Arthur Turner and the Elevator Of Time

Arthur Turner and The Elevator of Time

C h a p t e r T w o ~ Arthur Turner and The Elevator Of Time

Arthur Turner was a charming young man. His hair was dark brown, and

combed to the side to hide its tremendous thickness. His nose was long and

rounded, his eyes were green and his eyebrows too, were rounded. He was

often thought of as a serious person, judging by his square, black rimmed

glasses, and the quietness he often showed at work or in public. Others

thought of him as a young man who was too stupid to get through a sentence

without stuttering and searching for words. Or perhaps he was merely a

young man who had no care for anyone but himself, and anyone else he

cared for so little for that he never spoke a word to them. But Arthur was

much different than most people would think. He was very quiet, but he had

no trouble speaking, unless of course he was hiding something, which was

often enough to make him be thought of as "not an honest man".

He lived in New York, with a job at a bank, a father named John Tuner, and a

simple life. Nothing unusual had ever happened to him. He never had any

sisters or brothers, never had been sick beyond a cold, and had never lived

any different. His days were all the same to him, which made each one go by

quickly. He would wake at 7:30 every morning. He would then shower, make

himself some coffee and sit outside to enjoy it. One of his most favorite

things to do while he looked at nature, was to write poetry.

Arthur never failed to write most often once a day. He had a wonderful way

of saying things and expressing his deepest feelings.

Arthur never ceased to do this. He would write for nearly an hour, until 8:00

hit and it was time for work. Arthur had a small, gray car that he had had

ever since he was 19. He never wrecked it or even dented it. As you can see,

Arthur was a very mature person. But he loved life. He always knew how to

have a good day, not matter how short. Even though he most always felt that

life for him was fading away meaninglessly.

The bank he worked at was not far from where he lived, and it was

enormous. It was one of the largest banks in the nation.

Arthur had no friends there. No one spoke much to him. Except an

occasional “Stop living in your own world, get back to work!”. From

workers above him, or a “Hi there how are you!” Which meant nothing other

than “Excuse me, I need to use the elevator.” However he was only lonely

when he let himself be.

Arthur had a good life. He was happy.

Our story begins one afternoon when he was working as normal, dealing

with some frustrating customers that had just dropped by. This customer, was

a very short, middle aged man with brown hair. His skin was barely

wrinkled, his eyes were blue, and there was an annoying hint to his face that

Arthur recognized and knew he would be talkative.

“Now, how much did you say?” He said, sounding quite clueless.

“You said 69 dollars, to-”

“What?”

“Um, 69 dollars“I

don't understand, you said 68 last time. But how did it get bigger?”

“Well, do you want to withdraw 68 dollars or 69?”

“Well you're the bank so aren't you deciding?”

“Well, no sir because it's your money.”

“But I thought you said 69 dollars?”

“Yes, do you want to withdraw that?"

He paused a moment.

“Yes. 69 dollars. Do we give that to you? I only have five.”

“No sir, actually you are withdrawing that so you get 69 dollars.”

“Oh! Now I hear you. Aha! I thought I was paying you!”

“No,” Arthur smiled.

“Okay, well, why don't we take 75 instead? Can you do that?”

“Sure, wait one moment.”

Arthur went to another desk and took from there a paper and handed it to the

man.

“Would you sign here?”

“I can.” The man took quite a while to sign it. Arthur had always wanted to

travel and explore places, but his circumstances didn't allow it. Working

there was annoyingly slow, and often, like at that moment, he would be so

bored he almost ran out of the building.

“Thank you sir. Here is your money.”

“Thank you young man.”

“My pleasure, have a good day.”

“Yes.” Was all he said.

Arthur breathed deeply. He had been working for four hours. He had barely

done anything but hand papers over, and yet he was exhausted. He had

always wondered if his life would ever change. He couldn't think of how it

might, but deep inside he hoped it would.

The customer who was just with him, he now noticed, didn't walk out the

door, or even to the director's office. He seemed to be snooping around the

elevator shaft.

This was an unusual thing for Arthur. In all his years of working there, the

worst thing that had happened was a robbery that he had been present

through. However, not long after, they found it was only a mistake, (that

Arthur had made) and the assumed robber was immediately set free of the

charges and let free.

