I Am Unwilling

Raymond sat alone in his basement with an old VHS in front of him. There was a box full of videotapes next to him.

Video home systems and videotapes used to be standard equipment in American families, but they had become irrelevant. Most had been thrown into basements as Raymond's had been.

Raymond picked up one of the tapes, feeling nostalgic. He blew off the dust and placed it into the VHS.

To his relief, the old equipment still worked. The old CRT TV in the basement had lost its clarity. The colors had become very distorted.

Raymond appeared on the TV screen as an 18-year-old. He had just graduated from high school and participated in the NBA draft. He was selected ninth, by the Toronto Raptors, in the first round.

Videos of games from back then were hard to find, but Raymond had kept the videos of his season as a rookie.

I was really young back then. Raymond looked at his tender face in the video and smiled.