Episode 29 - Lost and Found (And Found Again)

It arrived with the afternoon mail.

No announcement. No carrier.

Just a cardboard box in the lobby chair.

Handwritten in bold marker: LOST + FOUND (Do Not Return Until Claimed)

Olivia stared at it for a moment.

Then carried it to the front desk.

It was heavier than it looked. Warm, but not in a concerning way. More like it had been sitting in sunlight that didn’t exist anymore.

She set it down, opened the flaps, and—

Frowned.

Inside were items.

Normal ones. Ordinary. Utterly reasonable.

Which was exactly why they made her ears twitch.

A keyring with three keys, none of which matched any door she knew. One of them had a tiny engraved tag: “Back Entrance – Forward Date”

A scarf she recognized—she owned that exact one. Had lost it last year. In a laundromat. Several states away.

A coffee mug that said “#1 Receptionist” in retro font. She did not own a mug like that. But it smelled exactly like her tea.

A postcard with her handwriting on it. Mailed from the station. To herself. It read:

“Don’t forget where you left yourself.” —O

A remote control with a single unlabeled button. (No batteries. Already works.)

And at the very bottom—

A VHS tape.

Unlabeled. Unwound. Still warm.

She looked up.

No one else in the lobby.

The monitors flickered once. Monitor 6B briefly showed her standing up before she actually did.

She sat back down.

Slowly closed the box.

Taped it shut.

Wrote in big letters across the top: “Held for Claim – Olivia”

Then tucked it behind the desk.

She didn’t ask Bernard about it.

Didn’t ask Miss LaDonna either.

Not yet.

But when she turned around, the #1 Receptionist mug was already on her desk.

Steam rising.

Her tea. Just right.