Other than that, Arthur was not accustomed to unusual people doing unusual

things.

In fact, what the man was doing wasn't the strangest thing, and Arthur might

have let it be, had he not felt the strong feeling telling him that if he let it go

he would regret it.

And perhaps, Arthur would have let it go, and never thought of it again, not

knowing the troubles that would be caused, and the deaths not prevented.

But what kept him from forgetting about it for all time, was Arthur's surprise

at the man when he knelt down to the floor and began pouring some sort of

liquid onto the ground.

Arthur got up from his seat and walked up to him. The main reason he did

this, was his general fear of the expensive wooden floor that had just been

put in, being ruined, and how he would be pestered by his boss yelling all

sorts of angry words at him later if he found out.

"Excuse me sir." He said, even more worried now, when he saw the man

continue to pour and looked as if he wouldn't stop.

"Yes?" The man said, without stopping.

Arthur's already exasperated face became even more so. He quickly turned to

face the man, and knelt down to stop him kindly.

Finally there was only an immense puddle there.

"I'm..sorry sir, your aren't supposed to put liquid ... anything onto the

floor...it's not good." Arthur said, confused at what reason the man would

have to do it, and why on earth he would, without the common knowledge it

wasn't polite.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know." He said, in a way that informed Arthur that he

clearly did know.

It was just that second at the worst possible timing, that he heard his boss's

footsteps just behind him.

Arthur quickly to pulled out a handkerchief he normally carried with him,

and bent down again to clean the mess up.

However, before he was able to, the man prevented him by slapping him not

so gently in the face.

Arthur’s first reaction to this random gesture, was annoyance. This customer

just wouldn't stop.

He momentarily didn't know what to do, but that did not matter because in

just a few moments he had somehow forgotten.

And as for the mess, Arthur was no longer aware it existed. This, of course,

was the man's intention.

Arthur felt like he had just woken from a dream, and couldn't remember

what he had dreamt.

You can imagine his confusion when he first saw a stranger standing in front

of him with an anxious face. (His face was anxious, only wishing that what

he had done to make Arthur forget, had worked.)

Arthur's mind though, quickly adjusted and finally remembered everything

again, everything but the mess on the new floor.

"Excuse me, sorry." Arthur said, walking away from the man as if nothing

had passed between them.

The man could not avoid a smile as he saw, it had worked.

Arthur returned to the front desk, and continued working.

It didn't take long, for him nearly to have forgotten completely about the

strange customer. But this only made him even more surprised, when the

same man came in again almost an hour later.

This time, Arthur was getting suspicious.

The man walked in, muttering to himself. He looked annoyed, as if he had

forgotten to do something.

Arthur watched him closely.

He walked slowly towards the stairs, looking in every direction. Mumbling

strange words. As if they were calculating the exact measurements of the

stairs.

“.......mAh……..Up! Yes, and the……...when I get there there will be

NO………...AS IF U couldn't handle it. The bank in which the……...is

highly suspicious and the money of…………….it will be ours and there is

work to do!” The customer then noticed that they had been talking quite

loudly to themselves and could have been heard.

They looked all around them to see if they were being watched. Arthur,

pretended he was doing work at the moment and passed them without a look,

but he then circled back to see what they would do next.

When they were satisfied, they continued mumbling and finally walked up

the stairs, with Arthur following. Halfway up they paused. “Did I forget

the…….mie…….jed…..machine? They will be….vr…...an...wh…they

know! I am always… the o…...us….to always ASK!” They continued

walking.

“Of course, of course,.....I knew...the a way…..would just HAPPEN. But

no, ..I need...I ….do…..it! I ….ll…..b...f..after all! Ha!”

The customer, once up the stairs, didn't seem to know which direction to

turn. They leaned left, they leaned right.

“Ah!” They decided left. The direction of the money. Arthur was getting

scared. He could just be right. He would soon have to contact the police

about this strange man, if they went any further.

They continued for a while, stopping now and again, looking behind and

both ways to each side, never spotting Arthur. Then once more they paused.

