Veronica stretched out lazily on her grandmothers couch. Upstairs, the rest of the family were happily chatting away. Veronica sighed. She hated the insincerity of family events. Her parents called her discontent a teenage phase, but she hated how her family could only express their feelings in food. Her parents had been pushing sweet, rich food on her for months. Tired of staring at the ceiling, she wandered over to Grandmas cabinet filled with VCRs. “Just like them to have a basement full of crap.” Veronica muttered. “Would it kill them to buy a DVD player?” Each tape was meticulously labeled with a name. It took Veronica a second to recognize many of the names; each tape was for a deceased family member. At the top of the pile, there was a tape marked Veronica. Maybe it was an old aunt? Curious, she popped it into the VCR player. Images popped up immediately, not of some deceased family member, but of Veronica. She stared at the screen. Baby Veronica toddling across the yard, graduating from school, going to prom… Then, a screen: “In honor of our sacrifice on August 8th, 2012.”

From upstairs, a call: “Veronica, dinner!”