Chasing Elegants - Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things - page 89

“Hey, Laurie, take a look at this.” Xor was clinging to a sign that read Please Ring for Ser-
vice . A little bell hung below it. They looked at each other and shrugged. Xor gave it a
whack with his tail.
rang the bell, much louder than such a tiny thing should be allowed to.
Xor was right next to it. The little lizard turned bright indigo and fell to the ground.
Laurie had to cover her ears until the sound died away.
When it was all over, the young Elegants were nowhere to be seen. Laurie gathered Xor in
her hands. His skin was white and his eyes were rolling around in different directions.
“Xor! Are you okay?”
“I think so. That scared the blue right out of me!”
A hissing sound from overhead made Laurie look up. An elevator box was lowering itself to
the ground in front of them. They flinched as the door opened with a polite ding!
Laurie picked up her package and, with a last look around, stepped inside. The door closed,
and the elevator rose fast enough to make her toes crinkle and her stomach go roly-poly.
When the door opened again, they were a hundred yards up in the air, inside the basket. It
was like a little apartment. There was a desk, a bed, and some cozy chairs. A wrinkly-faced
old man with a gray beard and pointy ears was smiling at her.
“Is this . . . are you Fresnel Goodglass? I'm Laurie. I have a package for you.”
“Yes, it is! Yes, I am! Yes, you are! And thank you!” the man said, taking the package. “Wel-
come to my Floating Lighthouse. What do you think?”
“This isn't a lighthouse ,” Laurie said, testing the woven floor with her foot before getting off
the elevator. “It's a balloon!”