Thanksgiving

"Mom, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving when Beezlebub and Bazzlemorph do not?" asked Toby.

Mom removed the tray of identical faux turkey meat and mashed potatoes from the food replicator and dropped the tray on the table with a resounding clunk while the gravy jostled out of the gravy boat. "Do you remember what I told you Thanksgiving was about?"

"Yes," said Toby. "It is a time to give thanks for what we have."

"That is right. It all started a little over a thousand years ago when these people, they called them pilgrims, traveled for many months --"

"You mean like our trip to Betelgeuse?"

"Sort of like that, yes. Except, when they arrived, they found themselves unprepared for their new home. The aborigines that lived there, they called them Indians, helped them survive their first year. They celebrated the bounty of their first harvest and called it Thanksgiving."

"But why don't Beezlebub and Bazzlemorph celebrate this?"

"They don't come from Old Earth. They have their own holidays that they celebrate."

"What about Miri and Josiah?"

"They come from a different group of people. Old Earth had many different cultures that tried to maintain their differences." The replicator beeped and another tray appeared with green beans and sweet potatoes. "Now eat your dinner," said Mom.

"But, I don't like this white stuff, what's it called?"

"Turkey."

"Can't I just have a protein shake?"

"No, eat your turkey and if you finish everything I will program the replicator to make pie."

Toby stuffed his mouth with turkey and sweet potatoes almost inhaling his food like an airlock's vacuum pump.