A place saved
At every annual dinner, the museum kept a chair for “A. Reed.” New curator Iona assumed it honoured a missing donor. No donor file held the name. Older staff remembered the tradition, but nobody agreed when it had begun.
The list beneath the list
The earliest seating plan held faded pencil beneath the ink: “a reed,” an instruction for the musician beside table seven. A later organiser had copied it into the guest column. Another supplied capital letters. A practical note had quietly become a person.
A better tradition
Iona explained the mistake. The committee kept the chair for a new reason: each year, a local music student would be invited. This time, the invitation carried a full name, checked with its owner. The story survived because someone asked what the record actually said.
About this story
This is an original work of fiction. Characters, places and events are invented. It does not describe a real missing person or investigation.