New house in London
With uni mates.

The three of us arrive and immediately see a battered cardboard box under the stairs. It contained a (later discovered to be fully working) electric typewriter, a prize instantly claimed by flatmate #1.

We proceeded to the back garden, to discover a slightly rusted but eminently repairable (and currently in-service, 3 years later) mountain bike, swiftly posessed by flatmate #2.

At this point I voiced the opinion "Right. If we find anything else, it's mine OK?" to agreement all round.

We search the house.

Nothing in the kitchen, lounge, bathroom, master bedroom, my bedroom, third bedroom...

How about that tiny box room over the stairs.

Opened the door to a looooong (5 minutes at least) silence from us all.
Mate #1: "Open it."
Mate #2: "You open it." etc...

Eventually I opened it, found it empty, put shelves in and still use it to this day.

What was it?

An Honest-to god satin-lined six-foot oak coffin.

Weird but true.

P. (apologies for length, formatting, laziness and the self-destructive nature endemic to the human condition)
( Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Fri 1 Jul 2005, 16:07, Reply)