“Well,
I can’t believe you’d just recycle it without at least letting me know it had
come!”
“Come
on, Sal, it was just a stupid letter from the bank. One of those ‘We can make
you glowingly rich if you give us all your money’ offers.”
“Addressed
to me!”
“Or
‘Occupant’.”
“Well,
it was my first one and I would like to have been able to at least read it.”
Mort
spoke up for the first time. “Isn’t it still there?”
We
both looked at him.
“Isn’t
it still there? I mean trash day isn’t until tomorrow. So doesn’t that mean the
letter will still be in the bin at home?”
“Huh.”
Sally suddenly grinned. “Yeah! Clever boy, Mort!” She and Mort shared a high
five.
“Come
on, you two.” Mom waved a hand. “The elevator’s here.”
“I
love these old elevators,” Sally said as she and Mort followed Mom and me
inside. “The ones with the old accordion gates. It’s like stepping back into
time!”
“Yeah.”
Mort’s freckled face was dimpled with smiles. “Cool!”
He
and Sally carefully pulled the door shut.
I
shook my head. “Well they make me nervous.” It’s true. They do.
Mom
looked at me. “Don’t worry, Dear. They inspect these things all the time. I’m
sure it’s perfectly safe!” She pushed the button for ‘six’.
I
snorted. Of course, we were going to the sixth floor. Why couldn’t the eye
doctor take up residence closer to the ground? Like sensible people?
The
elevator groaned and started to rise. Slowly. I rolled my eyes and leaned
against the brass rail that ran around the inside wall.
Mort
and Sally were watching the floor indicator above the door as it passed the
two. The three. The four.
And
that’s where it stopped.
Along
with elevator. With a galvanic jerk that nearly sent us all to our knees.
I
gripped the rail. Perfect.
“There’s
no box,” Mom said.
“What?”
I looked at her. She was indicating the wall beside the controls. “No box.”
“No
phone?”
She
shook her head.
“Better
and better.” I pulled out my phone. “Well I, for one, am not about to…” I held
the phone up. Then lifted it above my head. Then walked around the prison…erm…elevator.
Then shoved the useless thing back into my pocket.
“No
reception?” Mom asked.
“Of
course not,” I told her. “We’ve actually stepped back in time.”
“Oooh!”
Sally clapped her hands excitedly. “An adventure!”
“Cool!”
Mort added.
“Are
you kidding me?” Okay, I wasn’t in the best of moods to start with. Because…letter. And maybe a bit of animosity. And now this?
Sally
bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
I
put out a hand. “Please stop that.”
She
did, but her wide grin went on. And on.
“Well, we’ll just have to wait until we’re
discovered,” Mom said.
I
stared at her. “In this centuries-old box? Hanging from a geriatric string
hundreds of feet in the air?”
“Honey,
I’m sure it’s been inspected…”
“Then
why didn’t they install a call-box?”
Mom
was silenced.
We
slid to the floor, well, Mom and I did. Sally and Mort were making fun new
discoveries.
“Look,
Mort. Behind this little door is some of the old wiring!’
“Cooool.”
“And
this little light. I don’t ever think I’ve seen a bulb like that.”
“Nice.”
“Wow.
Think how old this elevator must be! Probably the oldest one in the whole city!”
Or
the oldest one…ever. I tried not to listen.
“I
think they just painted over the old wallpaper. Look. It’s flocked. I’ll bet it’s
as old as the elevator itself!” The two of them went on.
I
put my earbuds in and turned on some music.
Eight
songs later, Sally, who had finally been convinced to sit down by the
entreaties of a tearful Mom, got to her feet. “Well, I’m not going to sit around
here and wait. Come on, Mort.”
I
pulled my earbuds out. “What?”
“We’ll
be right back.” Sally climbed on Mort’s shoulders.
“Can
you reach it?” he asked.
“Yep!”
I
stood up as well. “What are you…?”
Sally
was pushing up on a little hatch in the ceiling.
“It’s
a door,” she said. “Probably for the people who inspect this elevator.”
“Sally,
it’s never been inspected in its entire existence.”
