"The Elevator to Realms" Act 1 The Farewell :
"I was merely breathing with the meagre amount of breathable air which was quickly running out of the tiny elevator shaft. Since we both had managed to pry out the covering of the air-intake fan, it relieved us but not for long. I had been trying to call the emergency services and the authorities about the condition but no luck so far. Also, to prop up the situation, I had only 9% of battery left in my cellphone and almost NO cell reception... Tired, I sighed and said to me. Let's see what fate has for me..."
Something felt off about the day after I had completed my wholesome 5 hours of sleep. (No. Seriously). Yeah. I code, study for a bit and then sleep only after 1'o clock at night. Today was our Farewell. Hence, the last day of our school. To be honest, I never really liked attending school as I was more of like an introvert. I read and write stuff, I like reading novels. Typical Technical-Minded-Introverted-Babble.
Still groggy, I unlocked my cellphone and opened our class group. It read :
"FAREWELL TODAYYY!!!" well, today was our farewell. And I was going to be the host for the day. Amazing, isn't it?
I Took a deep breath. I was in no mood for attending the farewell today.
"Beta get ready for your School!! You have your Farewell right?"
"YES MOM!!" I replied.
After freshening myself up for the day, I went down all dressed in a decent Tuxedo. Mom had prepared me Parathas. Very soon, it was time to leave for school. Once I was there, we had our class on the topmost floor of the school building which was 6th. We all had a great great last day in our School. Everyone seemed so happy and sad when it came to wave a final goodbye to the School.
It had been a while since I came to attend the Farewell and after hosting the programme, I was casually roaming around and socializing.
"Vabby?!" exclaimed Pooja from a distance. I turned around and saw her..
"Hey! How are you?", I said.
"I'm fine. Its been super long since I last saw you Vaibhav. Are you okay? How is life?!" she asked.
Pooja was my best-ever friend. Or you can say, she was my soulmate. She was wearing a magnificent light teal colored salwar suit. I shared each and everything with her. Every small detail I felt, or had felt in my life. Not to mention, we both had the same Zodiac Sign, born in the same Month. Hence, we shared a mutual and a really strange connection between us. I still don't know why, we have A LOT in common. When I say a lot, I really mean it. I still get amazed by the commonness of our interests and views whenever we talk. If, you'd ask me to be blunt just for a moment, I would rather admit that I would be dead terrified to lose a person like her. She is understanding, she is supportive, Damn! She's the best!!
I had to reply? Oh shit.
"OH! Oh.. I uh.. I am fine too!", Well that's all I was able to utter out at that moment because of my stupid mind playing slick games with me myself. Damn it. When will I stop my habit of talking to myself? Well, her eyebrows were already raised and I can easily hazard a guess that she had already understood that I was thinking something. Thank you similarities! We then shook our hands.
"You look beautiful, Pooja." I said.
"Thank You!" She exclaimed.
"Would you mind getting some coffee with me?", I asked, to which she said Okay.
It was almost Evening by that time when we both went to the rooftop for a coffee-break. We chattered about life and events that were happening today. All those emotional bonds we had with our school had finally come to an end today. The memories we had created right here will stay in our hearts and souls forever. Something felt odd about today. We both had created a lot of memories together right here. She was more than just my classmate. We even talked about how we used to learn Computer Science class together just by going to another Section of our class. It was not rusprising for me to hear her talk too much. But its okay. That's what I love to do. Just listen and understand.
"Come. Follow me..", I said, smiling. As I left my seat and parted away towards the railing of the rooftop. The approaching twilight seemed astonishingly wonderful for both of us. We both were awestruck by the view while the rays of the sun started caressing every nook and corner of both of our faces in such a contentment, that we couldn't resist but to surrender to what was happening at that particular moment.
"You like it, don't you.." I asked, smiling.
"You idiot. No! I just don't "like" it, I love it, Vaibhav!" She said. Giggling.
We both enjoyed the sunset till dusk while having Tea. I flipped my left wrist and read the watch, it read : 6:20 PM. It was time to go. By that time, almost everyone went to their homes. It was just us. We decided to leave for our homes. We got up, went towards the elevator as the rooftop was on the topmost floor. Went inside the elevator and pressed 'G' meaning, Ground Floor of the building, where the exit was. Everything was normal until the electricity went off. We were stuck between second and third floors. Pooja started panicking.
"Hey hey hey..! Calm.. Calm down Pooja, its nothing to worry about. The backup generators will soon show up, and we'll be good to go in no time. Chill. Its nothing to worry about." I comforted her by holding her hand. She whimpered and hugged me tightly and said, "Its always this thing about elevators that had me for lifetime. I cannot tolerate being trapped in closed spaces". To which, I already knew about this fear of Pooja. I hugged back and started comforting her again.
We waited inside the elevator for around 10 minutes for the electricity to come back online, but unfortunately it didn't.
"Pooja? The phone!"
We both pulled out our cellphones, and then started dialing everyone who would probably help us. Security, Friends, Family anyone. Pressing every possible button in the panel in hope of escaping that dreadful dungeon. To be honest, almost every thing was done by adrenaline. I pulled myself together so hard not to expose my fear to Pooja. That would make conditions worse.
No luck.
No cell reception.
"Its okay let's wait for sometime. Someone will definitely help us." I said, in a soft tone. Another 10 minutes passed. We started sweating. Pooja was sitting down while I was trying my best to open that little air intake shaft on the ceiling of the elevator. After several tries, we managed to break the air intake so that we could atleast breathe. I immediately got down and lifted Pooja up so that she could breathe through the intake.
"Pooja? I'll lift you up, you don't have to do anything alright? You just have to breathe." I instructed Pooja as she was almost unconscious, and then lifted her up. She started coming back to her senses and consciousness. I sighed with relief and thought to myself. She really needs some attention as she has a great fear of closed spaces. If anything happens to her, I cannot forgive myself. I was the one who invited her for a coffee. Goddamnit! I shouldn't have in the first place!
"Vaibhav..? You can.. you can put me down.. now.. I feel a lot better", she said.
"No I can hold longer. Don't worry. Just breathe." I said.
Filled with guilt, I couldn't think of anything else. I really hated myself at that moment. While I was thinking about all this, the electricity came back in. A strange whirring and crackling noise prevailed. We let out a sigh of relief. The fan started spinning back again and then we started descending. I put her down, then we exchanged a big smile.
But.. wait.
The panel started showing strange floor numbers..
-1
-2
-3
...
-24
Then empty.
We both were clueless and started exchanging confused looks to each other. Finally, the elevator door opens..
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