I sighed as I stepped onto the tiny elevator. My five companions nodded and scooted closer to each other to make equal distance between us. I joined the shuffle as four more of our peers entered the tiny metal bix.
“Hold the door!” A familiarly brash voice called out.
The elevator denizens exchanged looks but no one moved to block the door. Sadly, David showed off his cross country skills and slid his hand between the doors at the last second.
“Glad I made it, so I could face you all and let you see this lovely face,” he grinned.
Only Lauren smiled back, but he took no notice as he continued holding court, “Ever feel like practicing your stand up routine on these things?”
A chorus, which included me, mumbled, “Please don’t.”
“I prefer to wait until we are getting off the elevator and leave a little cloud for people to walk through,” Tony earned a high five for that contribution.
I rolled my eyes, catching more than a few sympathetic responses from the other women trapped in the elevator. As Johnny began humming “Love In An Elevator” while wiggling his eyebrows, the traveling box jolted to a stop. All the lights turned off on the panel. The overhead light dimmed yet continued to offer a soft glow.
Johnny abruptly stopped humming. His eyes widened as he choked out, “Why did we stop?”
“I’m sure we’ll start back up momentarily. In the meantime, does anyone know why a special meeting was called?”
A few people shrugged, but most remained distracted by the stillness of the elevator. Then the elevator lurched. A few sighs of relief escaped before the elevator fell a few inches. My stomach flipped around in distraction, but I managed to stay calm.
Others panicked. Kirsten and Viv latched onto each other and slunk into a weeping pile in the corner. More than one set of eyes bulged with restrained fear. David observed everything with a self-satisfied smirk, but this time he kept his commentary to himself.
Johnny lost all his normal bravado, however. At first, he emitted a low keening sound like a puppy unable to find its mother. Then he started chanting, “Get us out.”
The chant ramped up to a roar. That was when he put his legs up on the doors of the elevator and stretched his back to reach the back wall. He pushed with all his power, making grunts and groans that sounded more painful than helpful. This also made the rest of realize the minuscule dimensions of the box holding us in midair. I took a deep breath, trying to calm him down before I caught his fear.
“Security knows we’re in here. They’ll send help. Just calm down.”
“You calm down,” he pushed again making his shoes squeak against the metal doors, but having no other success.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I scanned the faces of the other passengers, but the few who weren’t having an existential crisis of their own wouldn’t meet my eyes. So I just stared into Johnny’s eyes, hoping my calm face would help. He stared back at me with frightened animal eyes. The standoff didn’t last long. The light flickered back on.
A tinny voice poured out the speaker overhead. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but the elevator should be working again in a minute. Please remain calm.”
A sigh of relief spread through the tiny space. Even Johnny gave up his amateur elevator technician attempts and let himself drop to the ground, where he curled up in the fetal position and cried. Whether he was letting out the last of his fear or crying tears of joy, I wasn’t sure. And I certainly didn’t ask.
~~~
Not much story here but so many characters. Some of them may even be familiar. I have known a few Johnny’s and David’s in my time, though not by that name ;)
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