The Elevator
Monday
So now he was an elevator attendant.
Seven hours and nothing happened. Leon wondered why anyone needed an elevator attendant. No one had used the elevator for seven hours. There was nothing to do but stand and wait.
There wasn’t even music. Only a panel of buttons and a handrail, which Leon wished had been installed higher so he could hang himself from it. He thought he might last a week before coming unhinged.
Five minutes before he was scheduled to leave, the box sprang to life. It carried him twenty-two floors, with each button on the panel winking at him. The doors slid open to reveal a small man in a business suit who clearly had no interest in human contact. Leon presumed this was the sole reason he’d been hired.
The man took his position in the elevator and gave the order. “Down.”
Leon blinked. ‘Down’ had twenty-two possible interpretations and Leon gestured indecisively at the panel. “Down?”
“Down.” The man repeated as if it couldn’t be any simpler.
Without even trying to determine what the small man’s problem was, Leon pressed the double L and the elevator descended to nothing but the sound of grinding metal.
The doors opened and his passenger disappeared into the world. Leon rode out his last two minutes in isolation.
Tuesday
After seven hours in the elevator Leon had written a song melody, which he hoped to keep in his head until he could actually write it down. His peace was disrupted at five until by the summoner on the twenty-third floor. The buttons blinked at him but Leon was too inconvenienced to notice. The doors opened. The order followed.
“Down.”
Leon gestured innocently to the array of possibilities on the panel. “Down…?” he asked.
“Down!” came the demand, and Leon hit the button with none too gentle force.
The elevator descended and arrived at the floor Leon had indicated. The doors opened and the passenger stepped off. It was only at that moment they both realized that Leon had accidentally pressed the button for the third floor.
The doors shut silently separating them from a discussion. Leon pressed the double L feeling a tiny victory.
Wednesday
Seven hours vanished. It wasn’t until Leon felt the jolt from the elevator gears that
he even remembered where he was. He ignored all the buttons except for double L ready to pounce on it the moment his passenger appeared.
The doors opened. The small man stared at him refusing to step inside. The doors tried to shut but the small man blocked them. Not a word was spoken, but Leon could hear the small man’s voice in his head. “Down.” Over and over again. Leon began to hate the word.
Thursday
Leon seethed for seven hours, pacing and occasionally kicking at his containment. His agency insisted he finish out the week.
The elevator grumbled to life, pulling him upwards. Leon stared at the panel expecting some sort of inspiration to strike him. The lights blinked in rhythm, calmly as if beckoning him to find out what was on the other floors of this building.
His hand shot out at the button for the twenty-second floor. Leon inhaled deeply as the cool air from the hallway before him blew into his stuffy box. He thought, if he got out now and walked he could leave on time. The small man could push his own damn button and go to double L for all Leon cared.
Halfway out of the elevator, Leon considerately pressed all of the buttons and took the stairs.
Friday
Leon showed up seven hours late.
He hadn’t planned on coming in at all but the word ‘down’ had been gnawing at him. Leon stepped into his elevator and waited. He wasn't sure what he was going to when he got to the top, but he wanted to hear the small man say 'down' one more time.
The twenty-second light blinked out and Leon held his breath waiting for that bell of approval from the elevator. But instead there was a violent shake that threw Leon off his feet. He caught the handrail as darkness filled the box.
For a moment there was nothing. Then the doors opened quietly revealing that he was stuck between floors, with the small man standing over him, smiling kindly.
The man spoke, but Leon never heard him as the cable snapped.
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