Undeliverable Read Online Free

Uncle Shem is one of those. Familiarize yourself with the contents of bay five.
    The empty cart clattered through his office, and Ben glanced up to nod at Sylvia before he got up to go explore bay five as instructed. This one was organized differently than the other bays and was much smaller. He started at one side and worked his way slowly over the three walls, noting shelves for journals and diaries, file drawers for photographs, shelves full of paintings, and a safe bolted to the floor. Centered on a shelf on the back wall was a black and gold marbled urn. The bronzed plaque on it read
Beloved Uncle Shem, 1934-1989.
He lifted the lid and gazed in at the pile of ash, closed it, and picked up the tag.
Posted from Storm Lake, Iowa. 89-12-26-78
. He couldn’t believe that no one wanted to claim the old man; no one cared enough to find out what happened to him. There was surprisingly little dust on the urn, especially compared to the rest of the objects on the shelves above and below.
    The door swung open. “You in here, Ben?”
    “Over here. Meeting Uncle Shem.” Ben stepped back from the shelf, scrubbing his hands on his pants to rid himself of phantom particles of his new uncle.
    Sylvia poked her head around the shelf, grinning. “Isn’t he wonderful? The one relative you never have to worry about entertaining. Or disappointing. He’s been here a long time.”
    “Twenty years by the tag. No one ever found his family?”
    “Don’t know. All I know is no one paid to have him shipped home. Could be they never found his family; could be they didn’t want him. Haven’t looked up his claim log though.” She patted the jar fondly. “He’s a good listener, you know? And I’m not the only one who thinks so, either. Jillian, the reader? She comes in and talks to him all the time. She only does it after hours, but I’ve seen her.” She drifted back to her cart. “Any other questions?”
    “A couple. How many live animals do you get here?” Ben followed her back around to the 2010 bay.
    “Oh, I’d say about one or two a month. My favorite was the bat. He was just the most precious thing ever! A little fruit bat that would hang off your finger or curl up in that little hollow by your collarbone.” She indicated the spot with an unconscious caress. “I wanted to keep him, but the animal control guy said that bats carry rabies, and I shouldn’t have taken him out of his tank. He just looked so scared I couldn’t help myself.”
    “Are bats common then?” He picked up a jar of preserved peaches and tucked it on the shelf next to several mason jars of vegetables. He prayed she would say no, since he really didn’t care for the creatures. They were firmly in the realm of freaky for him.
    “Oh no, mostly we get reptiles. They’re easy to ship ‘cause they get all lethargic. Once we had this six-foot ball python; she was just darling. We called her Cuddles because all she wanted to do was curl up around you. Well, I called her Cuddles. No one else would touch her.”
    “For good reason, I should say.” Ben leaned his elbows on the handlebar of the cart. “Sylvia, just how long do live animals stay with us?”
    “Oh, until Animal Control can pick them up. Not long. Maybe a day or two at the most. Though, that hedgehog was with us for almost a week. I just about took him home myself. When Spike wrinkled his nose, it was just the cutest.”
    Bats, snakes, and hedgehogs, oh my
, rang through Ben’s head. “And who takes care of the animals during that time?” He was really hoping she wouldn’t say him. He wasn’t any good with other living beings; just ask Jeannie, she’d be happy to elaborate on all his faults.
    “Well, I guess you do. Sometimes I would help Bunion with them. But it’s not often we get any,” she added quickly, seeing the frown on Ben’s face. “And Jordy can typically pick them up same day they come in.”
    Ben rubbed his hands across his face, trying to clear enough cobwebs from his