her sister.

"No, it's cold."

And the two ran off, giggling and shouting.

"Merry Christmas," Cody whispered.

I smiled.

**Author's Note: Okay, a day late, LOL. Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! Wow, I can't believe I started this almost a year ago around Christmas time and I'm not done. xP I'm a pretty slow writer…Thanks for all of the reviews everyone! Every review is like a gift to me.**