Newton's Apple

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must take place during a power outage

Newton's Apple

Gravity waited patiently. In time, the elevator would succumb. Meanwhile, automatic brakes held the small, glass-walled box in place, sixty floors above the lobby. Inside, Paul waited for the power to be restored. 

He had worked in this building for years. While power outages were rare, he understood that things like this happened from time to time. Paul waited with a confidence based on optimistic expectations. The brakes would hold him safely until power was restored.

Before too long he found himself resetting his expectations. This was something different. He couldn’t put his finger on it but this was somehow not a typical power outage. Through the glass walls, everything was uniformly black. He tried to peer down into the lobby far below but could see only darkness. It was too complete. He should have been able to see back-up lighting or exit signs. 

In a panic, he fumbled around until he found the emergency telephone. Nothing, not even a dial tone came through to his suddenly hungry ear. It was completely quiet and Paul was starting to feel singularly alone.

Hours passed, taking with them the darkness of night. Diffused light entered the high-rise. Dark shapes hinted at what the light would bring. Paul couldn’t quite make out what he was seeing but he knew he’d had enough of the elevator. 

Forcing the doors open as the first direct light entered the seventy-story high lobby, Paul stepped out of the glass elevator into a strange world that appeared ravaged by time. He stepped passed crumbled walls and mammoth vine-like plants. 

There was no sign that people had been here for decades, maybe centuries.

A shriek from behind caused Paul to turn as the elevator’s brakes gave up the fight causing the glass pocket of time to become Newton’s Apple.