On the Way Up and Down by Tirzah Tyler Cara's thighs felt as heavy as rocks as she climbed the building's dark, narrow staircase. "I can't believe the elevator . . . ," she said, "decided to stop working . . . on the exact day that we scheduled my appointment." Out of breath, she coughed. Wheezing, Cara's mother trudged several steps behind her. The rings on her mother's fingers clinked on the stair railing while she clutched it tightly. "Mom, are you all right?" Cara asked. "Yes," Cara's mother replied. "Just kidding. No." A couple of minutes later, Cara and her mother arrived at Dr. Morrisfield's office. A nurse gave each of them a bottle of water and apologized repeatedly for the elevator being out of order. Cara wiped a sweaty strand of blonde hair away from her face and took a long drink of cool water. Her mother bent down in her seat and took deep breaths, and sweat dripped from her glasses. A teenage boy entered the waiting room. "Why in the world . . . , " he asked out