An elevator

I dreamed I was traveling to the gym to do some grappling. From across the way, in a kind of arcade, I saw one of my training partners walking towards me. I was waiting for the elevator to arrive, as the gym was on the fourth floor of an old prewar building; the elevator itself was a narrow, rickety affair, like something you'd see in Europe. When I looked again, my training partner seemed not to notice me and suddenly ducked out of site. I figured she was taking the stairs, and then in my mind I resolve to race her up to the gym, human vs. machine. The elevator arrived, and I got in, but apparently it was under construction...it was literally just a platform on a rope extending up into the darkness, with paint-splattered drywall visible on all sides. The elevator, creaking, began to slowly rise, and I thought I heard my training partner's footsteps on the stairs. I pressed buttons feverishly, hoping to urge the stupid mechanism on, but instead it slowed to a crawl, and even slid back down a few inches; now I was stuck between floors. I could hear folks training above me someplace. Would I be trapped in this forgotten elevator shaft forever?