Welcome to As The Platform Fills, a weekly series reporting on the latest sightings, observances, and events taking place right here — outside our office — in downtown Minneapolis overlooking the Nicollet Mall Light Rail Platform. The lives we observe are complex. The dramas we record are real. Things get weird. Stay tuned each week for more real platform action.

#79: Orange Liquid, 50th Street / Minnehaha Falls Station, 8:13 AM

Mysterious. As I approached the ticket kiosk one cloudy morning — my GoTo card out and ready to swipe, wind whipping my freshly blow-dried hair into a nasty tangle — a white shape to my lower left caught my eye. I looked down. It was a white, Styrofoam cup — not your usual 12 oz size, but a bit larger, perhaps 16 oz. It sat there, perfectly centered at the base of a steel support beam, containing a small amount of an unknown orange liquid.

My brow furrowed, I was puzzled. I casually leaned in a bit more and looked down again, there was something more. Writing on the cup: “10 - 9 pm” it read. Perplexing. But not wanting to act too surprised or arouse any suspicion, I proceeded to swipe my card and the machine beeped it’s acceptance of my card. I looked to my left, then to my right. Nobody else noticed this cup, or noticed me noticing the cup. “How could nobody else wonder about this? This is weird!”, I thought. I looked up at the digital clock on the platform as I reached into my backpack… there was time. I could do this. I took out my camera and silently and (with as little movement as possible) took a picture of the cup described here. I got on the train moments later trying to maintain my composed facade but knowing full well something weird just happened. Since gathering this evidence, not a single sensible conclusion has arisen as to its reason for being. What does it mean? Who put it there?