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Restocking the Abyss
Short Story _ Letter outbound HOLD for Gram

Short Story _ Letter outbound HOLD for Gram

The Office Reorg (Bob's Way)

The next day, Bob decided he was going to clean up the office exactly how he wanted. Now that things were loosening up a little, why not take advantage of it? One of his first moves was to go on a small shopping spree—right from the front of the office. If they were really going to expand the warehouse, Bob wanted to make sure he’d have access to everything he needed.

Truth be told, he doubted they’d actually follow through with the big expansion plans. But that didn’t stop him from setting things up just the way he liked. One thing was for sure: if he was going to receive shipments, he was going to do it right. That’s how he justified picking up a fancy 7.5K inbox—no cheap bins for him. He grabbed a few other essentials, then scanned them all with one of the warehouse scanners, just to make it official.

Satisfied, Bob sat at his desk, cracked his knuckles, and started composing an email. His plan was to send it to Larry and Trevor, just to keep them in the loop. But when he typed their names into the system, two strange email addresses popped up alongside them: [email protected] and [email protected].

Bob blinked. “What the...?”

It was absurd, but also somehow felt... logical? With a shrug, he added the weird addresses to the email chain. Might as well, he thought.

The message read:

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"If I’m going to work here, I’m doing it my way. This space behind Rack 17 is the new ‘pallet zone’—anything big like rocks, props, or pallets, dump it here. Letters, messages, notes, whatever—those go in the new inbox. Let’s get organized."

Bob smiled, maybe a little too pleased with himself. After hitting send, he leaned back in his chair, feeling good.

Just then, the monitor above him flickered to life, showing a serene sunrise—a mesmerizing display of light cresting over distant hills. For a moment, Bob found himself oddly transfixed by the sight, as if the world itself had paused to appreciate the view.

Then, out of nowhere, Waldo—the office's ever-watchful but lazy monitor—pinged awake, displaying the email notification. A bright green “Approved” circle flashed on the screen, followed by a small “Processed” stamp before everything went back to normal. The screen dimmed, the sunrise fading, and Waldo promptly went back to sleep.

Bob chuckled.

“Waldo, you weird little piece of tech... What the hell.”

The next morning, something new popped up in the 7.5K inbox—a single envelope. Bob approached it, curious. It was plain except for a tag attached to the front, which read:

HOLD: Do not open. Secure until recipient is ready for pickup.

The only other word on the tag was a name: Graham.

Bob frowned, tilting the envelope in his hand as if it might give up its secrets. He had no idea who Graham was or what this envelope contained. But there was something about it—something that felt both significant and unsettling, like a gift that could just as easily turn into a curse.

*********

Not really a spoiler but down the road, if Grandma ever gets to see it and if everything is still in the good condition, this could be a gift or a curse. What's inside? Please see a below for the contents of the envelope.

**********

⊠@BODY.statΩ == "☵"

⊗▤ADD_M╦NTH(⊙BODY)

IF ⌽BODY.λΔIΣ():

PRN☵T("∇LIΦ @Gram")

GITM