The Empty Nest Experiment

Alyssa

Alyssa Dartman had seen a lot of strange things working the front desk at the Catchucumun Inn. Lost dentures. A live ferret. And one unforgettable incident involving a waffle maker and a very apologetic insurance adjuster.

But the item currently sitting on the counter in front of her? That was new. She stared at it, then leaned slightly to the left. As if a different angle might magically make it… less whatever it was.

It did not.

“Jackie,” she said slowly, not taking her eyes off it, “I need you to come look at this before I make a decision that could get me fired.”

From the back office, Jackie’s voice floated out immediately. “Oh, I’m already interested. Is it alive?”

“Nope.”

“Is it supposed to be?”

Alyssa paused, studying it closely. “I don’t think so.”

That was enough.

Jackie appeared beside her in seconds, coffee in hand, curiosity fully activated. She took one look at the object on the counter, then another. Then she set her coffee down very carefully.

“Well,” Jackie said. “That is either a very committed piece of modern art… or somebody is having a significantly more interesting stay than we are.”

Alyssa let out a slow breath. “I found it in Room 214 after checkout.”

“Did you touch it?” Horror colored her voice.

Alyssa hesitated, then shrugged. “With a towel.”

“Good. We’re not amateurs.”

They both stared at it again.

It was black, soft-looking and adjustable. And structured in a way that suggested it definitely had a bedroom purpose. One Alyssa was about ninety percent sure she did not fully understand.

“I feel like I should log it in lost and found,” Alyssa said, though her eyes lingered a second longer than strictly necessary.

Jackie nodded. “Oh, absolutely. Under what category, though? ‘Miscellaneous’? ‘Regret’? ‘Personal growth’?”

Alyssa snorted despite herself, then clamped her mouth shut and glanced toward the lobby. Empty, thank God.

Still, she lowered her voice. “What do you think it is?”

Jackie looked at her. The teasing gone from her face.“You really don’t know?”

Alyssa’s stomach knotted. Or maybe it was her pride. “I raised four kids, Jackie. I’ve seen things. I just… haven’t seen this.”

Jackie picked it up with two fingers, examining it like a jeweler inspecting a rare stone. “Huh. Okay. Well, I’m about eighty percent sure…”

The front door chimed. Both of them jumped. Jackie dropped the item back onto the counter like it burned her.

Alyssa straightened instantly, smoothing her blouse, her brain snapping back into professional mode as a couple walked in dragging suitcases behind them.

“Welcome to the Catchucumun Inn,” she said, her voice calm, practiced, and completely normal. As if there wasn’t a mysterious object sitting two feet from her elbow quietly unraveling her understanding of… several things.

The couple approached the desk, smiling.

Jackie leaned, her voice barely a whisper. “We’re finishing this conversation,” she murmured.

“Oh, we absolutely are not,” Alyssa muttered back.

But even as she said it… She caught herself glancing down. How exactly did it work? The thought was uninvited, but if she was being honest, not entirely unwelcome.

She looked away quickly, focusing on the guests in front of her. On check-in times and room keys and polite smiles. Normal things. Safe things.

Still, later that night, when she was home and the house was quiet, and no one was around to overhear, she had a feeling she was going to ask a question she had never asked in twenty-five years of marriage.

And once she did, she suspected the answer wouldn’t be the only thing she’d been missing.