Sally
grabbed the upper edge. Then she pulled herself up. “Hey! Lookit this!” A
moment later, a rope ladder tumbled down from the hatch. “Come on Mort!”
Mort
tested it with a foot. Then with his weight. “Looks good.” He started to climb.
Mom
stood and put out a hand. “Mort, honey, I’m not sure if this is wise.”
I
rolled my eyes. Sally and/or Mort and ‘wise’ in the same sentence?
“It’ll
be fine, Mom. We’ll be right back!” He disappeared.
Mom
and I stared up at the little hatch, listening to the sounds of the two of them finding their way out.
“Yay!”
we heard them say, faintly. Obviously, they had been successful.
Mom
and I sat down once more. And waited.
I
kept expecting to hear the sounds of men and equipment. Maybe a siren or two.
Nothing.
Then…
“We’re
back!”
Mom
and I looked up to see Mort’s smiling face in the hatch opening. “Here. Take
these!”
He
handed down a little tray with four ice cream cones in it.
Mom
and I got up and reached for them. “Erm…”
“We’re
coming down!”
First
Mort, then Sally descended the ladder and were once again standing with us in
our little box.
Mom and I stared at them.
“Sally,”
Mom began. “Did you…?”
“Better
start eating them,” Sally said. “You don’t want them to melt.”
Instinctively,
I reached for one of the cones and started licking. It did taste good.
Mom
did the same.
Sally
and Mort happily sat down, enjoying the treat.
Just
then, we heard the sounds of knocking. Someone…outside. “Anyone in there?!”
“Yes!”
Mom and I jumped to our feet. “Yes! We’re in here!”
“Stand away from the doors. We’ll get you out!”
The
doors opened a crack and we could see the tip of a large pry bar. Then, as the
doors were forced further apart, we could see faces. And emergency gear.
Hallelujah.
Finally,
the doors were forced fully back. A man in a fireman’s hat was looking up at
us.
“You
folks been in here long?”
“Oh,
an hour or so,” Mom said.
He
looked at the ice cream cones melting in our hands. “An hour?”
“It
was so cool!” Sally said, jumping to her feet. “This is the most awesome place! Have you seen the old wiring and lightbulbs?”
“Uh…yeah,
we have.”
The
four of us were helped down to the floor by some very confused-looking emergency workers.
We thanked them and headed for the nearest stairway.
Finally, standing, once more, in the foyer on the good old ‘safe’ ground level, I couldn’t wait any longer. “Sally, when you left, didn’t you go to get help?”
She looked at me. “Are you kidding? And miss all the fun?”
My words this month were: animosity ~ elevator ~ letter ~ recycle. And given to me by my sweet friend, Rena at : https://wanderingwebdesigner.com/blog
Come and see what my other friends have created!
Hahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteI am surprised though.It took Sally EIGHT songs until she decided to break free?
The ice cream sounds like one of these fantastic riddles where you're given a bizzare situation, and you have to find out what happened...
Ok. This? This is one of my big fears! And I doubt I'd get ice cream!
ReplyDeleteOMG. Only Sally and Mort would turn getting stuck in an elevator (one of my worst fears) into something fun. God bless them!
ReplyDeleteI am endlessly grateful NOT to have a Sally in my life. Which makes me a hypocrite. I do like to hear of their escapades. From a safe distance.
ReplyDeleteI am adding another thing to my list of things never to do with Sally, if I have the chance. Even if she brings ice cream at the end. P.S. I remember those old type elevators. And I used to work with someone who started his work career as an elevator operator. Am I showing my age? Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteAs I read this, I was picturing an elevator in an old hotel where I once stayed. I hoped every time I used it that I would not get stuck... but now I wonder if maybe that could have been some fun! Love this.
ReplyDeleteWe have one of those elevators in a building on campus, and i used to have to use it. It works just fine, but there is always that bit of a qualm when getting in it.
ReplyDeleteLove the story, Sally is great but if she were my sister i think i'd have to do something drastic to get her back for this.
I think I would have introduced her to my ice cream cone! I'm claustrophobic so this would be one of my worst nightmares! Great job!
ReplyDelete