Video1 (4)mp4 -

The file sat at the bottom of the "Unsorted" folder, nestled between blurry vacation photos and discarded resumes. Elias hadn’t meant to keep it. The name was a generic placeholder—the kind of name a computer gives a file when you’ve already saved three other things called "video1."

"If this works," she said, "we’re going to be legends. Or at least, the best pie-makers in the county." The video cut to black. It was only twelve seconds long. video1 (4)mp4

The woman turned around, holding a flour-dusted rolling pin like a scepter. She laughed—a bright, infectious sound—and for a moment, she looked directly into the camera, directly at Elias. The file sat at the bottom of the