Request #003: My Expectations (I Think I Had Too Many)
REQUEST #: 003
ITEM: Expectations
LAST SEEN: Hard to say. They kept changing.
STATUS: Pending
He didn’t come all the way in at first.
Just opened the door, looked around, then stepped back out.
Then back in again.
Like he was deciding if it counted.
“Is this where you bring things?” he asked.
“That seems to be how it works,” I said.
He nodded and walked up to the counter.
Didn’t set anything down.
“I think I might have too many of these,” he said. “Or maybe I lost them. I don’t know.”
“What item?” I asked.
“Expectations,” he said. “Mine. Other people’s. I can’t tell which are which anymore.”
I wrote it down.
“Last seen?”
He smiled a little.
“They don’t really go away,” he said. “They just… stack.”
That worked.
“I’ll check the back,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said. “Just… don’t bring all of them out at once.”
The back room door was already open.
I didn’t remember leaving it that way.
Inside felt more crowded.
Not more shelves.
Just more on them.
A sign leaned against a shelf:
Expectations (Personal / External)
There wasn’t a drawer.
Just things sitting directly on the shelves.
Some folded.
Some tangled together.
Labels:
- I should be further along by now
- This will make them proud
- I’ll feel different when I get there
- This is what I’m supposed to do
One fell forward when I brushed past it.
Everyone else seems to be doing this fine
Heavier than it looked.
I picked up another.
It doesn’t have to be perfect
That one stayed steady.
Near the end, there was more space.
Only a few things left there.
One sat by itself.
No label.
I picked it up.
It didn’t tighten or pull.
It just stayed.
I brought a few back.
Not all of them.
Just enough.
He looked at them and nodded.
“These are mine,” he said.
He picked one up.
“I should be further along by now.”
“Yeah,” he said. “That one’s loud.”
Next one.
“This will make them proud.”
He held that longer. Then set it down.
“Do I have to take all of these?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
He nodded.
Looked at them again.
Then picked up the one without a label.
Held it.
“That one feels… easier,” he said.
He glanced at the others.
“They’re not wrong,” he said. “They’re just… a lot.”
He pushed the rest slightly away.
“I think I’ll leave these,” he said.
“For now.”
I nodded.
He kept the unlabeled one.
Didn’t bag it.
Just held it.
“Will the others stay here?” he asked.
“I think so,” I said.
He nodded like that was enough.
Then left.
The bell didn’t ring.
I looked down at the form.
The status had changed.
STATUS: Partially Recovered (Reduced)
I hadn’t touched it.
On the counter, the ones he left behind shifted slightly.
Not toward each other.
Just… adjusting.
From the back room, something moved again.
Closer than before.
I didn’t go check.
Next request processed Monday