“Is it here?” This was the first thing they had said aloud. They had found

what they were looking for. Arthur watched as they opened a door to the far

left, hidden in a corner, with these words written on it:

What Lies Inside

Is What You Seek

Protect And Hide

This Money Is For You To Keep

Arthur gasped. It was the money! Arthur raced after the man and tried to

catch him, but he was too late. As the door opened, a golden glow shone

through and reflected on his face as he walked in and shut the door.

Arthur didn't know what to do.

Calling 911 was the most logical thing to do, but

he was worried that by the time he could do anything, the man would already

be gone. So instead, he called to William.

"William! Come here, someone just got into the Money Keeping!"

William came rushing out the next minute with a panicked face.

"What?"

"Look, someone here just got in. I don't know how."

William normally would not have believed Arthur, but there was nothing in

the Bank he cared more about than the Money.

William said nothing, but walked to the door and entered the combination.

Arthur was confused as to how the man had gotten it without a password.

The door was opened with a small clicking sound, and they both rushed in.

The Man, was nowhere to be seen.

"Arthur?" William said, as if he was responsible for this.

"What? I know he was here, I watched him go in."

William shook his head, and walked back out. Arthur followed, not that he

didn't wish to stay and look around more, but that he did not wish to be

locked in, knowing that was something William might have done.

"William." Arthur said, calling to him.

"What Arthur?" William responded, turning around with such annoyance at

Arthur's behavior, that he nearly felt he needed to fire him.

"He's not there, I don't know what you saw, but there's nobody there, okay?"

Arthur said nothing.

"Yeah."

William returned then to his work, leaving Arthur to stand there without any

idea what to do.

Arthur was much quieter that evening, he had much to think on, and he was

scared to move an inch for fear of getting himself in worse trouble.

The next morning, Arthur awoke with a headache. He assumed it had

something to do with the trouble he had gotten himself into the day before.

Arthur was also unusually tired. Normally he would wake himself up with a

shower, and walking around for awhile lifted his spirits, but not that day. He

almost fell over while he tried to get out of bed.

Thankfully it was Saturday, and he had no work to do.

Usually, on days like this, he would stay home

and take a walk, or normally spend the day writing poetry, or go out and

enjoy the morning. But not today. After a quick shower, Arthur decided that

he would go back to the bank, and see if anything had changed or if he could

find anything that could lead him to that strange man, he was convinced

finally, that it was the right thing to do.

He wouldn't be able to sleep for the next few days if he did nothing, anyway.

Arthur drove to work, and surprised himself with how eager he was to get

there. A strange acting man, was now a strange spell Arthur felt hang over

him. He somehow hadn't been the same ever since the day before.

When Arthur arrived at the bank, business was the usual steadiness. It was

quite still inside, just as normal. Everything was just as he was used to.

“Arthur! What are you doing here today?” One of the workers there had

noticed him.

“I came to- I….. had some work from yesterday I wanted to….well….. I'm

just here.” Arthur couldn't believe how ridiculous he sounded

“Oh, I see.” The man wasn't convinced, but he never seemed to care much

for Arthur, so he soon forgot about it.

What am I doing here? He wondered. What was it that somehow just drew

him there? Why was he so interested in it all of a sudden? Arthur nearly

walked out the door and drove back home with that thought. He wasn't

himself. Perhaps there was no point to being there and all he would do was

get himself into more trouble. Perhaps……..

But no, he needed to stay, he just knew it. Arthur now gave up that idea.

Instead, he made his way to the money keeper.

Nothing. Not even the sign that had been there earlier.

He tried the door, but it was locked. Of course! Why did he never notice that

either? Why would the money keeper be unlocked? And with no one to

guard it? Had yesterday been a dream? Nothing fit right.

“Can I help you with something sir?” There was the policeman, there to

guard the door. Arthur realized how suspicious he must have looked.

“Forgive me, I was…” he began.

“You were trying to get in?” The man's rough voice was scaring Arthur at

what he might do to him.

“Well yeah, no, I'm a." Arthur laughed nervously.

"I uh, oh, I work here.”

“You do? Where is your tag?”

