Patron Saint of the Lost

My (extremely expensive prescription) sunglasses have been missing for days. So long that I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn them, only the moment I looked in my glasses case and discovered their absence. This was Friday night, and after a thorough home search I convinced myself they were on my desk at school.

Only they weren't. Nor, once I emailed the staff, had they been seen by anyone at school(although I received about twenty emails reminding me that the principal had found a pair after a meeting. They were not mine, nor anywhere in their league/ price range).
I started to panic. I searched the house again. I searched my car. I rang family I'd visited asking if they'd seen them. And then I despaired.

I remembered how I'd lost my next most expensive item, my i-pod, on the flight back from Sydney. I wondered if, now that I had a full time job, but a tight budget, the universe was taunting me, testing whether I'd break my budget to replace them.

At last came the sad moment that I decided to remove the empty, useless sunglass case from my handbag. In a desperately hopeful gesture, I left the case open, in case my glasses found their way home...

They did. In less than a minute, I spotted them on a shelf, hidden under a toy horse (don't ask). A colleague suggested leaving the glasses-case open was a silent prayer to St Anthony, the patron saint of the lost. I don't know about that; I'm just wondering if I should leave my i-pod box open somewhere and wait for its return...