Dave rolled into the Ikea parking lot in his 2002 Toyota Corolla. Cars and more cars filled the lot. He made his way around several times until a spot in the back was finally relinquished. He pulled in, put the hand brake on, and took a deep breath. This time will be much better. Dave thought. All I need is a chair. All I have to do is get one chair. I can do one chair. Just one. In and out. He exited his steel carriage and embarked into the store. The escalator at the front of the store beckoned him. Dave grabbed a map from the pedestal, but he knew to not feel welcome. Alas, he stepped onto the escalator and took a few deep breaths. One chair. In and out.
Dave studied the map intently. Bedroom, there might be a chair there. But dining might have chairs too. I’ll just go to both. Striding through the store, he attempted to navigate the array of furniture. There were chairs here and there, but nothing sparked his interest. Why is this chair called Sven? Dave looked around to see where he was but realized he was lost. His breath quickened. His heart began to thump against his chest. A worker noticed the man with a confused daze. “Do you need help finding anything?” the worker asked congenially. Breathing faster.
“I need a chair. Just a chair. One chair. Just one,” blurted Dave.
“Well, we have Sven…” the worker was quickly interrupted.
“No no no! Not Sven. Just a chair for a desk. A simple chair. In and out.”
“Oh, well we have desk chairs in the bedroom section this way.” The worker briskly began walking off. Dave followed him out of fear of never being found again.
“So here is a simple desk chair it’s…” The chair was just that, simple. A simple desk chair. Nothing fancy. Just a chair. That’s it!
“I’ll take it!” exclaimed Dave.
“Oh. Okay, well you will need to go downstairs to find this. It is in Aisle 18 Bin 24.” Dave’s anxiety crept in more and more. He was so close to getting the chair. The chair. I just gotta go downstairs. Find the location. Can’t get lost. Cannot get lost. Dave miraculously made his way through the remaining upstairs section and stumbled downstairs. He found himself among towering racks of boxes, eventually finding Aisle 18. There it is. Aisle 18. Bin 20. Bin 21. Bin 22. Bin 23. Dave stared into it and the void that was Bin 24 stared back at him.
There were no chairs.