The elevator was empty when Daniel stepped inside.

He looked around at the walls, covered with mirrors so he saw multiple copies of himself staring back at him. Starting a little, he scooted towards the back wall and concentrated on the elevator doors, which, mercifully, was made of charcoal material that did not show his reflection. After all, there was room for only one body in the elevator and no more, even if all of the others in those wretched mirrors were his own. Realizing that he had forgotten to press a floor number, he jabbed the button for the ground floor and straightened up again, watching the little numbers in the screen decrease as the elevator began to descend.

Daniel’s office was on the thirteenth floor of the building, the very top floor, and this inevitably meant that his trip to the lowest floor was quite long. Also inevitably, he tended to pick up a handful of passengers on his way down, a thought that made him cringe and grip the handle of his briefcase more tightly. The elevator was empty besides himself, and that was the way it should be – after all, there was room for only one body in the elevator and no more.

However, he was standing in an elevator with a maximum capacity of 3,000 pounds, and as he didn’t weigh a single pound over 200, he couldn’t very well prevent the next person from stepping into the elevator on the ninth floor. He also couldn’t prevent the sudden multiplying of people – for there was now twice the number of people visible in the elevator, half of them standing casually against the rail while the other half cowered in the corner. Scenarios started playing out in his mind, horrifying scenarios where the sheer number of people caused the elevator to fail. Perhaps he would be crushed in the panic – or the oxygen in the room would deplete – after all, there was room for only one body in the elevator –

“Dan! I haven’t seen you in a while. Just heading home, then?” the man asked pleasantly, seemingly not noticing the way Dan tugged at his shirt collar, which had suddenly become just a little bit tighter with the addition to the elevator.

He swallowed and managed a smile and nod at his boss. “It’s been a long day, Robert,” he replied, thinking back to the meeting he had had earlier in the morning. The room had been packed – for some reason, no other meeting room had been open, and there had not been room for him to have the customary empty seats on either side of him. The memory made him pull at his shirt a tad more forcefully.

The elevator dinged to indicate yet another one – or twenty – people waiting to board the elevator, and he glanced at the screen. Had they passed only two floors? The doors opened, and three women stepped in and greeted the previous occupants. Daniel dug his nails into the leather handle of his briefcase, gritting his teeth as sweat started to break out on his forehead.

The elevator had been empty when Daniel stepped inside – and now there was five times the number of people in the elevator, far more people than he was comfortable with. After all, there was room for only one body in the elevator and no more – not the mass of people visible in the mirrors on the wall.

Suddenly, there was a lot less air in the elevator than there had been ten minutes ago.

Four floors passed before the next tell-tale ding. Daniel pressed his back against the wall, trying to eliminate the few extra people he knew he would see if he turned around – there was room for only one body in the elevator, he repeated to himself – and waited with baited breath for the doors to open.

Five people waited outside, all carrying large purses and bags, all grinning and bustling to make room in the tiny space. He muffled a groan in the arm of his jacket, closing his eyes before snapping them open again when images of trampled people started appearing in his head.

“Do you have any room in there?” Cheryl said, balancing a handful of books and a drink in addition to her purse. “Maybe enough for a couple more – here, you first –”

In a fit of panic, he pushed his way through the mob of people and pushed the door-close button quickly, allowing himself to breathe only once Cheryl had pulled her foot out of the door, alarmed, and the elevator was in motion again. Robert looked at him strangely and pulled him closer to mutter a question to him, asking him if he was okay.

Daniel jerked his arm away, returning to his corner. “Fine,” he said, trying not to gasp. “I’m fine.” He wanted to say more, to explain his odd behavior, but he didn’t want to run out of oxygen – there were only a few more floors to get through before he could leave the elevator and the horde of people currently inhabiting it. He had always said that there was room for only one body in an elevator and no more –

He mopped his brow, futilely.

The last couple of floors passed without incident, much to his relief, and as soon as the doors began to slide open, he lunged through the mass, shoving the women away from him and ignoring their scandalized gasps, and into the lobby of the building, breathing hard and shrugging off his jacket.

Robert walked over to him, concerned. “Dan, should I drive you home? It’s not any problem at all – I don’t think you should be operating anything in this condition,” he said, looking Daniel up and down and taking in his heaving chest and the beaded sweat on his face.

Daniel didn’t answer for a moment, stepping away just a little bit and putting up a hand in apology. “I’m fine,” he repeated. “I’m fine – just get me an office on the first floor!”