Beth Ann had no idea how long she sat on the living room floor with her coat still on, but she drew comfort from the closeness of her dog. Suddenly, Romeo leaped out of her arms and released one short bark, startling her. Before she had time to react, she heard a heavy knocking on the front door...directly beside where she was sitting. Romeo stood, alert and staring at the door, but Beth Ann noticed that his tail was wagging ever so slightly.
Quietly rising to see who it was, she could feel her heart pounding. Relieved to see her next door neighbor, she opened the door. “Oh, my gosh! I’m so glad to see you!” she said, impulsively hugging him and inviting him in.
Gary Howard stood stiffly and awkwardly in front of her, shifting his weight from one side to the other as he waited for her to calm herself. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Just saw you come home and wanted to check on you,” he explained. “Did your car break down or something?”
“I...uh...don’t know.” When Gary lifted one eyebrow, Beth Ann rushed on. “I was working when the electricity went out and then we couldn’t get the phones to work and there were cars all over the street and....”
Gary held up his hand. “Whoa, whoooooa! Okay. Just relax for now. I will take you over to the diner later and look at it.”
“How about tomorrow? The roads are terrible and maybe they’ll plow at some point...if they can get around all the cars on the roads....” Her voice trailed off. Everything was just...weird.
Gary chuckled. “Okay. Tomorrow it is.” He held a small container out in front of him. “Linda sent you over some homemade soup she was making us for lunch, before the power went out. It’s cold now, but she wanted you to have some for dinner in case the electricity doesn’t come back on by then.”
Beth Ann’s heart warmed as she took the small plastic storage container. “Please tell her I said ‘thank you.’ It’s so nice of her to think of me.”
“Well, with our son living out west now, we need someone to dote on! So you’re it!” Gary grinned at her, but Beth Ann thought she caught a passing glimpse of wistfulness in his eyes. Plus, she had a feeling that her parents had put in a request for their neighbors to look in on her.
She smiled back at him compassionately. No wonder her parents were such close friends with the Howards. They were good, old-fashioned, genuinely kind people. “Mr. Howard? Do you have any idea when we’ll have the electricity back?” She figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Sure don’t. Do you want to come over and stay with us for a little while?”
“No, thanks, that’s ok. I’ve got my dinner,” she held up the soup container, “and I’m going to catch up on some reading. It’ll be a nice change of pace.”
“Okay. Well, if the electricity is still out when you go to bed, make sure you dress warm and have extra blankets. In fact, see if your dog will sleep under the covers with you–that will help. If you light any candles, don’t leave them burning. I’ll come over and check on you in the morning. If you need anything in the meantime, no matter what time it is, just come on over. Got it?”
“Got it!” Beth Ann nodded, realizing how much she missed her parents. She sure would be happy to see them in a few short days.
As Gary turned and stepped out into the cold, Beth Ann noticed that the snow falling was much lighter and the flakes were smaller, a sign that it was either letting up, or getting colder, or both. “Oh, Mr. Howard?” He stopped and turned on the steps to face her. “Not too early tomorrow, okay? I don’t have to work till lunchtime.” He laughed and assured her that he would let her sleep in.
***
The day had not been bright at any point, but Beth Ann could definitely tell that now the fading light was due to the invisible sun setting, rather than to the snow clouds that hid it. It must be going on 5:00 or after, she estimated. How many times had she checked her phone since she got home? Even with a dead battery, the habit had persisted! I guess I’m not going to get a call from mom and dad tonight, she realized with surprising disappointment. I hope they don’t worry.
It had been a rough day, but Beth Ann’s romantic side decided to make the most of the break in the routine. Humming a tune from My Fair Lady, she buttered a slice of bread and added it to a tray with her cold, but lovingly homemade soup and other essential dinner items like a spoon and vase of dried flowers. Working by candlelight, she set up two tray tables side-by-side in the living room and covered them with a floral table cloth that her mom rarely used. Finally, everything was ready. Wrapped in a blanket, her dog lying on her feet, candles glowing and a yellowed copy of Anne of Green Gables in her hand, the only thing missing was a fireplace...and a man to share it with.
***
Beth Ann did not sleep well on her second night home alone. Between feeling cold and hearing every little creak of the house and moan of the wind, she felt as though she woke up at least twice an hour. Meanwhile, the night dragged on until her sleep-deprived brain began to wonder if she would be stuck in darkness and cold forever. At some point, she must have slept deeply enough to allow the sun to rise without her knowledge. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked back painful tears; her room was so bright that it seemed to glow.
