Trapped in a lift

As I looked at the signboard 'Lift under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.' I was reminded of an incident which happened to me two years ago ...        It was a humid day; the sun was glaring like a golden nugget. I was walking home from school, drenched by my sweat. That irritated me very much and I yearned to reach home early so that I could have a nice and relaxing shower.        I walked to the void deck and waited for the lift to reach the ground. The void deck was a bit more crowded than usual. There were about four to five people waiting for the lift. Soon, the lift came and everybody rushed into the lift and pressed the floor buttons quickly as they wanted to get home fast, just like me. We waited patiently for the lift to go up. Mouseover to shake the lift ...        However, the lift did not seem to move! I started to worry," Could the lift have broken down?" I thought to myself. It was stuffy, as the ventilation fan had stopped functioning. My suspicions were confirmed ... the lift had broken down!!! No wonder the lift took such a long time to move up from the ground floor!        I pressed the alarm button frantically. A man tried to force open the door, but to no avail. The door just would not budge! After a few attempts, he gave up. A well-dressed lady perspired profusely and she had to wipe her perspiration continuously with a piece of already-damp tissue paper. She seemed irritated.        A woman carrying bags of grocery seemed frustrated as she was afraid that her grocery would go bad. She knitted her brows and let out sighs of frustrations every now and then. A teenaged boy was not bothered by this predicament and was engrossed in listening to the music on his Discman. An elderly man behind me looked worried.        We tried to use our mobile phones but there was no signal. Flushed with anger, I racked my brain to find ways to get out of this unventilated place.        I pressed the alarm button for the umpteenth time but nobody came to our rescue! So, I told myself," If I press this alarm button again and nobody comes to help, I will force open the door."        Then, a miracle happened! We heard some noises and someone said, "I think this lift is not working. Let's call the lift maintenance officers to check the lift. There could be people trapped inside. Let's call now."        My eyes lit up immediately and I shouted to them, indicating that we were trapped inside the lift.        A few minutes later, the lift maintenance officers came and used their tools to open the lift door. We heaved a sigh of relief and felt refreshed as we breathed in the fresh air again!        I went home feeling lethargic and hungry. I explained to my mother what had happened, as she was worried sick about me coming home late.        From that day onwards, I only use the lift when absolutely necessary; I use the stairs most of the time. I guess it will take some time before I overcome my fear of being trapped in the lift.

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Written by Fitriyani Pri 6 Edison, 2005 Zhangde PS