Polly took advantage of the company’s flex-time policy and got to the building promptly at 4:00 a.m. to empty trash, clean bathrooms, and vacuum or dust. Being a single mother was tough, but she was thankful her mother lived with them and could ensure her two children were fed and got on the school bus.
Polly listened to music, podcasts, or talk radio while she completed her routine.
She noticed the elevator door open when she’d been vacuuming the main aisle around the office cubes on the third floor, and then, the elevator door had closed. She figured it might have been someone who had stayed way later than usual or someone who came in early, but she didn’t see anyone.
Next, she rolled the vacuum cleaner to the elevator to go to the second floor to begin there, and the door opened without her pressing the call button. She didn’t see anyone, but her heart skipped a few beats, nonetheless. She instinctively grabbed her broom to fend off anyone, just in case, and wiped sweat beads above her lips. She stepped in cautiously. The button to the second floor was lit, and the door closed and opened when she got to the second floor. She figured it was a fluke with the elevator’s system.
Polly heard rumors from others about ghosts in the building, but she didn’t believe in them and hadn’t seen one. Fluorescent lights periodically flickered; she saw shadows that had been tricks of light, the sun beginning to rise, and or light reflecting on the building’s glass. She finished vacuuming on the second floor, emptied the trash cans and the shredder into one large bag, and lugged it to the elevator when it opened, and she gasped.
One of the maintenance men stepped out and asked her if she had experienced anything unusual with the elevator, and she shared her experiences. He wore the tan-colored jump-suit the maintenance crew wore, and his stitched name tag read “Jim.” Polly felt better and pulled her bag into the elevator to take it to the first-floor dumpster. Had she watched the maintenance man walk down the hall, she would have watched him fade into the sun coming through the window. When she asked about Jim, she learned that he hadn’t worked there in years, having died in the elevator from a brain aneurysm.
Polly didn’t know if she should change her flextime, so she wasn’t in the building alone, or find another job.
____________________________________________________________________
The Lone Rider
by Niles Reddick
BIO: Niles Reddick is the author of a novel, three collections, and a novella. His work has been featured in over thirty collections, anthologies, and five hundred magazines and journals, including The Saturday Evening Post, PIF, New Reader, Forth, Citron Review, Right Hand Pointing, Nunum, and Vestal Review. He is a five-time Pushcart, a two-time Best Micro nominee, and a two-time Best of the Net nominee. His newest flash collection If Not for You was recently released by Big Table Publishing.
Follow Niles Reddick at:
Website: http://nilesreddick.com/
Twitter: @niles_reddick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/niles.reddick.9
Instagram: nilesreddick@memphisedu
