The Beginning

Imagine. 

You are walking through the streets of the city.  You pass a funky brick building in a hip area of town, and you hear the sounds of fun spilling out around you from a large loft-style window.  Laughter and talking mingle with music, and it sounds like your kind of party.

Click to hear music

Suddenly, a couple throws open a set of double-doors to your right.  With their paint-spattered clothes, you assume they are artists.  They smile as they walk past you, and as the doors start to close, you see a brightly-colored piece of paper stuck to the door.

You walk over and give the poster a closer glance.  

An open-studio art party in the Loft.  Everyone welcome.

Sounds intriguing.

If you decide to go in and find out more about The Loft, click here (Heading to the Loft).

If you decide you aren't up for something new, click here (No Loft for You!).

Heading to the Loft

You decide to check it out and follow the sign into the building. 

Once inside, you see arrows pointing to the elevator and another flyer. 

There is a piece of washi tape stuck next to the button for the top floor.  "The Loft" is scrawled on the tape with black marker, and there are even a few flecks of glitter stuck in the tape.  You press the button and wait as the elevator rushes you to your destination.  

When the doors open to The Loft, you see what looks like 500 yards of exposed brick wall.  Large multi-paned windows line the street side of the building.  Two of the windows are partially open, and what looks like a makeshift DJ booth is in front of them.  A guy who looks remarkably like Adam Levine has a pair of headphones around his neck. He is listening with one ear and grooving to the mash up he's creating on the turntable in front of him.  Several attractive people hover nearby, talking and moving to the music.

On the other side, you see a lovely mahogany bar set up with almost every beverage imaginable.  No one was sitting because everyone was across the room, mingling and having a good time. It looks like there are tables set up with art supplies and easels holding arsty creations farther into the room.

If you decide to stay and explore more of the Loft, inside the loft (aka artsy party).
If you decide that a hot Adam doppelganger and a party atmosphere aren't for you, click to The Elevator Diaries.

The Elevator Diaries

You decide to leave.  You head back out the door (with one long last look at the DJ of course) and head back to the elevator.  You press the lobby button and the doors close.  Midway down, the elevator lurches and you can hear screeching coming from above the car.  The elevator slams to a stop and you nearly lose your balance.  You regain your composure and see that the lights for every floor are brightly shining on the panel.  You press the lobby button again and the light goes dark.  Suddenly, the elevator lights flicker.

You take a deep breath, praying that they don't go out.

For a moment, it seems that your prayer worked.  The lights stay on.  You press the buttons on the panel.  None of them seem to be working.  You reach for the alert button and press it.

The elevator lights snap off. You quickly feel around the panel to find access to an emergency phone.  You break a nail trying to pry the door open in the dark.  Your breathing is quick and shallow as panic sets in.  You realize that you do have your cell phone and luckily have a flashlight app.  Now you just wish it came with a Swiss army knife too.  Flashlight on, you are able to find and unhook the latch for the emergency phone.  You call and reach an operator.  They are going to dispatch someone to save you.  It might be a couple of hours, but you know help is on the way.  But how long will you be stuck?

You sit down and try to use your phone.  The low battery notice flashes before your phone shuts down.  How could you have forgotten to charge it before you left?  It is going to be a long night.

Eventually help comes and they pry the doors open to save you.  You have to squeeze out, between floors and angle yourself up to the grasping hands of the firemen.  You head home and cry yourself to a fitful sleep full of nightmares about being stuck in the elevator.

You should have stayed at the Loft.

The End.

To return to One Story Down, click here.

Inside the Loft (aka artsy party)

You decide that you want to find out more and you start walking toward the center of the room.  You notice a lot of different types of artsy pages lining tables and easels.  Some are works in progress and some are complete.  There are a lot of fun designs and different types of expression.  It looks like everyone has been having fun playing with color and elements.  No two pages are the same.  Some of the pages you see in front of you totally make you want to start a page of your own.

You look up and see twins.  Lovely ladies who seem like they are eager to talk to you.

  

"Hey, I'm Jules... and this is Don.  Welcome to the Loft.  This is a fun place to hang out and create art. Our buddy Kimberlee is also around here somewhere in a bright pink shirt.  You'll be able to find her by following the trail of glitter."

Donna adds, "We've set up a challenge and are going to give everyone a couple of free elements to play with.  And when you're ready, you can dig into your own stash of supplies as well to create a page.  We've got a couple of quotes/ideas and a color swatch you can use.  The most important part is... have fun!"

"You can also just hang out and get yourself a drink or groove to the music."

If you are ready to jump in and have some fun, click here to get to the Loft Challenges at OSD.  

If you want to wimp out... click here for wimpville.

Wimpville

You decide to take "the safe route" and to skip the creative process for the day.  You don't even feel like hanging out to socialize.  You scurry back to the door and down the elevator to the lobby.   A bunch of fun looking people are coming toward you, so you back up to make room for them to pass.  You hear someone talking about the Loft and how much fun they've had there.  For a half a second, you regret your decision to leave.

You step out the door into the daylight.  You walk half a block to the end of the street and make your way toward the nearest subway station.  Someone texts, so you pull out your phone to check it.  Ironically, one of your buddies is texting you about a new place called The Loft.  They want to get together and hang out there because they've heard it is a lot of fun.  You stop to text them back and are laughing at the irony.  Out of nowhere, a pedi-cab runs you down.  You didn't even know what hit you.

You wake in a dim hospital room and realize you're covered in bandages.  The doctor says you have been there for over a month, but now that you're awake, you can start rehab and hopefully be out in another six weeks.

You try to get comfortable but you are aching.  The doc turns up your pain meds and you feel sleepy.  You stare at the ceiling, cursing your luck.

You overhear the nurses outside your room, talking about how much fun they had the other night at the Loft.

You pass out.

The end.

Return to One Story Down.

No Loft For You!

You decide to play things safe and *not* go in to check out The Loft.

You continue to walk down the street and around the corner. 

Out of nowhere, you hear the roar of fifty engines.  A biker gang appears and scares the heck out of you.  They tell you to keep away from their side of the street. They taunt you and tell you that you need to go and make some art.  They start to toss empty rolls of washi tape in your direction. 

You run.  You run home to cry and feel sorry for yourself.  You don't ever want to go out again.  You wished you would have gone to The Loft. 

Too bad.

The End. 

Click here to go back to One Story Down!