“Wh-what is that?” I asked, my eyes flaring wide.

“I just found it in the basement, reckoned I’d bring it up,” Mrs. McCarthy said, wiping a small bead of perspiration from her brow.

“Whoa…” I breathed, kneeling down to face the chest. A memory stirred inside of me. “You don’t suppose…”

“It may be, although I don’t know,” Mrs. McCarthy told me, shaking her head. “We’d have to open it to see what’s inside.”

I patted the top of the chest slightly, disturbing a dust cloud that tickled my nose (and Scooter’s), which made me sneeze.

“Well, it’s certainly looks old enough,” I offered with a roll of shoulders.

“D’you think it’s already open? But…wouldn’t it have popped open when I lugged it up here?”

I cocked my head slightly. “There’s only one way to find out.”

I hooked my fingers lightly under the crook of the chest, and it came open with a creak.

A bizarre tingling of nostalgia came over me as I peered inside. Tears stung at the back of my eyes.

“This…this is it.”