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Mibs opened a plastic tub.
If she were asked 24 hours ago about how she was going to spend her weekend, she probably would’ve said something about staying home and spending time with Will. Momma kept saying they should get settled down soon and get married, but they had plenty of time to get married and do all that grown-up stuff.
They were already engaged and were in their early 20s. They had been friends since she was 13, but they had known each other even before that. And sure, she loved Will. She loved him more than anything in the world. But that didn’t mean she didn’t sometimes wish she’d had more time to just be herself.
Being the third oldest of six kids and the oldest girl didn’t help. And no, Mibs wasn’t trying to lean into gender stereotypes, but it meant she had to help raise her younger siblings: Samson, Gypsy, and Tucker, especially when she was a teen.
Sure, Rocket and Fish helped, too. But Rocket was only at home for a few weeks after his 18th birthday before he left for Uncle Autry’s ranch. Fish had stuck around. He helped with the tasks Poppa couldn’t do anymore.
Mibs didn’t mind helping, she really didn’t. They were her family, and she loved them. But sometimes, she just wished they’d give her a little more of a heads-up before handing her tasks.
And that’s how she ended up back at Nebransas, helping her Momma and Gypsy clean out the attic.
Somehow, she was the only other person who could help them.
Rocket was still off in Wyoming. Fish was with Mellie, visiting her family. Will was helping Poppa with something involving the crawl space. Samson was off with Tucker, supposedly doing chores, but Mibs didn’t buy it for a second. There had been a glint in Samson’s eye before he disappeared with Tucker, so much for being her favorite sibling.
“What’s this?” Gypsy asked, blowing dust off the lid of a large plastic tub.
Mibs turned quickly, careful not to step on any loose sheets of wood.
Gypsy wiped the remaining dust off the tub’s lid, sending a cloud straight into the air.
Mibs coughed. “Please, don’t do that,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face.
Gypsy didn’t respond, already busy opening the tub.
Momma appeared a moment later, walking as gracefully as ever across the creaky wooden beams. She carried a small basket full of random, used but perfect gift bags and tissue paper.
“Oh my,” Momma said, reaching into the box. “I would’ve never guessed, this is what happened to all these tapes! I thought they were lost when we moved here!”
“What tapes?” Gypsy asked, peering into the box and pulling out one of the plastic rectangles. “All I see are some weird old books.”
Mibs walked over. “Those aren’t books, they’re VCR tapes.”
“VCR tapes?” Gypsy repeated.
“Yeah,” Mibs said, “they’re like old versions of DVDs.”
Gypsy nodded slowly, clearly not quite following. “But how do these fit into the DVD player?”
Mibs rolled her eyes. Sometimes she forgot how different things were for her younger siblings. When she was growing up, they didn’t even have a TV, thanks to Rocket’s savvy, but apparently, they used to. She could barely remember that. They had one now, though, since a local family gave theirs away and Pastor Meeks offered it to them. Honestly, it might’ve been Will who talked them into it. Still, she’d only really seen VHS tapes at Sunday school.
“They don’t,” Momma said, stepping in. “They go in a VHS player.”
“Do we have one?” Gypsy asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement at this mysterious, ancient technology.
Momma paused, “I think we brought one with us on the move, since Rocket didn’t break it on his birthday. If you find it, you can watch one.”
Gypsy smiled and jumped to her feet, immediately diving into the nearest pile of boxes.
“But you still have to help clean,” Momma warned, her tone gentle but firm.
“Momma, what’s on those tapes?” Mibs asked, moving some boxes closer to the downstairs ladder.
“There’s a bit of everything,” Momma said. “Probably some wedding footage and baptisms. Some of you kids, when you were younger. And maybe some of those summers at the ranch.”
“Okay,” Mibs said, glancing at the tub, “but like, what exactly was recorded?”
Momma shrugged. “I’m not sure, Mibs. But right now we need to clean this up. Poppa wants to redo the roof and add some insulation, so all this stuff has to go.”
Mibs nodded and went back to labeling boxes, careful not to smudge the ink or let it get on anything.
The attic went quiet after that. They kept working for hours, the sound of shifting boxes and creaking wood the only conversation. Nothing meaningful was said, just the occasional groan or sneeze from the dust.
The only real comment came from Gypsy, who paused mid-sorting and sighed. “I wish time would slow down,” she said. “So we’d have more of it.”
Mibs didn’t respond, but part of her agreed.
After a long while, when there were only a handful of boxes and containers left, and Mibs was worn out and sweating, she heard Gypsy yell, “Is this it?!”
Mibs sighed and carried a box over to check, but Momma was already there.
“It looks like it,” Momma said.
“Yes!” Gypsy shouted. “Can I watch something from one of the tapes?”
“Sure,” Momma replied, “but only if you help carry the rest of this stuff downstairs. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Gypsy nodded eagerly, grabbed a small tub, and scrambled down the ladder as fast as she could.
“Be careful!” Momma called after her, but Gypsy wasn’t listening.
It only took a bit to get everything downstairs, but they were covered head to toe in dust.
Mibs and Gypsy collapsed on the floor in front of the TV, not caring how dirty they were.
Momma turned to them, “Mibs, plug in the player and show Gypsy how to load a tape. I’m going to clean up and start dinner.”
Mibs nodded and got to work. Once she figured out how to connect the VHS player, she turned to Gypsy. “It’s all set up, go ahead and pick a tape.”
