During an afternoon, I prepared myself for a short trip out: I cleaned my teeth, changed my shirt, and ensured the shoes I would be wearing were my decent pair. I was almost ready when I went to reach for my coat; however, it was not in its usual place on the floor, so I looked in my wardrobe for it there instead. The coat was not put away in there, so I looked on top. Alas, it was not up there either! Where had my coat gone?
This was not just any coat...it was my favourite! I frantically began searching for it, but then I heard voices from downstairs demanding that I hurry up, as everyone else was ready to go and they did not want to be late. When the voices became angry I grabbed another coat of mine at random...one that turned out be be too short for me but was still better than not having a coat at all...then headed down before the complaints became excessive.
On the way to our destination my coat was the only concern I had in my thoughts. What had I done with it? Had it been put away in an effort to tidy the house? Had I forgotten it someplace, never to retrieve it? Had someone else taken it? Had it been accidentally put in the washer and shrunk so much it could not be seen anymore? I did not pay any attention to the places we drove past on our journey, being too preoccupied with the disappearance of my best coat.
Even during the time spent at our destination I was too distracted thinking about my coat to appreciate the event we were attending. I merely hid myself until it was time for us to leave, distressed to point where I did not want to be seen by anyone else or have to talk to them. It was a relief to be back in the car and returning home.
Upon arriving back at out house I rushed upstairs and turned my room upside down in a newly-energised search for my beloved coat. I emptied my wardrobe and cabinets of all their contents and even moved my bed in case the coat had somehow been trapped beneath or behind it. As before, the coat was nowhere to be found, and I came to the conclusion that it was lost forever.
I sat down on the floor and faced the door. The afternoon had been a real downer, and now the evening was going the same way. Not only was my favourite coat missing, but my room was now a mess! Granted, it was all my own fault; if I had just been more careful...wait. What is that behind the door...
...my coat! It had been in my room all along! I had hung it up on the doorknob on the inside of my room, but I had not noticed the coat earlier since the door had been open wide all day and I never thought to look behind the door until I just saw part of the coat peeking out.
My worrying over the past few hours had been unnecessary, but I felt relieved when I reached for my coat and put it on. Next time I shall be more observant, and better at remembering where I leave my belongings.
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This post was inspired by our recent trip to Cambridgeshire: before we left, I could not find the coat I usually wear when going out, and it was missing until it was found this morning in our garage. Most of the events in the above piece did not occur in real-life, and the parts that did were exaggerated for the sake of storytelling: in reality, while I was slightly annoyed that I could not find my coat, I was certainly not fussing over it the entire time we were out! In fact, I barely thought about it at all! If I ever did lose the coat for certain, I would be disappointed but I would not break down over it.
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