The Lift

Ruth paused at the lift door, then headed for the stairs.

“I've had some bad experiences with lifts,” she smiled nervously.

“You got stuck in one?” Alice asked.

“Not exactly,” Ruth laughed nervously.

“What happened?” Alice asked looking up at the flight of stairs.

“It was a four story building,” she started.

“And they had a lift?”

“Hadn't thought of that, I think it was an access thing, whatever, I was in a rush that day. Had to get something from a room on the third floor and I had a friend waiting for me,” she said pausing, her mind going back to the day.

“Do I know her?” Alice asked.

“Him, David,” she said. “I doubt it. Anyway, the receptionist wouldn't let him go up, even with me, regulations or something. I got into the lift, said I'd only be a minute, waved good-bye to him as the doors closed and then watched the numbers going up. One, two, three, four,”

“I thought you were only going to the third floor?” Alice reminded her.

“I was,” she said. “Pressed number 3, but it didn't stop, just carried on. I pressed it again, it made no difference.”

“Maybe someone was calling the lift from further up the building?” Alice suggested.

“The numbers kept going up, four and five, then it started to slow and stopped at six.” Ruth replied. The memory of that number still fresh in her mind.

“How?” Alice asked.

“Search me,” she replied. “When the number said 6, the doors started opening, but they didn't stop when they came to the edge of the door, they just kept on opening, round the corners, down the sides and across the back. I looked up at the sky, filled with stars, it had been nearly lunch time when I got into the lift a couple of minutes earlier. I looked down, I was standing in thick heather, nearly up to my waist. Then I looked in front of me at a lot of people, angry people, with large knives, and they were all looking at me as if I'd done something really unforgivable.”

“Oh shit!” her friend muttered. “What did you do?”

“I ran and ran and kept on running,” she said.

“What happened to the lift?” she asked after a moment.

“David told me, he'd watched the numbers as the lift went up, one, two, three. Then it went to four and the atmosphere in the reception area seemed to change, as if everyone was holding their breath. All eyes went to the lift. Five, Six, then the indicator went blank and everyone rushed to the lift doors. Someone produced a crow bar and started levering the doors apart. Eventually, they opened.”

“What was there?” Alice asked.

“Nothing!”

“Nothing? What do you mean nothing?”

“Just the lift shaft. My friend looked down, there was no floor, just a hole. He dropped a bin down it, to see if he could judge how deep it was,”

“By timing how long till he heard it hit the bottom?” her friend asked.

“That was the idea,” she smiled. “After five minutes, they were beginning to wonder if they'd missed hearing it. David looked up and saw the sky. It started to rain. They put tape across the gap and lots of signs saying the lift was out of order.”

“Did they contact the lift company?”

“Yes, but there wasn't much they could do, because there wasn't a floor to the lift shaft and there were sulphurous fumes coming up it, couldn't allow their people to work there,” Ruth smiled, far too dangerous.

“They couldn't just leave it like that, could they?” Alice asked. “There could be accidents.”

“No, they sealed up all the openings onto the shaft and spent ages wondering if they ought to put a glass roof on it or something, to stop the rain getting in.”

“Did they?”

“No, it was a bit like the problem of which falls faster, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers,” she explained.

“I don't understand,” Alice replied looking somewhat perplexed.

“The way to find the answer is to try it, but they preferred to talk about it instead and you can do that for years, which is what they have done.”

“Seal the top and make the shaft weather tight,” her friend said. “Simple. How could they spend years debating it? How long has it been?”

“About thirty years, the problem is the sulphur fumes, with the shaft sealed, they would accumulate and that could be dangerous,” Ruth said.

“How can it be thirty years?” Alice asked.

“I don't know, then again, it was lunchtime when I got into the lift and dark when I got to the sixth floor,” Ruth muttered hoping Alice wouldn't ask any more difficult questions.

“Sulphur fumes!” Alice muttered.

“They were coming from the bottom of the lift shaft,” said Ruth.

“How far down did it go?”

“David said they haven't worked that out yet?” Ruth smiled. No one liked to think about where it had gone down to.

“And thirty years, I suppose it would accumulate.”

“If it couldn't get out anywhere,” Ruth smiled.

“So what did they do?” Alice asked.

“As yet they haven't done anything, they're still talking about it.”

“But the rain, wont it accumulate and do something?”

“It hasn't done yet, not as far as anyone knows, I think they waiting for it to come out somewhere, so that they can tackle it from there. Meanwhile, the warm air coming up has reduced the heating bills somewhat, so they aren't too unhappy,” she smiled.

“I can see why you use the stairs,” said her friend as they got to the tenth floor.

By Janice Nye © 2018