Going Up?

If there was one thing I hated most in the world, it was elevators. To be enclosed in a small space with complete strangers, not knowing how long it would take to get to your destination, was absolutely terrifying. So many things could go wrong in an elevator. You could get stuck in an elevator. You could plummet to your death in an elevator. Someone with an extremely bad B.O. could be in the elevator with you. The list goes on. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was so scared of those machines, but I just was. My family laughed at me, but my brother always understood. The two of us usually took the stairs to work. 

Still, I was running late, too late to take the stairs. As I started at the glowing button, I sighed. There were three other people standing next to me starting at the same button, so I assumed they would be following me into the elevator. Finally, the bell rang, and we stepped inside. The women’s high heels clicked on the metal, and one of the men huffed. The younger of the two men, my brother, looked at me and smiled. 

“Going up,” he asked, and I nodded.  “What floor is it again?”

“13,” I replied, shoving my shaking hands into my pocket. There were four people in the elevator, fewer than I thought there would be. I must really be late, I thought and looked at the ground. The last thing I wanted to do was make eye contact with strangers. Then, we’d just stare at each other awkwardly, and that was worse than being stuck in an elevator. Instead, I looked at their shoes, ignoring my brother Aaron’s snickers. 

My phone buzzes, and I was about to see what it was when the elevator lurched. No, no, no, I thought. Not today. The lights flickered. One of the women started to murmur a prayer. The lights went out completely, and her prayer was more earnest.

“Try pressing the button,” the older man suggested. Aaron was closer to the panel, so the job fell to him. Nothing happened. I was half tempted to follow the woman in prayer. Instead, I pulled out my phone and checked for service. The time was 7:16. 

“Got anything,” Aaron asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I winced, but luckily, it was dark. He couldn’t possibly see me. If he had, he’d be snickering and teasing me for being so jumpy. 

“Nothing,” I replied. 

“We’re going to die,” the woman moaned. Are we, I thought and cursed myself for thinking that. I was just going to work myself up, and that was the worst thing to do in that situation. 

“Nobody is going to die,” the older man assured all of us. “Though, it looks like we might be stuck in here for a while. We need to stay calm. There’s no use in worrying ourselves. Let’s get acquainted, okay? I’m Bob.”

“Clara,” I said quickly when his gaze fell on me. At least, I thought he was looking at me. It was dark, so I wasn’t sure. 

“My name’s Aaron,” my brother answered. This time, I could swear my brother was looking right at me. Figures, I thought. He’s probably how his kid sister is handling the situation. Answer: not well. 

“Oh, what’s the point of this? We’re all going to die anyway,” the woman wailed. 

“No one is going to die,” Bob declared roughly. “The authorities will be here soon.”

“No one even knows we’re here,” she sobbed. 

“They’re going to find us. Everything is going to be fine.”

“We’ll run out of air before that happens. Who knows how long this will last? Oh, God, just kill me now.” I tried to still my hands by clenching them into fists. I knew the woman was being unreasonable, but that didn’t stop the fear from creeping into my veins. I was stuck in a small elevator with three strangers in the middle of a power outage. Keep it together, I told myself. 

“Get a hold of yourself, woman. The outage won’t last forever. We will get out of here,” Bob insisted. I heard the woman slump to the floor as she quietly sobbed. 

“Are you okay,” Aaron whispered in my ear. I nodded, and though it was dark, I could just imagine the look he was giving me. “You’re lying.”

“That may be, but I’m trying to make it the truth,” I snapped. 

“Geez, I was just asking. I know you hate elevators.” I sighed. 

“Yeah, I do.” With that, both my brother and I slid to the floor. The elevator shuddered in response, and I shivered. Was it just me or was the air getting thinner? Maybe the lady was right. There were four of us in the elevator, so the air would run out faster. How long could we survive? How long would the outage last? 

“Help, someone help,” the woman screamed, banging on the metal doors. I could hear Bob sigh as if he’d just given up, and I just curled my knees up to my chest. Was anyone going to help us? Who even knew we were in here? How long would we have to wait? 

“We’re going to be okay,” Aaron assured me, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. Sure the situation could be a lot worse, but this wasn’t that great either. I couldn’t believe that I was actually stuck in an elevator with two strangers. It was surreal. I hated all of this. Gosh, my hands were still shaking. 

“You,” the woman cried and pointed at me. “This is your fault.” I shook my head and grabbed Aaron’s arm. 

“How is this her fault? You’re losing it, lady,” he questioned. She wailed and threw herself at me. I dodged to the right, and Aaron pushed the woman away. She fell to the floor, curling herself into a ball. 

“What is wrong with you,” my brother demanded. 

“This had to be her fault,” the woman insisted. 

“It’s not, I swear. I don’t want to be here anymore than you do,” I snapped. 

“I have the most important interview of my life today. Someone is going to pay for this.”

“Take it up with the city. Clara had nothing to do with this,” Aaron said and turned to me. Before he could speak, something flew from the woman’s hand, hitting my brother in the back. He whirled on her. I wasn’t sure if he was going to punch her or what. 

“Now, now, we shouldn’t fight amongst ourselves. There’s no use in that,” Bob declared, putting himself between my brother and the crazy woman. For a second, Aaron just stood there with his fists clenched. I thought for sure he’d clock both Bob and the woman. I tugged on his jacket, making sure he saw me before I shook my head. He stared at me. I was sure he was going to turn and punch Bob in the face, but he just sat down. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. The woman, however, hissed. In the end, she sat against the wall too. 

“Have you ever been stuck in an elevator before? You seem to know what you’re doing,” I asked Bob. He chuckled and nodded. 

“The cables got stuck, but we weren’t sitting in the dark. Me and five other people were stuck for almost an hour. Most interesting hour of my life,” he explained. How could an hour in there be interesting, I wondered. 

“This is the worst time of my life,” the woman muttered. 

“You know,” the man started, “they say that your greatest fear is how you died in your past life. You’re scared of elevators, Clara?” 

“Yes, sir,” I muttered and blushed in the darkness. I supposed it made a bit of sense. Still, I didn’t want to think about how I had died in my past life, though there were many possibilities. The elevator crashing to the basement, suffocating, starving. Stop it, I told myself. 

“I’m scared of bees. Does that mean I was stung to death,” Aaron questioned, breaking the silence. 

“That’s a really stupid way to die. What sort of person steps in a beehive, Aaron,” I blurted. My brother laughed. Even the woman scoffed. 

“I must agree, young man, that’s a bit weird,” Bob declared. I laughed. That was the first time I ever actually laughed in an elevator. 

“What about you, sir,” Aaron asked, and I could just barely see the smile on his face. 

“Me? I’m terrified of driving. Guess I crashed or something,” he answered, his laughter echoing in the chamber. That’s when the elevator started to move. The woman jumped to her feet and shouted. Soon, the doors opened, and we were met with a few firemen on the ground floor. The woman cried out and rushed out the doors. 

“Oh, air. I can breathe. I can breathe. Someone get me some water and food. I’m dying here,” she exclaimed. The firemen turned to us with a confused look on their faces.

“How long were you in there for,” one asked. I looked at my phone. 7:47. I couldn’t help it. I just started laughing. 

“30 minutes, sir,” I finally answered. The man smiled and nodded before turning to his companions. I guess he told them how long because they all started laughing. Aaron grabbed my arm and led me to the stairs. As we climbed, I had only one thought on my mind. 

I was never, ever getting on that elevator again.