A lovely take on the prompt!

Thank you for sharing!

Lol, this is so great and well written.

Thank you for sharing!

That's a good point. Thank you.

Thank you!

I held the letter. Yup. That was my name. First and middle. Not last, though. Odd.

I stepped away from the rest of my class, clamoring around to see the oddities that where placed in the capsule. I had been just as excited as them, but now I was consumed with a different curiosity. I leaned against a tree as I began reading the letter.

To my future daughter,

I don't know what your life is going to be. I don't even know if they'll allow you to keep the same name. But please know, please understand, that you are loved. Even now I'm not sure I will be able to let you go.

I want you to know that only reason I'm giving you up is because I can't give you the life you deserve. I'm in high school, single, and unemployed. I won't be able to give you a roof over your head, regular meals, or anything you're going to need. The agency has assured me that you'll be placed with a good family. A strong family. A loving couple who desperately want a child to love.

You may never forgive me. And that's okay. There's nothing wrong with thinking that way. But I hope that one day, when you're an adult, we'll be able to talk. I hope that your childhood is filled with love and laughter, and that you never have to wonder where your next meal is coming from, or if you're going to have a home when you get out of school. May your life be nothing like mine.

I frown. One, I'm not adopted. And two, this time capsule is 100 years old. No way was this letter meant for me--but that was clearly my name on the envelope.

When I got home from school I showed my mom the letter. She got an odd, sad smile and sat with me on the couch. She took the letter from me and read it. "This is from your grandmother," she said softly. "My adoptive family tried to let me keep the name she gave me, but her parents--well, her parents were not good people. So my name had to be changed, and we moved away."

I thought about that. We'd lived in this town my whole life. "When did you come back?"

"After I graduated college. I came to see how my birth mother was doing. My parents never lied to me about being adopted, you see, and they'd told me that my birth mother had loved me very much and had wanted only the best for me."

I frowned. "But--I've never met your mother."

"No." Her voice was sad, quiet. "You haven't."

A bit of guilt and a little bit of dread.

Thank you for sharing!

I bet that makes him rethink his assumptions.

Thanks for sharing!