When the elevator got stuck, her heart began to pound. Her feeble hand stretched out for the call button. She couldn’t reach.

“Anyone in there?”

She gasped for the air to respond.

“Guess not. We’ll have maintenance take a look at it on Monday.”

They taped up a paper sign.

Sarah Hausman finds inspiration in her apartment building’s shoddy maintenance. She posts updates on her writing at facebook.com/sarahhausmanwrites, but probably only her mom checks it.