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I've always had nightmares about elevators.

I think it's because when I was a kid growing up in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War,

I sometimes got stuck in our buildings elevator during the frequent power cuts.

People could be trapped for hours before someone came to the rescue.

The Civil War ended over 30 years ago, but these days I'm just as anxious about elevators.

Since Lebanon's economy collapsed in 2019, the country has been starved of electricity.

I've found myself stuck in my buildings elevator three or four times recently,

when the power has suddenly gone out.

A while ago, I had this new dream. I'm in an elevator going down.

There are people with me. As it descends, the elevator hitches a little and the whole car shutters.

I'm not that afraid though because we're almost at the ground floor,

and I feel like from that height we can survive the fall.

But then the elevator doesn't stop. It continues to go down, and there are so many more levels

below ground. All the possible exits are bricked up. We're just trapped, grinding downward,

panicking because we have no idea how far we're going to plunge.

I woke myself up too terrified to find out what might happen next.

I don't need any help interpreting this dream. When I tell anyone here, they immediately

understand it too. Over the last few years, Lebanon has been through crisis after crisis.

...