{"id":5275,"date":"2024-12-02T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/?p=5275"},"modified":"2024-12-04T12:04:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T11:04:30","slug":"the-elevator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/2024\/12\/the-elevator\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elevator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author<\/strong>: Inkless<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s the old sailor always at the port,
looking at the horizon, her only comfort.

That kid who recently found love in sewing,
his sister\u2019s gift almost ready, he\u2019s smiling.

The man who\u2019s working as a gravedigger.
Seven years now, right? Yet still as eager.

Then there\u2019s that woman. A banker,
deep in fraud, so she gets drunker.

And the toddler, just told a lie, his first.
He doesn\u2019t realize he\u2019s his happiest.

So there\u2019s these five people in motion,
that can never meet, that\u2019s the mission.

Or the world will end.

Do you understand?

Different lives, locations, that\u2019s the key.
We\u2019ve managed this far, sometimes barely.
You must always remember,
Your role is to be the intruder.

You\u2019ve always done well,
but you often dwell,
on them and how they live.
You\u2019re curious, and naive.

You watched the now old sailor,
once thriving in the seas, singing.
You watched the kid, now a brother,
frustrated with his family changing.
You watched the newlywed gravedigger
Look for someone that wasn\u2019t just a fling.
You watched the crooked banker,
trying to be good, yet slowly losing.
You watched the three-year-old toddler,
crying over his mother\u2019s parenting.

I know you\u2019ve grown attached,
while I remain detached.
My role is to guide you, be the reminder.
Day and night I\u2019ve told you: no blunder.

Or the world will vanish.

Everything, gone in a swish,
I know it isn\u2019t your wish.
So these people you cherish,

Why are they in the same building?

It\u2019s a joke right? You\u2019re kidding!
How is it possible?
This is just terrible!!

The banker, the gravedigger and the brother,
waiting in front of the elevator,
which is coming, you traitor…
Inside, the old sailor, the toddler and his mother.

4

In only a few seconds the doors will open.
You can still save this! Please, please listen!

3

Make the elevator, stop, fall, destroy it!!
I don\u2019t understand, you have no limit!!

2

So why aren\u2019t you doing anything?!
I beg you! Why aren\u2019t you LISTENING??

1

NO NO NO!!! STO-

0\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments by the jury:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In a good way, I was left wanting to know what would happen when, these people who could never meet, met at the ground floor.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It stays very mysterious and blurry, a bit unclear, but that’s part of what makes it great. Overall, a great piece that makes you think about serendipity, or the opposite?”

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author: Inkless There\u2019s the old sailor always at the port,looking at the horizon, her only comfort. That kid who recently found love in sewing,his sister\u2019s gift almost ready, he\u2019s smiling. The man who\u2019s working as a gravedigger.Seven years now, right? Yet still as eager. Then there\u2019s that woman. A banker,deep in fraud, so she gets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1002889,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[36,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-5275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-2024-winter","7":"tag-poetry","8":"tag-short-story-competition-people-and-places"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1002889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5275"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5500,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions\/5500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}