A Big Box of Memories by Judy Delton Page B

thinking hard. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, Molly thought. Things like her favorite sweater or her Pee Wee scarf were probably too big to include.
    “If I can’t put my bike in, I’m going to put in a snowball so they can see how much snow we have in Minnesota,” said Sonny.
    “You can’t,” said Roger. “Snow melts. There’d just be a puddle of water in the bottom of the box.”
    “The box would rust,” said Lisa.
    “The water would evaporate,” saidJody. “Then there would be nothing left from you.”
    How smart Jody was! He was so scientific. No wonder I like him, Molly thought. Maybe if she married Jody someday they could both be scientists and discover cures for diseases like head colds. Molly hated to cough and sneeze in the winter.
    “Besides,” said Mary Beth, “they wouldn’t want to see snow. They could see snow themselves if they looked out their windows. Minnesota isn’t going to change that much in one hundred years, is it, Mrs. Peters?”
    “Probably not,” she laughed. “It will probably still snow in Minnesota in 2100. We’ll really have to put on our thinking caps for this one. We want whatever you choose to be about
you
. We want it to be small and lasting and well chosen. Youneed to think this over for a while. We’ll have a week or so to decide. When the mayor gives us our box, we’ll put the things into it carefully, all labeled neatly. When we finish, we’ll get our Time Capsule badges!”

    “Yay!” shouted the Pee Wees. It would be fun to fill the box, and it would be more fun to get a badge for it!
    Rat’s knees, thought Molly. Badges are what Pee Wee Scouts are all about!

CHAPTER 3
Barrettes and Baseball Cards
    M olly felt nervous about making such an important choice. This badge wasn’t like a baby-sitting badge or a dog-walking badge. This badge was for what her grandma called posterity! Molly wasn’t sure she could think of a perfect item all by herself. But it seemed babyish to ask her family for help. Earning a new badge was a challenge. Molly liked to think she was up to it.
    On their way home, the other Pee Weesdidn’t seem to take the job as seriously as Molly.
    “Hey, I’m going to put in my math paper I got a C on,” said Tim Noon.
    “A C!” shouted Rachel. “You should only put an A paper in!”
    “Tim never got an A in his life!” said Lisa.
    “I’m going to put in some cereal,” said Kenny. “Frostibites, my favorite.”
    “They’ll disintegrate,” said Kevin. “Food dries up. I’m going to put in a baseball card. They may not play baseball in 2100. It will be valuable.”
    Molly couldn’t believe how fast her friends had made up their minds. Mrs. Peters had said to take some time. She’d said it was very important. They were reaching into the future. It wasn’t just a badge for making cookies.
    Roger was chasing Sonny down thestreet. He’d forgotten all about his important decision. He was trying to put a night crawler down Sonny’s shirt.

    Mary Beth was talking to Patty about a movie she had watched on TV.
    Why was Molly the only one who worried so much about these badges? Why did she worry about
everything
more than the other Pee Wees?
    How could Kenny decide on cereal so fast? It wasn’t a good choice.
    And Kevin’s baseball card. That wasn’t bad, but wouldn’t something else be even better? Molly wanted the very, very best thing of all. The thing that would tell the most about her in 2100. A baseball card said something about Kevin, but not much. It didn’t say how smart he was and how he would be mayor or even president someday.
    “Aren’t you guys worried about what to choose?” asked Molly, stamping her foot on the sidewalk. “Don’t you want to pick the best thing you can think of?”
    Mary Beth and Patty stopped laughing about the movie and looked at her.
    “We’ve got a couple of weeks to think about it,” said Mary Beth.
    “It’s an easy badge,” said Tracy. “The easiest one we ever got. Remember