Pentober 2026 - Day 23: Witness

Ok so, what is Pentober? Promptober? It's a writing tradition that's been around the web for a while where you write up a short story every day in October based on prompts. Some go for pen and paper, some digital; everyone has their own style. I'll be posting here, and I'll be using the prompts from https://www.topinfiction.com/p/pentober-2026 

House rules are that I vomit-write the story; no planning, just taka taka taka on the keys. I get ONE edit at the end of the draft (if I even have time, lol), then we post it. House rules also say that I get to play catch up and do multiple days separately on one day or combined if work gets wild and I can't write. Get it? Got it? Good! Here we go.

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Bill poked his head out of this townhouse and looked around. He didn't see the package. He ducked back in and got a robe, then did a sweep of the front yard, the driveway, and the neighbor's houses. There was no package. He pulled out his phone and swiped down to update the order receipt. There was an image now. The package had be left somewhere with a gray floor? Bill had no idea where that could be. An apartment nearby? It could literally be anywhere. The floor was generic builder-grade gray. He sighed. He didn't need this today.

He went back inside to get his shoes instead of his outside slippers. While he was putting them on, he opened a ticket with both the shipping service and the shop to report the issue and either get refunded, get a new order delivered properly, or get some information that may help him find the missing package.

He started his search. He slipped into the first apartment building he could think of. The gray floors matched. He peered around and saw a desk agent sitting around looking bored. He asked them if they could help locate the package. They responded that they'd need a witness to release a package, even if it was in his name. They'd need someone to countersign the release form. It was apartment policy, there was no way around it.

Bill sighed again and made his way back to go get his wife to bear witness to receiving a package that was rightfully his and had his name on it. He retraced his steps, taking the right then the left then the right to get back home but, at the last turn, ended up back where he had started. He tried again. He looped back on his location. He checked the time, time was progressing, he was going to be late for a call with work so he dialed in.

"...we're witnessing a huge transition in the space because of AI. The way in which we work, the way in which we live and move in space is going to be fundamentally altered..." Some Executive was droning on about the latest make-do coming from the Board or something while people ideated on how to make an abstract and poorly expressed want match an on-the-ground reality.

Bill re-entered the apartment building lobby and tried to exit from the other side. As he pushed through the door, he instead re-emerged entering from the door he originally used on the other side. This loop kept happening throughout the entire call. Eventually, he got fed up and started following signs in the building to locate another way out. He found a sign for the mailroom and decided to walk over that way. The mailroom was unlocked, so he entered and, there it was: his package. He picked it up and went to leave but found that he was, upon exiting the mailroom door redirected back inside the mailroom. He, too, had been misdirected. He had to exist in increasingly small spaces, managing increasingly silly routing problems, while listening to increasingly silly needs.