Family secrets

It was a gloomy, rainy morning, perfect for tidying up. Marcus sat in the attic, going through belongings that had accumulated over the years—his own and his family’s. He sorted items that could be discarded from those that might still be useful. Among bags of clothing and shelves of old books, his attention was drawn to a medium-sized cardboard box. The label on it read: Great-Grandfather. Marcus coughed as dust particles swirled in the air when he opened the box.

Inside, he found old photo albums and stationery that had turned yellow with age. Among the empty, worn sheets of paper, he discovered one that was written on.

“Albert, my dear friend,
There are so many things humanity has yet to uncover. It’s incredible how much more we will develop. I hope that when we reveal our discoveries to the world, they will also be appreciated because, Albert, I was there. I did it! I succeeded! Our work was not in vain. Please let me know when you can visit me. I must show you this.
J.C.”

Marcus didn’t understand any of it. Was his great-grandfather an inventor? No one had ever mentioned it.

Amid the pile of papers, there was another envelope that caught Marcus’s attention. Inside was a drawing of a mobile phone, along with a detailed explanation of how it functioned. Marcus’s face went pale, and his thoughts raced. The letter was dated to the 1930s. How could his great-grandfather have known about smartphones?

He glanced at the clock, which showed the time: 11:11.

It seems that every family has its secrets—the question is, are these secrets we truly want to uncover?