Treat-28112022_720p.mp4: My Uncles

The file sat at the bottom of the "Unsorted" folder, its name a clinical string of characters: . To anyone else, it was just 400 megabytes of data. To Leo, it was the only way to go back to that Tuesday in November.

The date on the file, , marked the first time the family had gathered after two years of being apart. The "treat" Silas provided wasn't just the lunch—it was the permission to be loud, to be together, and to forget the world outside the restaurant doors for ninety minutes. The Fade to Black My Uncles Treat-28112022_720p.mp4

Silas was the kind of man who dressed for a casual lunch as if he were headed to a gala, sporting a sharp tweed blazer even in the heat of a restaurant. He looks directly into the lens, his eyes crinkling with a mischievous glint. The file sat at the bottom of the

He didn't need 4K resolution or a cinematic frame rate. The grainy 720p footage was enough to remind him of the smell of jasmine tea and the feeling of being completely, effortlessly cared for by the loudest man in the room. The date on the file, , marked the

"Are you recording, Leo? Good. History needs to know that for once, your Uncle is the one holding the wallet!" he bellows, gesturing to the sprawling spread of bamboo steamers on the table. The "Treat"

The video ends abruptly. The last frame is a blurry shot of Silas leaning in to whisper a "secret" ingredient to the camera, only for his daughter to shove a piece of bok choy into his mouth. The screen goes black, leaving Leo in the quiet of his room.