Reflections

Laura winced as she walked down the long hallway, after an eight hour shift at the law firm in stilettos, she was more than happy to go home. A wide smile lit up her face as she remembered the look on Jeffery's face when she told him her last shift was that very day; he tried to convince her to stay with promises with a raise and a better office. 'I think leaving is the smartest thing I have ever done,' grinned Laura pressing the down button to summon the elevator, 'now I can finally live my dream as an photographer.'

Moments later, a cheery ding announced the arrival of the elevator, Laura stepped in, pushed the big capital M and watched the silver doors glide close. She swallowed nervously as the elevator jerked as it began its descent; the very thought of the metal box crashing to the basement with her inside, caused her insides to turn to mush.

Her eyes stayed glued to the bright red numbers counting down slowly. When the 6^th floor arrived, the elevator abruptly stopped its descent! The fluorescent light flickered rapidly, her stomach jumped into her throat until the lights finally stopped their flickering a few moments later.

Blowing a hefty breath from shaky lips, she muttered, “Breathe, just breath...all you have to do is use the emergency phone and you'll be rescued immediately.”

Her trembling hand nearly ripped the thin metal door off its hinges in her haste to snatch up the blazing red phone. On the other end, a gargled voice answered, “...y-your na-ame...please?”

“My name is Laura...I'm stuck on the 6^th floor,” blurted Laura sheer panic evident in her voice, “Please...”

Before Laura could finish, the connection went dead; she hung up the phone than promptly picked it up again. Still no connection. Laura repeated this action several times in the hope that just maybe the connection would be restored. 'No, no, no,' Laura's mind screamed, 'what am I going to do?' she backed up until her back collided with the cold glass mirror.

The dimmed light seemed to have distorted her reflection in each mirror, her wide eyes appeared almost cartoonish, her chin too pointed. Her breathing became raspy as though the air was trying to claw its way out of her lungs. Without warning, her legs gave beneath her and with a loud, undignified thud Laura landed on the floor.

Drawing her knees up to her chest, she closed her eyes as she allowed her head to rest on top of her knees. Laura swore she could feel her blood rushing through her veins in panic, her heart beat faster and faster until the sound made it impossible to hear any other sound. 'Maybe the phone is working again..' Laura thought an inkling of hope stirred to life within her chest. Not wanting to risk too much movement, she slowly crawled across the small space and with a trembling hand reached up and tightly gripped the shiny phone. Pressing the phone to her ear, Laura felt her heart sink into despair as the only sound that greeted her was silence.

A strangled gasp escaped her lips, the tears that sprang to her eyes quickly spilled over; the crystal droplets stained the wooden floor beneath her. Blinking rapidly, Laura forced herself to breath slower in an attempt to calm her panic stricken heart. Backing up, Laura leaned against the mirrored walls of the elevator; tiny hiccups made their way out, breaking the unbearable silence.

“Why did this have to happen to me?” cried Laura softly as she ran her fingers through her hair, “When I imagined starting over...I just thought...of all the things to happen to me today.”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she glanced down at her hands and let out a mirthless laugh at the streaks of black mascara on the back of her hands. She ignored the wet, gooey mess and simply stared at her reflection; a small part of her was surprised that she had broken down so quickly. Another part of her knew that this particular melt down, was a long time coming; especially after everything that had been happening in her life.

“I guess everything that can go wrong in life, really does come in three's,” sighed Laura studying her teary mascara streaked face, “first came Erik's sudden announcement that he had fallen in love my best friend, they had decided to get engaged secretly and then of course lets not forget my parents reaction to quitting my financially stable career...”

A flash of anger ripped through her as she quickly and repeatedly slammed her fist into the wall; she hoped that the action would be satisfying...she promptly regretted the action as pain now radiated from the side of her hand.

“I can't believe I just sat there and listened to them threaten to cut me off, to persuade me to just take a sabbatical instead...who does that? They're my parents, they are supposed to support my life choices! It's not like I'm running off with some stranger or going off to live the rest of my days as a loner in the mountains, for heaven's sake, I'm doing photography.”

“Well, if I ever get out of this elevator, I will finally be following my dreams...and the third disaster is, of course, being stuck in this freaking' elevator! If I had just taken the stairs, I would have been on my couch by now, going over my plans.”

Laura closed her eyes as she leaned her head back; slowly opening her eyes again, she focused on the fluorescent lights. The soft lights aimlessly flickered, a soft turned her lips upward as an idea drifted into her mind. Laura pulled her cell phone from her purse and opened the camera; she changed a few of the settings and pointed camera at her reflection.

The soft click seemed so thunderous in the tiny space; soon the sound of the camera's gentle clicking sound bounced off the mirrored walls again and again. Soon she was so lost in the moment of photographing, her fear of being in the enclosed space slowly ebbed away.

The lights suddenly began to flicker faster, a loud humming noise caused the elevator to vibrate with the promise of releasing it's temporary hostage. Laura, although knowing she was the only occupant, looked around her, her eyes found the bright red numbers were finally continuing their countdown. Frantically, Laura scrubbed the dried mascara from her cheeks with a ferocity that left her cheeks tinged red; checking her appearance one last time in the mirror, Laura found herself smiling. What had started as a fear induced moment that seemed to never end...ended up being the cause of an idea that would help reshape her life.

A cheeky ringing sound announced to her that the moment she had been waiting for had now arrived. The doors slid open and with a wide smile, she stepped out, feeling more confident than ever. Sid rushed to her side and frantically apologized for the delay.

“Laura, I'm so sorry,” gushed elderly desk receptionist, “the power went out and I was worried sick about you...I know you hate small spaces.”

“Sid, thank you for your concern,” smiled Laura kindly, “In the end everything, turned out exactly the way it needed to.”

Shocked, Sid simply nodded and wished her luck in her new adventure; Laura pushed the front door open and stepped out into the fresh, crisp autumn air with a smile. 'It can only go up from here.' Laura pondered softly laughing as she walked on the leaf strewn sidewalks.