“My tag? Oh, um it's right, I uh….. I don't have it.”

“You don't have it?”

“I mean, it's not with me. It's my day off.”

“Well, why don't you enjoy your day off somewhere else before you end up

in jail.”

“Right, sorry”

Arthur quickly hurried off, trying to act normal. Now he looked like a thief,

and that was the last thing he needed at that moment.

Arthur knew now he couldn't get inside the room, so there was nowhere else

worth looking into. So he decided he would get back home. Perhaps a nap or

some lunch would help the disorientation go away.

But just as destiny always finds a way, and our meaning in life always finds

us one way or another, Arthur did go past the front desk. What stopped him

this time, was more different, and strange, and magical than anything he had

ever seen or ever would. It was a girl. A young girl with light brown hair that

was put up into a bun and dark green eyes that made her look very happy.

Her nose was quite small, and her eyebrows very thin. She too, is was quite

small, but she had a face that made Arthur feel there was nothing he couldn't

tell her.

She was beautiful to him. Her eyes captured him, her face made him want to

run out of fear. Her hair made his heart leap out of his chest, all of her, he

loved, all at once. Just as if all the world collapsed around him. He was in

more danger of dying then than ever before. He could not stand there to keep

in him the fire that burned. So he ran. He ran fast. Up the stairs, past the

guard, the door, up a story, past offices, workers looking at him with

curiosity, past everything, never once looking back. He stopped near an

elevator shaft, believing he had gone far enough. But no, his heart wouldn't

stop pounding, his mind wouldn’t stop thinking too many thoughts at once.

He couldn't stop. Perhaps just a little farther, and he would be calm. He

reached for the elevator button hoping to run inside it. (Although Arthur had

always hated elevators, he seemed to of forgotten at the moment) But there

was no elevator. Just thin air. It had literally disappeared. Arthur thought

nothing of it. Neither did he think anything about anything once another

elevator out of the blue came shooting up in his reach and stopped, giving

him just enough time to run in.

The doors shut, and Arthur stopped to catch his breath.

“What? What was that……...what is wrong with me?!!!? I'm going to die,

I'm going to die.” Arthur was being serious. He lay down on the floor and

waited a moment. Nothing at the moment was too crazy, or impossible.

Whatever he was feeling, he had never felt it before.

“I've gone mad, I'm going to die, right here and now. And I DON'T EVEN

CARE!”

“Ha ha! Yes, he's the one I haven't met yet.” A sweet English voice that was

very tender, was heard from just down the hallway.

“Yes, I have worked with him for a while and he is a very good worker.”

Dave, was the one speaking with her.

“Yeah, I've heard he's really good with people."

Arthur jumped up from his awkward position, when he heard this

conversation from outside the elevator. But oh! That voice! What a rich

pleasantness it had! I made Arthur feel as if he could jump off a cliff and fly

away. He could never hear a more beautiful sound in the world than that. But

he still could not handle it. There was some spell that lady (who ever she

was) had cast on him he knew. And she was coming towards him!!!!

Arthur quickly felt for a button, any button, just something to make the

elevator move.

There was a button he felt, then. It was unusually placed, although, but

Arthur didn't notice. In his haste, and with no more thought to it than he had

given anything that day, he pushed it.

The elevator did not move for a moment. There was the strange sound of

silence that kept Arthur from moving. And then… there was the sound an

elevator always makes when it has reached its destination, but instead of its

doors opening, the sound repeated. Slowly at first, but then it began to get

louder, rapidly, it continued faster faster and faster and faster! And then it

stopped.

There was no longer the sound of her voice. No more could he hear their

conversation.

Every sound and reality he ever knew was now somehow whisked away for

the moment, and the world he had always known, was gone.

Silence was his only company.

He almost wanted to stay there until he was found out.

Arthur noticed, when he looked to where the number of floors was written,

he saw, a zero there.

There was no room zero, and he never thought elevators ever said zero, in

numbering the floors.

“I'm not afraid of anything but what I left behind.” he said, taking a deep

breath.

Arthur then, slowly walked towards the door, and it automatically opened.

What he saw then was not quite what he had expected.

