Press the button marked UP on the wall (986 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.81 on 26 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by orph (View user info) at 2008-05-28 07:35:14 EDT
Level None.
The concrete slaps the leather soles of my boots. It's a hollow, empty clapping, resounding off the tight walls of the alley as I walk, dodging the scum rimmed puddles and the untidy heaps of last nights excesses.
Rain is supposed to cleanse, remove the dirt and grime of the night, wash the streets shiny and clean.
Not here.
Noah could ride his ark through this alley on a torrent, and still leave behind refuse, filth and despair. This alley is the last. Always been here, and will be here at the end. Dirty, decrepit, a haven for those looking for the exit.
My destination arrives. The door is closed. I open it. The slapping resumes on the tired linoleum floor.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
Grinding and groaning respond, as if I've put in motion a medieval torture device to scourge the building of its sins. On off-key electronic beep announces arrival. I step in the newly opened doors, and settle against the back wall of the metal coffin.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
I'm slowly entombed. The light buzzes and flashes, painting dancing shadows as I rise. The dancers? Unknown.
Level 1.
A junkie trips and falls through the doors, a crumpled quasi-human pile forms on the floor. It's easier to assign and resign the junkie label to this pile, a former son, perhaps a previous father. Who cares? Not I. He's just a junkie. The label removes all humanity from him, negates anything he may be, was, or could be in the future. He's just a junkie.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
Is this what it feels like to be buried? Rising upwards to meet your maker; perhaps, but I hope the final ride is smoother, and the smell less pungent.
Level 2.
An empty hall is revealed - tapestry carpets weave into and mingle with the street mud and tailings, forming a new, sickly pattern that is more intrinsic to the surroundings than the original.
The girl, who is little, peers around the corner, assesses us occupants, decides we're within the acceptable range of dangerousness, and skips in. It happens so quickly. She's a veteran.
Her eyes are blank brown windows to an empty soul. No, not empty, but unaware. The building is her world. She knows nothing of the delights that could be hers outside. She doesn't care either.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
Is one accompanied on the final ride? Maybe, if you die in a train or plane disaster you all arrive together, perhaps even a queue forms at the gates?
Level 3.
Nothing. No-one. But the lights are out. Of course there's no one home.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
I'd like to be in the middle of the line, if there was one. Then you could see what happened to those ahead. Do they get in? Are they turned away?
Level 4.
The doors grind open in protest, as if they don't want to let anyone else in. I wish they had succeeded, as the junkie rolls over and out, leaving me alone, trapped in the gaze of the brown-eyed girl. I'm her full attention, as now there is no pile to distract us.
A hand stops the doors from closing, even though they were not even about to begin. The hand is attached to an arm, the arm to a body that negotiates space and enters the lift. The body looks at me, looks at the girl, then closes its eyes.
The girl now has something else to state at.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
What would I say when I got to the front? Is there a code you are supposed to know? Is it locked in a child-learned prayer, or even a nursery rhyme, that springs forth when required? I'd definitely take my hands out of my pockets.
Level 5.
The body recognises the new man, and mumbles a greeting. The girl and I remain mute. The new man smiles and hellos us both. We remain mute. The new man becomes silent, and softly nestles himself into the ever shrinking space. He wears socks and sandals. The toes of the socks are grey and grimy. I think he smells worse than junkie.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
I'd try and fake the password, and mumble something to the gatekeeper. He would laugh at me. The others in the queue would join in, but they never heard what I said. The gatekeeper would tell me that I don't need a password. He'd just check my soul, and let me know the result. I'd have no pockets, so no worries.
Level 6.
All change. Only I stay in.
They look back at me in horror, jubilation and concern. The body and the new man shake their heads, then they roll their eyes, then they turn and leave. The little girl touches my hand.
I smile at her. She doesn't smile back.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
Checking my soul seems to take a long time.
Level 7.
Darkness fills the lift. I cannot see, feel, hear, or smell. But I can sense.
I'm no longer alone.
I press the button marked UP on the wall.
The doors do not close. The queue stretches out behind me. The lights return and the gatekeeper is now here.
I don't make it in.
User Reviews
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2008-05-30 00:51:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-05-30 03:30:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You wake up in a dark room.
You go East.
You were eaten by a grue.
---
Haha
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-05-29 13:30:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You wake up in a dark room.
You go East.
You were eaten by a grue.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-05-29 11:29:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Failure below
Submitted by McBain (user info) at 2008-05-29 11:21:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
this shit is stupid. fuck your post, guy
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2008-05-29 09:05:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by 8track (user info) at 2008-05-29 06:56:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well did he come or what?
Submitted by HotWillie (user info) at 2008-05-28 23:27:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
fag below
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2008-05-28 22:20:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
effort
Submitted by CrazyHorse (user info) at 2008-05-28 21:42:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2008-05-28 15:55:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
his actions failed to follow his thoughts which doomed him to failure
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-05-28 15:19:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by JoeyG (user info) at 2008-05-28 14:46:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2008-05-28 13:10:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
win
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2008-05-28 13:05:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Lib (user info) at 2008-05-28 12:49:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by HotWillie (user info) at 2008-05-28 12:49:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by experima (user info) at 2008-05-28 12:10:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2008-05-28 12:08:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-05-28 10:31:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
creepy
Submitted by Cyrus (user info) at 2008-05-28 09:25:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Creeped me out - well done
Submitted by Squirrelly_Girl (user info) at 2008-05-28 09:17:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
:(
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2008-05-28 09:09:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by creep_firebombing (user info) at 2008-05-28 08:20:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
skillz
Submitted by LittleMonster (user info) at 2008-05-28 07:54:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by centaur (user info) at 2008-05-28 07:54:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Different.
Not sure what I made of it. But have a +2 in case it's the dogs bollocks and I'm just unaware.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-05-28 07:49:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Is not all life pathetic and futile? Is not his story a microcosm of the whole? We reach. We grasp. And what is left in our hands at the end? A shadow. Or worse than a shadow - misery.