Lore Papers

MISSING SINCE HALLOWEEN '57. Beau. Sleepy eyes, knit cap, very good at hiding. Last seen playing hide and seek after closing. If you find him, tell Bob. Reward: breakfast.

SHIFT-TEC NIGHT SERVICES. NIGHT WORK. Finders wanted. No experience needed. You look for one thing, then you go home. Training on your first night. Ask for Bob. This ad has run every week since November '57.

HOTEL PHANTASMA, night desk, 1955. 3:00 AM. Laughing in the corridor by room 214. Checked. The two new porters, Bob and Beau, hiding a folded paper box from each other. Told them to keep it down.

B & B GHOST FINDERS. Bob and Beau. Two pals, one flashlight. Hotels, museums, shopping plazas. No ghost, no fee. On the back, in pencil: 0 for 3.

SUNRISE DINER. Two breakfasts, two coffees. A thick stack of the same receipt, two years of them. On every one, in pen: Beau paid. Hid it badly. The top one is dated 10.30.57.

A card in two handwritings. 1. One hides, one finds. 2. Hide it where it could be found. 3. The break room is base. 4. Finder has until sunrise. 5. Loser buys breakfast.

HOTEL PHANTASMA lost property. Item: paper box, folded. Found in room 214. Also in 216. Also in the elevator. All the same night. The porters say they only made one.

AFTER-HOURS MUSEUM, Gallery C stock check, 1956. On the catalog: 212 objects. Counted tonight: 213. Counted at opening: 212. Both night guards signed. Nothing missing. Nothing extra. Nobody can say which one it was.

Folded inside a guard's cap, 1956. Beau. Stop calling me from Gallery C. I am standing right next to you when you do it. It is not funny any more. Bob.

Lost property. Item: house rules card, dog-eared. Six rules on it. Both owners swear they wrote five. Rule 6 is in a third handwriting: finders keepers.

Portrait of a gentleman in a nightcap, about 1726. Artist unknown. Sitter unknown. Visitors say the eyes follow you. They are closed. Donated 1958 by a night porter.

To whoever keeps writing in. The Plaza is not built on a burial ground. It is built on a parking lot. Before that it was a field. Before that, also a field. Please stop.

Pencil, on the back of a print: Tonight we let it have a turn. If this works we are famous. If it does not, breakfast is on me. 10.31.57

PLAZA NIGHT STOCK, week of 10.28.57. Mon to Wed: Bob and Beau. Thu: both sent to the museum, special shift. Fri: Bob. Somebody penciled Beau in on Friday too, then rubbed it out.

SHIFT-TEC ASSURANCE. Re: claim 57/1031. Lightning tripped the museum's main breaker at 3:00 AM. This fully explains the clocks. It does not explain your colleague. Claim denied. We do not insure against hiding.

Museum switchboard, 11.01.57, 3:02 AM. Call from the Gallery C extension to the staff room. The caller said: "Bob. It's me. I found a really good spot. Come and look." Gallery C was empty.

Museum security, 11.01.57, 7:02 AM. Power back on. Night worker Bob found in the staff room, wide awake, holding a folded paper box. Says he has not finished looking. Sent home. Back by eleven.

SHIFT-TEC HUMAN FACTORS. Night Trial 1, 10.31.57, AFTER-HOURS MUSEUM, Gallery C. Subject 1, Bob: did not find it. Subject 2, Beau: did not return. Result: SUCCESS. Repeat yearly.

SHIFT-TEC PROPERTY. WORK ORDER 0311, 11.02.86. Every clock in all four buildings stopped at 3:00 on 10.31, like every year since '57. New movements run fine on my bench. Also, your staff room phone rang at 3:02. Nobody there.

Crayon on a kids' menu. A man in a sleepy knit cap with far too many arms, waving from a ceiling vent. Underneath: THE NICE MAN SAID GO BACK TO YOUR MOM. HE SAID HE LOSES ON PURPOSE.

SHIFT-TEC NIGHT SERVICES, Halloween crew roster since 1957. Forty-one names. Every few lines one is crossed out in red and stamped TRANSFERRED TO NIGHT SHIFT (PERMANENT). The first name crossed out: Beau.

To the supervisor. I cleaned around the little paper box on your shelf, like you said. It faced the door when I came in. It faced the lamp when I left. I did not touch it. I would like days, please.

MEMO, SHIFT-TEC Human Factors to all supervisors. Great news! Crew retention on the night shift is at 100 percent. Nobody who goes in at night ever leaves the company. Keep up the good work, and please stop asking where they are.

Taped inside a new locker. Find it before sunrise. Every time. Don't let them tell you it's only a game. And don't stand in front of the big painting after dark. B.

MOONMEADOW HIGH report card, spring '49. Beau. Art: A. Hide and seek at recess: A plus. Being found: F. Teacher's note: folds little paper boxes in every lesson, then hides them. Please speak to him.

MOONMEADOW HIGH AV CLUB, sign-up, fall '50. Names: Bob, Beau. Borrowed: one projector, one flashlight. Our films: No. 1, our game, finished. No. 2, the real thing, one day.

DETENTION, MOONMEADOW HIGH, 10.31.50. Found in the boiler room at 3:00, long after the last bell: Beau. Says it was his turn to hide. Bob was still looking at six. Both stay late all week.

Ink, across two photos side by side in the CLASS OF '51 annual: Bob. Same time next year. Same game. Bet you still can't find me. Beau.

SHIFT-TEC NIGHT SERVICES to the MOONMEADOW HIGH board, 1958. Please accept a new gymnasium, our gift. We ask only for the building at night. A former pupil of yours suggested it.

MOONMEADOW FILM LAB claim ticket. One reel, 16 mm. On the can, in pencil: FILM NO. 2. Name on the ticket: Bob. Dropped off 11.01.57, 7:30 AM. Never collected. Please call us.

SHIFT-TEC NIGHT WATCH, 1952. Pay envelope, one night guard. Inside: three brass Tokens, a padlock on each. Good at the company store only. On the flap: Thank you for your time. We will take good care of it.

HOTEL PHANTASMA inventory, lobby. 1955: portrait of a lady, copy, gilt frame. Eyes: open. 1956, under new management: same portrait, same frame. Eyes: closed. To the museum, by order of THE BOARD.

SHIFT-TEC ASSURANCE, schedule of items, Gallery C. Item 1: portrait of a lady, copy. Covered: fire, flood, theft. Not covered: the eyes opening. Note to staff: if they open, do not file a claim. Leave.

SHIFT-TEC, minutes of THE BOARD, 3:00 AM, 1958. Present: six. Item 1: a gym for Moonmeadow High, approved. Item 2: Night Trial, repeat yearly, approved. Item 3: nobody touches the box on the staff room shelf. Seventh chair: empty.

Typed on the back of a framed photo: THE BOARD, 11.01.57, 3:00 AM. Six directors. Seventh chair reserved for the Night Supervisor. In pencil, below: Retaken in '87. Same six. Same faces. The seventh chair is taken now.

SHIFT-TEC annual report, '87. Thirty years, and THE BOARD is not a day older! Buildings that never close: four. Clocks repaired: none. Staff paid in Tokens: all. Next year: more buildings, more nights.