33 Floors- Part 1
Mathieu Barnette was not the kind of fox to be satisfied with the small things in life. He wanted things which were large for the town of Bien Faisant and as the city's mayor wanted to bring great talent in architecture and the illusion of bigness in this small WIsconsin town by creating a 33-floor model of the Chrysler building to tower over a city where the largest building was only 11 stories tall.So the great architect who he hired a lion known as Hiram Serra had been working for months on a plan for this great model of the Chrysler Building which would dominate the Bien Faisant skyline and render all the other buildings in the city insignifciant by comparison.
"Good morning, Mayor Barnette. I can say that this $62 million project is almost complete and I would like you to come inside. We already have many things planned for this building but we feel you need to come inside and enjoy, look around a bit" the lion said swishing his tail a bit as they walked through the door. "Now I'm a master architect but I know you want my secrets- how did I build such an interesting building?," Hiram said walking into the lobby with the mayor. "Well, it starts with a good foundation'".
In no time, Mathieu found himself in the basement of the building, a very mechanical room filled with electrical equipment. Out of the corner of the fox's eye, he saw amidst this metal of machinery,a stone rectangle which looked very much like a coffin or maybe an altar at first glance. According to Mr. Serra, he always built a white coffin a the start of each building project large or small to represent the germination of a new idea from what was once dead. Still, to see something made of stone in a room of electronic equipment was a bit unusual to say the least as the two left. Something to be feared was in that coffin, Mathieu thought as he walked up the stairs
When they were gone, the stone revealed its contents, opening magically on its own half-eaten corpse of a vixen struggled to and finally broke free from her white enclosure. Five young fox boys accompanied her and disposed of the coffin in a corner of the room.
"Take me to the lobby of the Chrysler Building. I have a feeling those two are at it- they must be stopped at all costs. This building must never be completed," she said as the cubs began a slow procession up the stairs, her frailty making it very difficult for them to make up the ground of the large basement to the stairs. She was frail and old and she kept on insisiting that no one go in front of her or step up the stairs until she did so this vixen would drag her entourage of young fox cubs behind.
In the parking lot outside the building...
"See, Mr. Barnette, this trowel was very important to me as I built. It reminds me of what it means to be meticuluous in building. Now I know you're the mayor and I know you like cars as well. And I've prepared a gift for you- five Chrysler Imperials which you can enjoy once this building is complete. Each of the five cars has a different design on them and a slightly different model."
They were all black Chrysler Crown Imperials, all manufactured in 1967 according to Serra but each had a different mark painted on the front. The first showed a winged boot which looked according to Barnette's eyes, similar to the Goodyear logo. The second showed a painting of U.S. and British flags arranged diagonally. The third which Serra described as indicative of the project, showed a double-headed eagle both legs haunched on a six-pointed star, and the number 33 tattooed on its chest. The fourth showed a triskelion, the three-legged symbol radiating from a central axis, a popular symbol first seen in the Isle of Man between Britain and Ireland. And the fifth car showed paisley patterns on an oval-shaped field bisected by a white line. All of them were beautiful and Barnette wanted to drive all of them but then he saw something very weird- models of fuel-tank caps in the backseats.
"Those fuel caps must be filled with wet cement by my trowel before we can enter." Serra was an eccentric lion but this seemed a little bit well off-kilter for the fox. Paying tens of millions wasn't enough to see the work done on a building he had to convince the city council to buy with tens of millions of tax money to create. The cars were nice but what good were they when all the fox wnated to do was see the inside of a building he had paid other people's money for.
"And now you must wear this apron", Serra said. The apron itself was something that welders would wear before starting a project to keep burning sparks away from their more sensitive areas. Why would anyone need a lead smock when using wet cement? And why would anyone need to use cement on models of fuel tank caps found in the backseats of several cars in the first place? But Barnette knew better than to question the master architect for this wonderful tower which would pierce the skies itself.
"Remember there's still some stuff left undone in this beautiful work of art, this tower to the heavens so we must always have safety, my friend."
"And so... Mr. Barnette," the lion said resting his paw on the shoulder of the mayor after putting on his apron "the journey up the Chrysler building begins on Floor 1".