September 19, 2024

I checked into the hotel with my dad and the room keys were loaded onto an app on our phones. My parents were getting ready to head to a street demonstration and we sat in the lobby as they showed me on their phone where they were going. I couldn’t recognize the place from Google Streetview but apparently there was a McDonalds tucked in between two buildings there.

I headed towards the elevators and was met five or so lifts that each served a different subset of the 60-something floors of the building. I entered the elevator that was able to get to the 12th floor.

When the doors closed I realized that this was no ordinary elevator. The interior resembled a dimly lit restaurant with views of the forest outside. I stood by the door while flipping through the keycard holder in search of the room number but failed to find it.

Someone called out my name and I looked up to see some acquaintances I had met from a mutual friend. I couldn’t remember their names but we started chatting and catching up. They noticed I had a bike rack bag and asked how the new bike was coming along. I told them that I didn’t actually buy a bike yet despite having a bag; I simply didn’t have the space for it yet.

I looked at the floor indicator as it felt like we had been standing in the elevator for an awfully long time. They asked if I had ever heard of the “Eiffel Tower Paradox” - apparently it was some kind of philosophical dilemma. I noted it down on my phone to search up later on my own.

“This elevator goes horizontal a lot huh?” I asked, “almost like a train…” The floor indicator showed that we were getting to the 12th “floor” soon. I told my new friends that I really enjoyed chatting and asked when I might bump into them next. They suggested getting breakfast together Wednesday morning. It was currently Monday.

We had finally reached my floor and we had to hold the door open to get all of my luggage out. Once I got out, I felt the need to tell someone about the weird train elevator I was just on. I admitted to a passerby that I was tempted to ride from the ground to the top and was told that it might take hours.

I still didn’t know which room I was headed towards. I wandered through the halls and thought about sending a message to the family group chat to ask for the room number.