@Susan17 @All of these Airbnb host 'disappearings' once again remind me of the famous short story, 'The Lottery', by Shirley Jackson (1948). I was warned about these host disappearings early on, which is why I wasted no time in developing alternate income streams in addition to monies generated by my 5 star, booked solid Airbnb rental:
Plot [The Lottery]
Details of contemporary small-town American life are embroidered upon a description of an annual ritual known as "the lottery". In a small village in New England of about 300 residents, the locals are in an excited yet nervous mood on June 27. Children gather stones as the adult townsfolk assemble for their annual event, which in the local tradition is practiced to ensure a good harvest (Old Man Warner quotes an old proverb: "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"), though there are some rumors that nearby communities in the north are talking about giving up the lottery, and some have done so.
The lottery preparations start the night before with Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves making the paper slips and the list of all the families. Once the slips are finished, they are put into a black box, which is stored overnight in a safe place at the coal company. The story briefly mentions how the ballot box has been stored over the years in various places in the town, including a grocery store shelf, a barn, and in the post office basement.
On the morning of the lottery, the townspeople gather close to 10 a.m. in order to have everything done in time for lunch. First, the heads of the extended families draw slips until every family has a slip. Bill Hutchinson gets the one slip with a black spot, meaning that his family has been chosen. The second round would ordinarily be to select one household within the family, but since there is only one Hutchinson household (Bill's adult sister and daughter are counted with their husbands' families), the second round is skipped.
The final round is for the individual family members within the winning household to draw, no matter their age. Bill's wife, Tessie, gets the marked slip. After the drawing is over and Tessie is picked, the slips are allowed to fly off into the wind. In keeping with tradition, each villager obtains a stone and begins to surround Tessie. The story ends as Tessie is stoned to death while she bemoans the unfairness of the situation.
