This story is by Laura Kelsay and was part of our 2020 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
Your Request for Assistance
Ow! What the hell? Did this thing stop? Crap, it did stop. Damn, my knees hurt now.
Okay, deep breath. Calm down. I can almost hear my heart beating.
Stupid dim light. How is this helpful? Can hardly see a damn thing.
Help button, where’s the Help button? There’s always one on the panel somewhere or a phone or something. There!
How many button pushes does it take? Come on, you stupid thing.
“Hello? Can someone hear me? Hello? Damn thing. Hello!”
“Your request for assistance—Hello!—been acknowledged—Hello!—be patient.”
A recording? Seriously? This is an office building. People are always here, I don’t care that it’s after eight at night. People are always here. And I can’t even get the guard station?
Okay, be positive. I didn’t break anything when I fell. That’s good. And “Request acknowledged.” That means someone’s coming. Just gotta be patient.
Pacing is not helpful.
Think, damn it. There’s got to be something I can do.
Phone! I can call 911. That’s bound to get someone here.
Where did I drop my purse? There it is.
Oh come on, there’s not that much stuff in here. Where is that stupid thing? It has to be—
Dump out the bag.
Where is it? I’m sure it’s…
In the docking station on my desk. Where I put it two hours ago.
Damn it!
Now what? Think.
“Request acknowledged.” Someone’s coming. Sit down and relax.
Okay. Breathe. Have a sip of water—Forgot that was in my bag. Not too much. You’ll just have to pee.
Why did I have to think about peeing? Think something else. Sahara Desert. Australian Outback.
Better. How long has it been? Why hasn’t anyone come? Is anyone coming?
No, don’t do that. Think positive. Think about something else.
Great, I got nothing. Of all the times not to get a song stuck in my head.
Make something up.
Ba de ba de bade ba. La la ba de ba.
Nope. No beat and I can’t dance to it, Mr. Clark.
Dance. I could dance. Pretend this safety lighting is ambient club light or something.
Safety light. Pfft. How is it safe to have this little light?
Why does it matter? There’s nothing here to see. No cracks in the sidewalk to trip over.
Okay, enough. You keep overfeeding that hamster and he’s gonna run the wheel right off its axle.
Breathe. Yoga. Do some yoga. Or meditate. Something with breathing. In. Hold. Out. In. Hold. Out.
The fan’s not running any more. I couldn’t run out of air, could I? That’s not really a thing, right? No! Hamster food.
Okay…Walk around. Burn off the energy. At least I’m getting some steps.
Steps. Why have I never taken the stairs here?
Because you work on the twenty-fifth floor, dumb ass.
Circle, circle, circle.
This is freaking ridiculous! Why is no one coming?
Button. Hit the button. Ow! Too hard.
“Your request for assistance has been acknowledged. Please be patient.”
Patient. I can be patient. Channel Dad. If he was any more laid back he’d be horizontal. Patient.
Why did the music have to stop? Even easy listening Muzak is better than all this quiet.
What was that creak? Was that a cable? Oh, God, what if the cable breaks? I only got down three floors before this thing stopped.
Wonder if I could climb up through the top of the car and pry open the doors to the floor above? It worked in Speed.
Pfft. Yeah. And I’ve got Keanu Reeves’ biceps to haul me up. Besides, I couldn’t reach that panel up there if I could jump like Jordan.
Okay, what do I have?
…
…
Nothing. I’ve got nothing. I didn’t even bring my Kindle to work today so there’s nothing to read. You are so great at planning ahead.
Like I was planning to get stuck in an elevator. Yep, that was penciled in right next to yoga class.
Great, now I’m arguing with myself. I swear I’m gonna lose my mind if I don’t get out of here soon.
Sit down and think. You’ve pressed the button twice. Someone’s bound to be on the way.
Of course there’s twelve elevators in this building and those are just the ones I know about. What if they’re checking all of them and this one is the last they get to?
That means they’ll still get here. I just have to be patient longer.
But I want out!
God, it’s stuffy in here.
I wonder why the elevator stopped. There’s all kinds of reasons, I’m sure. What if the power went out? Was it raining? Did lightning hit the building? Frak, it’ll take hours for them to get me out.
Hours. I can’t be in here for hours. It’s already been too long. This thing is so small. I must have gotten in the smallest of all the elevators.
And there’s that creaking noise again! I don’t want to fall. Please, God, don’t let me fall. Does that jumping thing they do in Bugs Bunny work? Jump just before you hit the ground? But how do I know when I’m about to hit?
You’ve got to stop this. You are going to be a blubbering mess by the time help comes.
What does that matter? The firemen or whoever comes aren’t likely looking for dates.
Button.
“Your request for assistance has been acknowledged. Please be patient.”
Okay. Someone’s coming.
Someone’s coming.
Someone’s coming.
…..
…..
Is someone here?
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