wRHG Story 02: Why Bird-folk Don’t Use Elevators
Stick Page Record: wRHG Story
Why Bird-folk Don't Use Elevators
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Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 1:59 p.m. Lightshield Headquarters in Vague Central.
“What floor sir?” a man asked as Farukon entered the elevator.
“Thirty-seven please,” Farukon replied to the man with the dark gray suit and tie. He also had a brown leather briefcase and an expensive-looking watch in his left hand. His right hand reached for the square “37” button, one of the last buttons there too.
Ding! It turned orange, like the three other orange buttons.
Percius Farukon had come to this large building in the city to give a present to his good old chum Mathias, who just became a father to his newborn daughter. Percy had a congratulatory card with a bib and a Mozart CD, all in a nice white box wrapped in pink wrapping paper with a purple ribbon on top, ready to be given to his dear friend. Farukon observed that there were four men on the elevator, himself included. There was a man with a briefcase and crimson tie, a teenager in dark sweatpants and a red hoodie that covered some of his face, and an older, unshaven man in a white shirt, ripped jeans, a baseball cap, and a brown wristband. His clothes were old, ragged, and tattered. He even had a travel guitar slung on his back. The man had a brown rough-looking beard, which gave him the appearance of a wandering homeless man, a vagabond looking for money. Farukon was wondering why a man like him would visit a large building that supplied thousands of companies and homes with security equipment such as this one.
The elevator was quiet with the exception of the relaxing elevator music, the occasional ding of reaching a new floor, and the foot-tapping of the nomad. His eyes were focused on the numbers of the changing floor numbers at the too in red. He started humming to the song, since it was Farukon’s favorite song.
“So what business do you have here with that pink gift?” asked the man in the crimson red tie.
“Oh, well, I come to give my congratulations to a friend who just became a father. He’s worked here for roughly three years now, and he makes a good income off of his job here,” the Falconer replied.
“Oh, well congrats to him. I myself have come here for an interview. I have a major in electrical engineering and I graduated from Corn & Y University,” said the man. “I had a hard time finding a job, I even put my name in the pap—” he managed to say, but was cut off by the abrupt stop of the elevator.
Creak! The elevator came to a stop. The lights started flickering. They flickered, and flickered. Even the lights of the buttons started flickering. Then, eventually, it stopped. It all stopped.
The fellow passengers were met with an eerie darkness. “No. Oh no no no… Oh not now! Oh heavens no, I have an interview in just a few minutes!” he exclaimed.
“Dude, just shut up!” the vagabond exclaimed. “Oh hey, would anyone want to hear a song by any chance?” he asked.
“Aww singing with a guitar? That’s so lame! Of all the days I leave my earbuds and phone at home,” a new voice said, though it was probably the teen. Though in the dark, Farukon could see the man trying to get his guitar out of his case without a light to guide him.
“Oh damn it!” cried the businessman. He started banging on the door. “Of all the days! Words just cannot describe how screwed I am! Of all the days to be alive,” the businessman muttered to himself as the homeless man started playing his tune. The whole elevator was chaotic at this point, with the man to his right singing and the man to his left screaming curses upon the elevator.
Despite all of the racket and the situation at hand, Farukon was very calm and collected. He pressed the “
< >Open< >” button, but nothing happened. Same for the red “
Emergency Button” on the wall.
Ugh, I gotta get out of here, despite how amusing this all is. But I just don't want to ruin the elevator with my powers and subsequently have these people find out I'm not a normal human. I guess I just gotta wait. I even scheduled an appointment at a really fancy all-you-can-eat place. What a shame indeed.
“Oh, why?” said the man on the left, banging his fists against the door, and the knees touching the bottom of the elevator.
“Dude just shut the f—
BING—up! You are so annoying!” said the teenage boy. In the midst of his sentence however, something amazing happened in the eyes of the Falconer, the lights had turned back on. At an appropriate time too.
“Oh yeah! See? This is why I
hate elevators!” said the man with the briefcase.
“I kinda like elevators,” Farukon said as the music started playing again. He never did, but he wanted to see his reaction. Besides, it wasn’t a total lie, he kinda did like them in a sense. He liked how it drew people away from the stairwell.
“
Really? After what we've just been through? I beg to differ!” he exclaimed.
After a little while, the door opened again and the teen stepped out. Then, the top read, “Floor: 37” and Farukon could get off of his elevator of hell.
“This is
exactly why bird-folk don’t use elevators,” Farukon muttered under his breath. “We fly to wherever we want to go to avoid events like that.” With his gift in hand, Farukon quickly found Mathias’ cubicle and then knocked to get his attention. As soon as the two made eye contact, smiles grew on both of their faces.
“Surprise mate! Congratulations to you on becoming a full-fledged father! So, to celebrate, I’ve got you a present!”
