Post by Salzmank on Apr 3, 2018 18:28:46 GMT
“So Stuffy in Here”
When Jane first began working at the Halmore Inn for a summer job, she was young, intelligent, educated and yet (though she would have denied it vehemently) terribly naïve. In a way, working in a hotel can disabuse you of the naïveté: after all, you see the way other human beings interact, in a closed environment, for a set period of time.
She had been thinking of her experiences and, even, education at the Halmore when she, having dealt with a complaint on the 9th Floor, pushed the “down” button on the elevator. The indicator slowly showed each floor number—and finally hers. There was no one in the lift. Jane entered and pressed the button for the lobby; the doors shut quickly, almost as if entrapping one (if, of course, one were claustrophobic!), and the elevator descended. Jane was alone, with her thoughts, staring at gorgeous, intricate woodwork. But, even when one is quite alone, it can be so stuffy in an elevator.
The descent stopped at the 4th Floor, and the doors opened once again. Nine persons, the men in tuxedos and the women in long dresses, stood there. The woman in the front, in a blue dress, wore a white mask that covered her face.
None said a word; none moved a muscle; they only stood, staring. The elevator doors began to close.
From the back of the crowd, one man said, “Why is the elevator so full of people?”
The doors slammed shut, and the elevator descended once more to arrive at the lobby. Jane rushed out and ran up to the 4th Floor, but there was no one and nothing there, except for a white mask.
The Halmore is a very old inn.
She had been thinking of her experiences and, even, education at the Halmore when she, having dealt with a complaint on the 9th Floor, pushed the “down” button on the elevator. The indicator slowly showed each floor number—and finally hers. There was no one in the lift. Jane entered and pressed the button for the lobby; the doors shut quickly, almost as if entrapping one (if, of course, one were claustrophobic!), and the elevator descended. Jane was alone, with her thoughts, staring at gorgeous, intricate woodwork. But, even when one is quite alone, it can be so stuffy in an elevator.
The descent stopped at the 4th Floor, and the doors opened once again. Nine persons, the men in tuxedos and the women in long dresses, stood there. The woman in the front, in a blue dress, wore a white mask that covered her face.
None said a word; none moved a muscle; they only stood, staring. The elevator doors began to close.
From the back of the crowd, one man said, “Why is the elevator so full of people?”
The doors slammed shut, and the elevator descended once more to arrive at the lobby. Jane rushed out and ran up to the 4th Floor, but there was no one and nothing there, except for a white mask.
The Halmore is a very old inn.