Nicholas White is working very late. At 11 o’clock on a Friday night the 34 year-old manager is still his office on the 43rd floor.
Down on the New York streets below people are having fun. Or they're at home in bed.
Still
Working
But Nick still has work to
finish.
‘I need a cigarette,’ he tells a
co-worker. ‘I’ll be back
soon.’
Nicholas walks out of the office, leaving his coat on his
chair. He takes the elevator down to the lobby and walks
outside.
He lights up a cigarette. ‘Another half an
hour,’ he tells himself. ‘Then I can go
home.’
Returning to the lobby, he finds everything very quiet. The
building is empty.
Nick gets into the express elevator. He presses the button for
the 43rd floor.
The elevator
accelerates up through the floors. There
are no stops before the 39th but everything seems fine.
Suddenly there's a jolt. The lights flash off and then on
again. The elevator stops.
Nobody
comes
Meanwhile Nick’s
co-worker is leaving the office. He
has noticed that Nick has been gone a long time but is
not worried. 'Perhaps he's gone to get more cigarettes,'
he thinks, as he gets into the down elevator. He does
not realise that Nick is trapped somewhere below the 39th
floor.
In the other elevator, Nick he presses the alarm. The
maintenance guy will come soon, he thinks.
But nobody comes because nobody is there. The maintenance
staff have gone home for the weekend.
A very long
weekend
At first Nick waits patiently.
Then he tries to climb up to and open the door in the
ceiling. But there is no way out.
He has no food or drink - and only three cigarettes!
Incredibly the elevator security camera is filming him.
Finally on Sunday afternoon a
security returns to the building. He finally notices Nick
on a security camera. After 41 hours is he finally rescued.
Remarkably, Nick does not need medical treatment.
‘I’m just happy to be out,’ he said.
‘And I want to go home!’
