WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.090 --> 00:00:04.429 The elevator to floor zero. The elevator at Noor's aunt's 2 00:00:04.490 --> 00:00:10.310 hotel had buttons for floors one through eight. On Tuesday afternoon, 3 00:00:10.949 --> 00:00:15.109 it had one more. A small round zero glowed beneath 4 00:00:15.169 --> 00:00:19.449 the alarm button. Noor was helping Aunt Salma deliver clean 5 00:00:19.550 --> 00:00:23.230 towels while the hotel was busy with three tour groups, 6 00:00:23.769 --> 00:00:26.690 a wedding party, and a chess club that kept moving 7 00:00:26.730 --> 00:00:32.070 the lobby chairs. Fifth floor. Room 512, Aunt Salma said, 8 00:00:32.490 --> 00:00:37.729 handing her a folded stack. Then come straight back. Inside 9 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:42.799 the elevator, Noor pressed 5. The new zero brightened instead. 10 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:47.820 The elevator descended past the lobby. The floor display showed B, 11 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.990 then two symbols Noor did not recognize, then a tiny 12 00:00:52.130 --> 00:00:55.829 picture of a clock. She pressed the door open button. 13 00:00:56.590 --> 00:01:01.439 Nothing happened. The elevator stopped gently. Its doors opened onto 14 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:08.209 an underground railway station. Noor stayed inside. Six platforms curved 15 00:01:08.269 --> 00:01:13.189 beneath a ceiling full of brass pipes. Trains waited beside them. 16 00:01:13.890 --> 00:01:17.170 A blue train with square windows, a red one no 17 00:01:17.209 --> 00:01:20.329 longer than a bus, and a silver train with no 18 00:01:20.430 --> 00:01:26.140 driver's cab at all. Every destination sign read, Nowhere Yet. 19 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:31.170 A station clock above the platforms had six hands. Each 20 00:01:31.310 --> 00:01:34.420 pointed in a different direction, and none of them moved. 21 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:38.519 A conductor in a green coat hurried toward the elevator. 22 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:43.459 You're from upstairs, he said. Good. Can you read this? 23 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.909 He held out a hotel luggage tag. Nor recognized Aunt 24 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:55.090 Salma's handwriting. Blue Harbor. Via Clock Bridge. Where did you 25 00:01:55.129 --> 00:01:59.859 get that? It arrived with the others. Behind him, hundreds 26 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:04.120 of tags covered a long table. Red strings, blue strings, 27 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:10.370 yellow strings, names, room numbers, and destinations were mixed together. Somehow, 28 00:02:10.930 --> 00:02:14.770 every luggage tag lost in the hotel had been finding 29 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:19.289 its way down to floor zero. The tags usually told 30 00:02:19.349 --> 00:02:23.659 the station where it trains should go. That day, they 31 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:27.530 had arrived without being sorted. and no train knew which 32 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:31.740 route belonged to it. I need to take these towels 33 00:02:31.819 --> 00:02:35.259 to five, Noor said. The elevator will not go up 34 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:39.639 while the station is blocked. Noor did not step onto 35 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:43.319 a train. She stood on the platform where she could 36 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:48.120 still see the elevator and called Aunt Salma. Her phone worked, 37 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.860 though every word echoed twice. Stay where you are, Aunt 38 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:58.360 Salma said. I'm coming down. There isn't usually a zero button. 39 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:04.280 There is now. A few minutes later, the elevator opened again. 40 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:08.689 Aunt Salma stepped out, carrying the front desk master key, 41 00:03:09.129 --> 00:03:13.669 a radio, and an expression, nor new, meant there would 42 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:20.030 be questions later. She examined the nearest tags. These are ours, 43 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:25.099 she said. The colored strings show which tour desk handled 44 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:30.349 the luggage. The Blue Harbor group used blue string. Mountain 45 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:35.710 travelers used green. The wedding party used gold. The chess 46 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:40.669 club's tags were black and white, although several guests had 47 00:03:40.750 --> 00:03:44.849 tied both colors together because they thought it looked better. 48 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:50.139 Noor and Aunt Salma began sorting. The conductor rolled empty 49 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:55.080 luggage carts beside each platform. Blue Harbor tags went to 50 00:03:55.139 --> 00:04:01.000 platform two. Mountain tags went to four. Gold strings went 51 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:04.280 to the long red train, which had curtains in every window. 52 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:08.360 The black and white tags caused trouble. One read Castle Square. 53 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:14.840 Another said East Terminal. A third listed only Checkmate. That 54 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:19.360 one is a nickname, Aunt Salma said. Room 327. Mr. 55 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:23.259 Cho is traveling home to East Terminal. Nor added it 56 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:27.810 to the correct cart. As each group was completed, Letters 57 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:33.509 appeared on a train sign. Blue Harbor flickered above Platform 2. 58 00:04:33.509 --> 00:04:37.870 Mountain Line appeared over 4. One tag said, Home, and 59 00:04:37.930 --> 00:04:42.550 had no colored string, room number, or name. Which train 60 00:04:42.629 --> 00:04:46.480 gets this? Noor asked. The conductor placed it on the 61 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:51.819 small silver train. That one finds its own way. Noor 62 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:55.379 wanted to ask how, but the silver doors had already closed. 63 00:04:56.120 --> 00:05:00.410 The final unsorted tag belonged to a red suitcase from 64 00:05:00.449 --> 00:05:06.490 room 614. Aunt Salma remembered the family. Their tag had 65 00:05:06.629 --> 00:05:10.550 disappeared when the lobby luggage basket tipped near the elevator 66 00:05:10.589 --> 00:05:16.139 that morning. How are the tags reaching this station? Noor asked. 67 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:22.420 The conductor looked toward the ceiling pipes. Floor zero collects 68 00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:26.990 things that are lost between one place and another. This 69 00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:30.759 was not a useful explanation, but it seemed to be 70 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:35.639 the only one available. When the last tag reached its platform, 71 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:41.060 six whistles sounded. The trains departed one by one. The 72 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.589 blue train curved into a tunnel painted with waves. The 73 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:50.209 mountain train climbed a track that rose into darkness. The 74 00:05:50.290 --> 00:05:55.220 silver train simply became smaller until Noor could no longer 75 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:59.660 see it. The elevator bell rang. Noor and Aunt Salma 76 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:03.810 stepped inside with the towels. The conductor handed Aunt Salma 77 00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:08.930 a small brass clip.' For keeping loose tags together,' he said. 78 00:06:09.930 --> 00:06:13.750 The doors closed before she could refuse it. Back in 79 00:06:13.769 --> 00:06:17.480 the hotel, Aunt Salma moved the loose tag basket from 80 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:21.579 beside the elevator to the space behind the front desk. 81 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:25.930 She used the brass clip on the first bundle— Noor 82 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:30.329 finally delivered the towels to room 512. They were 43 83 00:06:30.329 --> 00:06:34.860 minutes late. The next morning, the zero button was gone. 84 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:41.899 One luggage tag remained in Noor's pocket. It said, Fifth floor. Towels. 85 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:45.879 She placed it in the new basket before the elevator 86 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:53.579 could collect it. The end. As always, visit us at ReadTheTale.com 87 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:56.689 for all your favorite tales and stories.