...and I'm left to wonder, what this has to do with anything, but I suppose that's the point, no?

It's kind of a free writing thing. Idea pops into mind, write it down. Later, can be used to expand into a full story later, or add a detail to another.

No no no. I'm convinced that this has to do with the upcoming novel Summerhill. There have been previous Time Fragments and they've all related to the story to varying degrees.

Well, hopefully, at any rate!

Well, you do have me well and truly intrigued.

Otters and ganzfeld bondage?

Interesting. In a very short blurb you've told us a great deal of information while leaving so much mystery.

You set a rough geographic location while leaving the specific locale wide open, a rough time period while only narrowing it down to the last 33 years or so, and a hint that something has gone wrong without giving away exactly what.

It's a bit Hemmingway-esque. I'm impressed.

Hahah, and here I was thinking, "I wonder if anyone will sort out what these clues all mean?"

Good job, man!

The brands all sounded significant but unfamiliar, so I looked them up.

Also, I wonder if it's significant that the backpack's owner was trying to quit smoking.

Not necessarily that the owner is trying to quit. Could just as likely be that it's a smoker who can't always light up.

Good point. A chain smoker would have to do something indoors besides smoke nowadays, which would suggest a setting more in the last 25 years (or someone who works around flammable chemicals if before about 1985), but the bag's owner's intentions aren't clear.

The use of the spelling "cheque" could also be a red herring since even though the contents suggest the owner was from somewhere in Australia or New Zealand, the report could be from the UK.

That's what's so ingeniously tantalizing about the piece though. It gives you just enough to narrow the possibilities down, but not enough to give you a decisive snapshot of the who, what, where, and why.