Straight in front of him, was a long, wide, hallway, of which he could see no

end. To his left, the wall, with no windows or openings, was painted dark

red.

To his right, were doors. Endless doors, close together, and painted the exact

same shade of white.

And each had a number. "6013, 6014, 6015, 6016" Clearly, there were many

doors.

Arthur slowly put one foot in front of the other, and stepped out of the

elevator. The air was completely normal, the ground was concrete like most

floors. But no people. No nothing.

Arthur was beginning to wonder if he had even moved beyond a floor, or

even beyond the bank. All he knew was that he felt quite different there, and

he had never seen this place before in his life.

“Hello?” Arthur didn't know what else to say. If there was anyone there, he

didn't want them finding him snooping around and then once more get into

unnecessary trouble. But no one responded. He never really expected anyone

to respond, as no one ever seems to when you find yourself in a strange

place.

The door in front of him, he decided it couldn't hurt to open. And if he did

find anyone there, he would just apologize for the intrusion.

Arthur grabbed ahold of the door knob, and turned it, noticing what a strange

twinge sound it made. Then the door was opened. What he found, was once

more unexpected. Alined along the walls, were windows this time. And just

as the doors had no imperfections and were painted white, so we're these.

The windows too were numbered, however with much smaller numbers, like

6,7, and 8. But there was nothing else that was there. No furniture, except for

one chair, no exits, no people. Nothing.

Arthur stood in thought for a moment. Clearly, the elevator had brought him

to this strange place. Was he the first? Or had others been here and not

spoken of it before? How had the elevator done this? Why was he there? Was

he meant to be? Arthur would not soon find the answer.

“Perhaps there is something out the window.” Arthur walked a few steps to

look out. There, he saw a wide view. He could see what looked like a town,

although with no people.

Among this, instead of houses, as far as the eye could see, Arthur was

surprised to find that there were only gates. Thousands upon thousands.

There were quite large gates. They were made of metal bars, some looking

older than others.

Pillars were all that kept them together. Large, grey pillars, and, as Arthur

thought he could make out, numbers arrayed in gold, written on them.

The first number Arthur saw, was 1,044. Clearly, there were many gates.

Behind them, was a beautiful pasture, with the morning dawning.

"What?" Arthur looked again. Yes, it looked to be nearly 6 in the morning.

"No, it can't be. Last I checked it was 2."

Arthur, though he knew time could not have changed that quickly, was

worried about getting back in time. Arthur could not decide what to do. He

could not run back, and have to face her again. She might find him, and he

would have to speak to her! Perhaps though, now, he could resist her enough

to get on with his day with out her constantly pulling at his mind.

Yes, he decided. He must go back. Whatever she had done to him, might just

have worn off. An elevator leading him to doors, windows and gates was

hardly an exciting thing. He decided he would go back. And if he felt he

wanted to return ever, he knew how to find it. But for now, he slowly exited

the room, retracing his steps, and ended up back in the elevator.

“How did I get into this mess?” Arthur said, rubbing his face.

“Wait, how do I get back? How did I even get here?” Arthur squeezed his

hair and lifted his head in annoyance.

“Oh no, what am I to do now?” Arthur let his arms rest at his side once more.

He looked around for a way out.

“I suppose maybe there could be a lever or a button I pressed.” Arthur bent

down looking for anything that might make the elevator move. There were

countless buttons, he took turns pressing each one without any success.

“What did I do?” Arthur leaned his head and hands against the wall and

pushed. But nothing happened.

“Perhaps this is no elevator. Maybe there is a secret door…...no.” Arthur

sighed, and sat down against the door in disappointment. Everything had

been happening so fast to him. Nothing was able to slow down. He had felt

like he had been under a spell ever since he first saw that customer. He

wondered what strange thing would happen next. He wondered the reason

for everything he had seen. It all just didn't make sense.

Arthur sat there, with disappointment.

He sat there for a long, long, time.

He was exhausted, it felt like a voice was singing a beautiful chant to

disorient his mind, to bring sleep to his eyes, to make him forget, for just a

while, everything. Arthur did not care what was happening to him. His eyes

slowly started to drop, and then he fell fast asleep