Two weeks later, they listed the free sofa on a local marketplace for $50. A college kid picked it up within the hour, thrilled to have anything that wasn't a milk crate.

"Next time," Sarah said, sinking into the charcoal velvet, "we just buy one."

"We don’t even have room for two sofas," Sarah pointed out, eyeing their modest apartment.

"We saved fifteen hundred dollars," Liam reminded her, sitting on 'The Cloud.' "We own a haunted bus seat, Liam," Sarah sighed.

Liam and Sarah had lived with “The Lumpy Legend”—a hand-me-down sofa from Liam’s college days—for five years too long. When a flyer hit their mat screaming they saw it as a sign.

They spent Saturday at Sofas & Such , a warehouse that smelled of Scotchgard and desperation. They eventually picked out 'The Cloud'—a deep, charcoal sectional that felt like sitting on a marshmallow.

By Sunday, the free sofa was sitting in their guest room, looking like a hitchhiker who had moved in and refused to leave. Every time they walked past, it seemed to vibrate with its own ugliness.

As the kid hauled the 'Bus Seat' down the stairs, Liam turned to Sarah. "See? We didn't just get a free sofa. We got a free sofa and fifty bucks."