The Staircase in the Suitcase

At a quarter past eight, the pool was still empty, and Uriel was alone on the lifeguard chair. He liked this hour. The water lay flat and blue.

Then the glass door banged open. A young man in a yellow delivery jacket was pulling a large suitcase across the tiles. He pulled it the way a man pulls a stubborn horse.

"Sorry! Sorry, I know the pool is closed," the man said. He was breathing hard. "My name is Karim. Can I leave this here for ten minutes?"

"What is in it? A piano?" Uriel asked. He climbed down from the chair.

"I do not know. I only collect and deliver." Karim wiped his forehead. "I have to find the site manager of the new tower next door and get a signature."

Uriel took the handle to help. The suitcase did not move, even when he pulled with both hands. It felt as if somebody had bolted it to the floor.

"Together," said Karim. They lifted one end each and walked it to the foot of the chair. Their arms shook the whole way. When they put it down, a crack ran through a floor tile.

"That is not a normal suitcase," Uriel said. He bent down to read the paper label. The writing was small and neat. "Keep below ten degrees. Do not open in direct sun. Deliver to the tower by nine."

"I did not see that," Karim said slowly. "The office gave me a form, not a label."

Uriel looked up. Through the high windows, the first sunlight was already crossing the roof of the pool hall. It reached the wall, then the floor, then the blue tiles near the chair. A bright stripe of light slid across the suitcase.

Something inside it creaked.

"Did you hear that?" Karim whispered.

"I think the case just yawned," said Uriel.

The zip opened by itself, one slow tooth at a time. A wooden step slid out of the gap, as smooth as polished oak. It had a brass edge along the front. A second step followed it, and a third, and each one clicked into place beside the last.

"No, no, no," said Karim. He grabbed the first step and pushed. It slid back into the case. Then it slid out again, a little longer than before.

Uriel was thinking fast. "The label says cold. The sun is the problem. Look at it."

Karim looked. Wherever the light touched the steps, they grew. A railing was already rising from the side. The whole staircase was curling across the tiles like a plant.

"It is a staircase," Karim said. "It is a whole staircase, packed small for travel. That is why it is so heavy. And it is waking up."

"Then we must put it to sleep," Uriel said. "Help me close the case."

They pushed the steps back with all their strength, and Uriel sat on the lid. The zip would not close. Wood pressed against the cloth from the inside. The stripe of sunlight crept further across the floor.

"Ten degrees," Uriel muttered. "Where is it ever that cold?" He stood up. "The first-aid room has a freezer. And the kiosk has an ice machine."

"I will take the kiosk," said Karim, and he ran.

Uriel ran the other way. In the first-aid room he found a basket of hard cold packs. He also found a roll of silver blankets. He also grabbed the big wheeled cart they used for kickboards. When he came back, Karim was dragging two buckets of ice across the tiles. His jacket was wet to the elbows.

"Cold packs first," Uriel said. "Put them between the steps, not on top."

They worked quickly. Each time they pushed one step in and laid a cold pack against it, the wood stayed put. The railing sank back like a tired snake. The ice sat around the edges in a thick, shining layer. At last Uriel pulled the zip shut, and the suitcase stopped moving.

"It is quiet," said Karim. He sat on the floor. "I once delivered a clock that ran backwards. But this is the first time a parcel tried to take over a swimming pool."

"It's eight forty," Uriel said. "How far is the tower?"

"Two hundred metres. Across the car park, in full sun."

"Then ice will not be enough." Uriel pointed up at the chair. "I can see the whole car park from there. Wait."

He climbed up two rungs at a time and looked out of the high window. The car park was shining. But the half-built tower threw a long black shadow across the far side. Shade ran almost the whole way, along the pool wall and under a line of tall hedges.

"Karim! There is shade nearly all the way," he called down. "We only need to cross the open part, and that is twenty metres. We cover it with the silver blankets."

"Good eyes," said Karim.

They lifted the suitcase onto the cart together. The cart groaned, but the wheels turned. Uriel wrapped the silver blankets around the case and tucked a cold pack into every fold. Then he stopped.

"I cannot leave the pool," he said. "The doors must stay locked until the morning team arrives. If I go, who will watch the building?"

Karim thought about that. He took a marker from his pocket and wrote on a large piece of card. "Back in fifteen minutes. Please wait outside." He pressed it against the glass door. Then they went out through the side exit and locked it behind them.

The shade lasted for the first hundred metres. Karim steered and Uriel pushed. A drop of water fell from a blanket. A thin curl of wood pushed out through the zip. Uriel slapped another cold pack against it, and it went back inside.

The open stretch came next. It was bright and hot, and the ground already shone.

"On three," said Uriel. "One, two, three."

They ran. The cart rattled, the ice crackled, and the silver blankets flashed like a mirror. Halfway across, a railing broke out of the suitcase and started to wave. Karim threw his yellow jacket over it and held it down with his chin. They passed the last row of cars and plunged into the cool shadow of the tower. Both of them fell against the wall, laughing and out of breath.

A woman in a white helmet was standing at the gate with a clipboard. She looked at the cart, the blankets, and Karim's wet shirt. "You are late," she said. "It is two minutes to nine."

"We came as fast as a staircase can travel," said Karim. He handed her the form.

She did not ask any questions. She led them inside the tower, to a tall, cold concrete shaft with no stairs at all. Far above them, a square of sky showed at the top.

"Open it here," she said.

Uriel pulled the zip. The steps slid out, one after another, and this time nobody pushed them back. They rose into the shaft with a happy clicking sound, climbing until the staircase reached the top. The brass edges flashed in the dim light.

The woman signed the form with a firm line. "Thank you both," she said, and she walked up the first twenty steps without once looking down.

Karim looked at Uriel. "I think I owe you a very long morning."

Uriel did not answer. He picked up the empty suitcase, which now weighed no more than a folded towel. He tucked it under his arm and walked back across the car park to his pool.