My last assignment as a corporate slave lasted two years. In that time, I moved about the country quite a lot, and when it came to an end, it was necessary to travel across the country to sign the leaving agreement. Naturally, my love of Airbnb made it the obvious choice, and we found ourselves a nice, sterile apartment, on the fifth floor, near a carpark. It was paradise.

After the usual faffing, we left the house two hours behind schedule, which was right on schedule, and Burted our way through the villages until we reached the highway. However, despite the incredible speed of van travel, we arrived at the apartment only a few minutes before my final night shift, meaning I was following almost a day of travel with a full eight hour stint that ended at 6am. We'd had no time for dinner, so had to make do with snacks. It was paradise, like I said.

When the time came to hit the sack, I was ready to fall into a long, satisfying coma, so you'll understand that what happened next was exactly what I needed.

I cleaned up, took Byron for his last business meeting, then climbed the ten flights of stairs that led back to the apartment and flopped into bed. But there was something different. Something... wrong.

The pillow seemed lumpy, but not in a uniform lumpy kind of way. More like there was something inside. As I fiddled, so I determined that there actually was. And as I Raccooned the object, its shape started to form in my mind.

No.

Surely not.

It can't be... can it?

I mean... you wouldn't rent the place without taking it with you. Surely.

I removed the pillow case, only to find another. And another, beyond that.
And inside the third, floating in a sea of chopped foam pieces, I found the first of two free surprises.

So that was novel.

Yes, we got a refund, and no, I do not wish to recommend this particular host, who didn't seem to see the problem.