7 Something Nasty in the Lifts
Grandma Josephine had stopped screaming now. She had gonerigid with shock. The rest
of the group by the bed, including Charlie and Grandpa Joe,had become as still as stone.
They dared not move. They dared hardly breathe. And MrWonka, who had swung quickly
around to look when the first scream came, was asdumbstruck as the rest. He stood
motionless, gaping¹ at the thing in the lift, his mouth slightlyopen, his eyes stretched wide
as two wheels. What he saw, what they all saw, was this:
It looked more than anything like an enormous egg balancedon its pointed² end. It was as tall as a big boy and wider thanthe fattest man. The greenish-brown skin had a shiny wettishappearance and there were wrinkles in it. About three-quartersof the way up, in the widest part, there were two large roundeyes as big as tea-cups. The eyes were white, but each had abrilliant red pupil in the centre. The red pupils were resting onMr Wonka. But now they began travelling slowly across toCharlie and Grandpa Joe and the others by the bed, settlingupon them and gazing at them with a cold malevolent³ stare.
The eyes were everything. There were no other features, nonose or mouth or ears, but the entire egg-shaped body wasitself moving very very slightly, pulsing and bulging⁴ gently hereand there as though the skin were filled with some thick fluid.
At this point, Charlie suddenly noticed that the next lift wascoming down. The indicator⁵ numbers above the door wereflashing … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … L (for lobby). Therewas a slight pause. The door slid open and there, inside thesecond lift, was another enormous slimy wrinkledgreenish-brown egg with eyes!
Now the numbers were flashing above all three of theremaining lifts. Down they came … down … down … down …And soon, at precisely⁶ the same time, they reached the lobbyfloor and the doors slid open … five open doors now … onecreature in each … five in all … and five pairs of eyes withbrilliant red centres all watching Mr Wonka and watchingCharlie and Grandpa Joe and the others.

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