Gypsy nodded and started reading the labels along the sides of the old tape cases, Mibs sat back and watched her sister.
“‘Grandma Dollop radio waves, May ’08,’” Gypsy read aloud. “‘Rosa and Autry, January 10,’” she continued, squinting at another. “‘Mibs, Fish, Rocket, June 13.’”
“Oh! We should watch this one!” Gypsy said, holding up the tape.
Mibs glanced up. “Why that one?”
Gypsy shrugged, struggling to explain. “Why not?” she said and handed the tape over.
Mibs took it, got up, and slid the tape into the player. She rewound it, and then she sat back down beside her sister.
The screen flickered to life with that classic VHS wobble, lines cutting across the image as the frame struggled to stabilize. The picture jerked around a few times as someone adjusted the camcorder. There was heavy breathing and the squeak of sneakers on linoleum.
Off-screen, someone whispered dramatically, it sounded like a much younger version of Fish, “Okay… action!”
On screen, a young Mibs stood in front of the kitchen counter, grinning ear to ear. She looked about six. She wore a stained apron that hung down nearly to her ankles, oversized sunglasses that belonged to Momma, and a handmade paper crown that read “CEO” in marker, surrounded by doodles.
On the counter in front of her sat a cup filled with something… horrifying. A brown, unidentifiable concoction.
Mibs blinked, frozen. “What are we watching?”
"Hi! I’m Mibs, the president of Sick Juice, the best drink you’ve ever had!" Younger Mibs beamed at the camera. "It’s made from all your favorite things, like ice cream, and chocolate, and… secret ingredients."
She held the mystery cup with both hands like it was some ancient artifact. "Sick Juice is made to help you get out of school faster. Today, we will be testing this."
“Oh my goodness,” Gypsy said beside her, wide-eyed. “You were so cute!”
Mibs groaned and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “I can’t believe this exists…”
On the tape, younger Mibs walked out of frame. "You have to follow, Fish!" she shouted.
“Right!” Fish said from behind the camera, before the footage lurched wildly as he ran to Mibs.
The camera refocused on the dining room. Twelve-year-old Rocket sat at the table, arms crossed.
“Drink,” the younger Mibs ordered.
“No,” Rocket said flatly.
Mibs pouted and tried to make herself look small and innocent. “Yes, you said you’d play with us!”
“Not like this! This looks disgusting!”
“If you don’t, I’m telling Momma you lied!” she said, crossing her arms with dramatic flair.
“You wouldn’t…”
“She would,” Fish chimed in.
Rocket sighed heavily, grabbed the cup, and took a cautious sip, only to spit it out immediately.
“What is in this?!” Rocket demanded, gagging.
“We can’t tell you,” Mibs said proudly, “but look, it made you sick! So if you want to get sick and get out of horrible school, try our Sick Juice!”
“What is going on in here?” came Momma’s voice off-screen, sharp with suspicion. She walked into the frame, cradling baby Samson in her arms.
The footage cut off, replaced by a black screen.
“You were so cute!” Gypsy said again, giggling. “All of you! I’ve never seen you guys so little.”
“It was horrible,” Mibs groaned, louder this time. “This is actually the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen.”
“We should watch it again,” Gypsy said, grinning.
Mibs shook her head quickly as she popped the tape out. “Nope. We’re never watching that again!”
“Why not? I bet Will would love to see it,” Gypsy teased.
“No way! You are not showing him this!” Mibs said, pointing at her sister. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever done!”
“Didn’t you stow away on a bus when you were thirteen?” Gypsy asked innocently. “Isn’t that a lot worse?”
“No, because I was saving Poppa, so it doesn’t count,” Mibs said quickly. Okay, maybe in some ways that was worse, but she wasn’t about to admit that out loud.
Gypsy rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh as Momma walked back into the room..
“What are you girls up to?” Momma asked. “Did you try out any of the tapes?”
Gypsy nodded eagerly. “Yeah, one with Mibs and Rocket and Fish and Sick Juice.”
Momma laughed. “Oh, I remember that!”
“Do you want to see it?” Gypsy asked, reaching for the tape.
“No!” Mibs yelped, panicked.
But Momma smiled. “Go ahead, put it in.”
Gypsy handed over the tape and Mibs slid it into the player and rewinded it and the video started up again.
Gypsy watched with a wide smile. Mibs kept her face buried in her hands, groaning softly.
Momma rubbed Mibs’ back gently. “It’s okay, darling. You were so cute.”
“I was embarrassing,” Mibs muttered.
“I can’t believe you guys did that,” Gypsy laughed.
“Me neither,” Mibs said. “I say we get rid of them.”
“No!” Gypsy gasped, clutching the tape to her chest. “I love them!”
“You’ve only watched one,” Mibs said, raising an eyebrow.
Gypsy gave her a doll-like smile, innocent and sly all at once. “So? You can fall in love with something even if you’ve only seen it once.”
Mibs rolled her eyes.
Momma shook her head with a knowing smile, handing the tape. “You’ll love them one day, Mibs. For now, just take them to Gypsy’s room.”
Mibs sighed, carried the box down the hall, and tucked it deep into the closet.
Far enough that she hoped she would never have to see it again.
With a firm press, she closed the lid of the plastic tub. It snapped shut with a loud click, sealing the memories inside.