Missing

Janice and Stewart had loaded the flat-packs awkwardly into the car and tied down the trunk with yarn for the drive home. The living room welcomed them with its fresh paint and space to accommodate a free-standing shelf unit with dimensions carefully measured in advance. Now with the open cardboard boxes cast off and instructions in hand, Stewart arranged the parts of their kit in a logical order while Janice went to the kitchen to make a welcome cup of tea.

“Hey, it looks like a pack of screws is missing,” Steward called out in annoyance. At first Janice seemed not to hear the remark, but then she replied “Are you sure?”

“Well the instructions say we need a long set of bolts, and I don't see any here,” said Stewart. “We can't attach the end-pieces without them.”

Janice looked over the pile of red-painted wooden boards and the various attachments. “That's annoying,” she responded.

Then Stewart stood up from where he was sitting among the discarded cardboard. “Aha,” exclaimed Janice, “I see the solution you silly man—you were sitting on them the whole time!”