Kayson Sylvester

The Man and the Spider in the Elevator

Bernard hit the button for the elevator again. Why was it taking so long? He was going to
be late for work once again. What was his boss going to say? Hopefully he wouldn’t be in that
much trouble, would he? After all, he only was a couple of minutes late. This wasn’t the first time
he had been late, however. Would he get fired for being late so many times in a row? He
couldn’t take the stairs, after all. He was way too weak for that, this was the twenty first century.
Who took the stairs in this day and age?
The door finally opened. Yes! As he walked into the elevator, the sweet sound of soft
elevator music greeted his ears. He stood in the center of the elevator as the doors closed,
cutting him off from the outside world. Looking around, the golden lights barely illuminated the
room. The elevator began ascending. Bernard noticed the intricate design on the elevator
wallpaper. It was very fancy looking, and made Bernard happy to look at it.
Man, this is the longest elevator ride ever, Bernard thought to himself. He felt like he had
been in this elevator for ages. But at least it was a very nice elevator.
And that is when he saw it. Sitting in the corner of the elevator, web glistening in the
light, eight eyes fixed on Bernard, was a big, fat spider. Bernard locked eyes with it. They were
staring at each other, neither one moved a muscle. Bernard hated spiders, he had his whole life.
And now he was trapped with one. In an elevator.
Don’t worry, he told himself. The elevator door should open soon. Keeping his eyes on
the spider, he took a couple of steps backwards towards the door. I just need to wait.
All of a sudden, the elevator slammed to a halt. Knocked off of his feet, Bernard quickly
looked up and checked to see if the spider moved. It was still in the same place, luckily, but the
problem was the elevator was no longer moving. Why does this always happen to me? Bernard
groaned. He was trapped in a broken elevator with a spider!
Just breathe, He took a couple of short breaths. He needed to press the alarm button if
he was going to get out of here. He looked at the buttons panel for it. When he found it, he
started toward it. Then he realized how close he would have to get to the spider to hit the
button. The spider was sitting in the corner right next to the button. His foot would be right next
next to the spider, and it would probably crawl onto his shoe and kill him. He backed up.
He thought back to a similar experience he had when he was a kid. He had been at his
friend's house sleeping over. His friend and him were watching a movie upstairs, but he had
gone downstairs to go the the bathroom. When he came back, however, there was a big, fat
spider sitting in the middle of the hallway. He had stared it down for a while, but instead of
facing his fears and stepping over, or maybe even killing the spider, he ran downstairs and got
his friend’s parents. He had never learned how to face his fears.
Maybe that was why he was having such a hard time now. It was his old fears
resurfacing, telling him to fight them again. But could he do it? It was a very big spider.
 Yes, yes he could! He wasn’t going to let this spider beat him! He slowly started walking
toward the spider again. He could do this. He reached out his hand toward the button. Slowly,
getting closer, and closer. Almost there…
Hissssssss! The spider hissed at him as he jumped away. He didn’t even know spiders
could hiss! He was so close to pressing the button, but the spider was getting violent now. It
became clear to him that in order to face his fears and press the button, the spider would need
to die.
He opened his briefcase he carried with him to work. Inside was a bunch of papers,
folders, and a large candy bar. Pulling out the candy, he held it like a baseball bat.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Spider,” he said nervously. “But your time has come.” Shaking now he
moved towards the spider. Then, the spider darted out from its web. It was so fast! Losing track
of it, Bernard turned around quickly. He couldn’t find it. Panicking, he frantically tried to find it.
Was it right behind him? Then he saw it running towards him! Brandishing his candy bar, he
swatted at the ground, missing the spider every time. Then, it ran back into its corner.
“Okay, that was terrifying.” he said to himself. But he had gotten so close to killing it! He
just needed to charge the spider and smash it in its web. Then it would be over and he could
press the alarm and leave the elevator.
He ran towards the web, preparing to strike the spider. And he did, not once, not twice,
but ten times he hit that spider. He finally felt bravery flowing through his veins. He could no
longer be called a coward, not while he was brave enough to kill a giant, vicious spider!
Backing up, Bernard examined his work. The spider was definitely dead now. He almost
felt bad for it. After all, it was just defending his home.
Who was he kidding? He felt great! He didn’t have to worry about it anymore! Humming
to himself, he hit the alarm button. A loud sound rang out, followed by a voice in the intercom.
“Hello, are you all right?” The female voice said.
“Hi, yes I am. Bernard replied, smiling to himself. “But I happen to be trapped in the
elevator right now, and I would love to get out.
“Alright, don’t worry, we will send someone to help you right away.”
“Oh trust me,” Bernard sighed. “I have no need to worry.”

Just an hour later, Bernard was freed of the elevator. He thanked the workers that had
helped get him out and opened the door to the stairway. From now on, he was going to take the
stairs to get to work, no matter how tired or lazy he felt.