An Elevator Story – Ronan Guilfoyle
An Elevator Story
By Ronan Guilfoyle
It’s the end of the 2021-2022 school year, my last year of high school with all these amazing friends, who I now consider family. We’ve talked about doing things together for years, like one big huge trip. Somehow we finally figured out a plan to get it done. Where did we choose, you may ask. Well, we chose the amazing city of New York.
Mr. Don is always mentioning to us that he used to live and work in the city of New York. I’ve only been one time but I dream of going again and seeing all it has to offer. Now, if you know me, you know that I hate doing adventurous things by myself. Constantly, I’m trying to find people to go on car rides with me, go to the movies with me, or just hangout. Point is, I don’t like being alone very much, especially in huge places like New York. So I’m so glad I get to experience it with my classmates.
After the painful three hour car ride full of loud conversation between students and Ethan’s annoying laugh we arrive in New York. Parking has always been a huge issue for travelers to the impeccable concrete jungle where dreams are made. Luckily, Mr.Tom has connections wherever we go. We found a parking spot for our van right next to our hotel.
We unload into our rooms, five separate rooms all on the third floor since Mr.Tom hates elevators. Room one was composed of Jayla, Airy, Destiny, and Bre’Onna. Next room was slightly smaller so Kevin and Chase took it. Rhys and I had our own room to ourselves, in which we hooked up our Nintendo Switch that we snuck past Mr.Tom. The fourth room was smaller as well, so Illiana and Myshell took that one. Mr.Tom obviously took the biggest of the five rooms. He definitely saved the luxury for himself. King size bed that sits a few feet from a fifty-five inch 4K TV, perfect for watching Blade Runner. Mr.Tom’s room even came with a hot tub in the bathroom, which alone was the size of the two smaller rooms. And Donald got to enjoy the closet in Mr.Tom’s room. We were living lavishly, at least Mr.Tom was.
The next morning we all met in the mess hall to enjoy breakfast and talk about a plan. Rhys and I had brought our own money so we could get a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich from this little cafe we found last time we visited. Only problem was we couldn’t remember what the name was or where exactly it was located. After we had all left the mess hall of the hotel, we split into different groups. The younger children were accompanied by Donald since they need to be supervised. We have to make sure we don’t leave a student behind… not again. Ethan and Josh went outside and immediately started filming a vlog for their Josh & Nemo YouTube channel that I occasionally visit when they bombard my phone with notifications. Rhys and I checked my phone to find this cafe, but to no avail. Rhys and I start to try to really remember the name of this place. No luck for these Irishmen.
Mr.Tom walks over to us and asks what we’re going to do. We tell him that we’re on the hunt for the best breakfast sandwich in the city. He gently reminds us about the times Rhys and I would say that we would bring him our breakfast sandwiches. Determined to get a sandwich, Mr.Tom joined our brigade to find this spot. After an hour of searching, and somehow ending up near Grand Central Terminal, we see this large building…The Summit One Vanderbilt. Rhys and I get the great idea to go up the elevator to see if we can pinpoint the general location of the cafe. When Mr.Tom hears of this idea, he immediately vetoes it. His legs start to shake at the thought of going up a glass elevator on the outside of a building. Rhys and I wanna find this sandwich place so we do it. In general concern for our safety, Mr.Tom advises us not to go, but a breakfast sandwich is a breakfast sandwich, and there is no length Rhys and I will not go to get one.
We enter the building and find the entrance to the elevator. Mr.Tom blocks the doorway to keep us safe from malfunctioning gears or whatever. I wasn’t really paying attention to his riff because I wanted this sandwich. But you know New York, people have places to be, so people start to pile into the elevator to get to work and other important things. The sheer force of this mass of people is enough to get Rhys and I, with Mr.Tom, into the elevator. Mr.Tom tried to push and shove his way out but he wasn’t strong enough. He was stuck.
All the buttons on the panel were lit up. People coming in and going off the elevator on each floor. It seemed to Mr.Tom that we would be stuck in this hell forever. Rhys and I don’t pay much attention to the panicking Mr.Tom, who is sweating rivers. Rhys and I look around for the cafe. We reach the top floor and Mr.Tom is losing it. I mean he is a full out rage machine. He is cursing everyone in Italian because of what he has had to experience. But since we’re in New York, everyone here is some part Italian so they understand what he is saying. They start wanting to fight Mr.Tom. I quickly intervene and explain that Mr.Tom is my mentally unstable grandpa who hasn’t been the same since Vietnam, and that we apologize for his extreme words. From the other side of this rather large elevator I hear Rhys scream out that he sees the cafe. I quickly make my way to the level one button and press it.
Finally, that nightmare of only seven minutes was over and Mr.Tom returned to his normal self. At least we think he did. He still looked a little scared from the experience, but nevermind that. We walk ten minutes to the cafe, but Mr.Tom is dead silent. We got our bacon, egg, and cheeses and the three of us enjoyed them.
Once Mr.Tom took that first bite, he instantly returned back to a normal state. He looked down at the sandwich and back at us. He took a couple more bites and wiped his mouth. Chewed for a second and then said.
“You boys put me through hell, but this is a damn good breakfast sandwich.”
The End
1/21/22