Curiosity drove her to crawl out of the warm cocoon of blankets to look out the window. Quickly slipping her feet into plush slippers and pulling on a fleece robe as she crossed the room, she moved aside the white cotton eyelet panels and involuntarily caught her breath. It looked like a painting: undisturbed, pristine, and too perfect to be real. A cold, white sun blazed in a cloudless, deep blue sky. Snow covered everything–trees and grass, houses and cars–and it shimmered like diamonds. The reflection was almost painful. She squinted and shielded her eyes with her hand. What is the opposite of yesterday? she asked herself. Today! After the darkest night, this bright day gave her hope that everything would turn out alright.
Beth Ann shuffled to the kitchen to get her morning caffeine fix and found herself gazing at the lifeless coffee maker. Oh, no...not my coffee.... How am I going to get through my day? She opened the five-pound coffee can, inhaled the glorious aroma, and closed her eyes. Completely unsatisfied, she turned to Romeo. “Come on boy, I’m freezing. Let’s get dressed.”
She layered some old thermals under sweatpants and a hoodie, and pulled on a pair of fluffy “spa” socks over cotton athletic socks. She dressed Romeo in his sweater, too; he didn’t protest as much as usual. Her fingers were nearly numb with cold, so she cut the tips off an old pair of stretch gloves and wore them all day. That seemed to help, although she laughed out loud when she caught the reflection of a hobo in the mirror.
As she struggled to fix her hair without her accustomed amenities, she wished for any heat source, no matter how small. Remembering that her dad would sometimes run heat in the garage, she wandered into the garage in search of the heater. Unfortunately, it was electric. Rustling through some boxes nearby, she did find a little camping stove with a small propane tank, but she decided to hang onto that for cooking. Truthfully, she wasn’t very comfortable using it; her dad or brother had always taken care of that sort of thing while she was off with her friends.
Thinking of her friends made her feel isolated. Even though it had only been a day, she missed being able to call people and wished she could be with Kristen and Meghan right now. Kristen at least lived with her parents, so she would be okay. Meghan had been at work in Warren when the electricity went out in Tionesta; surely everything was fine at the hospital. Remembering the panicked look in Sally’s eyes, Beth Ann hoped everything had worked out for her and her son. Then she smiled, envisioning her parents walking hand-in-hand in the warm, foaming surf, completely oblivious to Tionesta’s plight. What a story she would have to tell them when they came home!
Since she couldn’t call anyone, or go anywhere, or watch TV, or get on the internet, there wasn’t much to do around the house. Heck, she couldn’t even cook meals or wash clothes to pass the time. She wandered around aimlessly for a while, with expectant Romeo at her heels. “Well, I guess we can wrap Christmas presents while it’s daylight,” she told him. She loved wrapping Christmas presents, but only if she could watch White Christmas at the same time. In this case, she wouldn’t even be able to listen to Christmas music; it just wouldn’t be fun. Sighing, she went about gathering all the supplies. The never-ending quiet was threatening her sanity.
When Mr. Howard showed up at the front door, Beth Ann was about halfway through her wrapping. She let him in and he got a first-hand glimpse of the hurricane zone on the dining room table.
“Being productive, I see! Very good!” Gary patted her on the shoulder and grinned. Beth Ann forced a laugh and tried to hide her embarrassment over the mess; her mother would have been horrified! He didn’t seem to notice her discomfort. “How was your night?”
“I didn’t sleep very well, but I didn’t have any real problems. Any news from the power company?”
“Not yet. I guess it’s hard to get any communication out with phone lines and cell service out on top of the electricity. It seems kind of strange....” His voice faded and he shook his head slowly. “You know, I went out to warm up my car to take you to the diner, and it wouldn’t start either. Something doesn’t add up.” Gary had been a volunteer firefighter for many years when he was younger, and he still seemed to have a sense about things.
Beth Ann knew he was right. She could feel it deep inside.
Gary looked at her then and must have realized that she needed a little encouragement. He smiled. “All we need right now is a plan. I don’t know how far-reaching the outage is, so I’m worried about water. If the treatment plant doesn’t have electric, we won’t have any more running water once the tower is empty...which will be very soon. Gather all the clean pots and pans, plastic and glass containers that you can find and fill them with tap water. Just line them up on the counter or wherever you have room. Then, fill the bathtub as full as you can with cold water; you will be able to use this sparingly for washing and flushing. This is kinda gross, but the toilet rule is now ‘If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.’” Gary grinned, as if he took some kind of third-grade pleasure in the potty humor.
Beth Ann grimaced.
He laughed at her anticipated reaction. “And for your meals today, eat anything you can out of the fridge...but not if it smells sour. Keep the fridge and freezer doors shut unless absolutely necessary, and when you do open them, be as fast as possible. If we still don’t have power by tonight, you will need to put all the frozen foods outside on the back porch. Just check it tomorrow and make sure it’s not in the sunlight. We might have to think about what we can do to save it, since the temperature one of these days will probably come back up above freezing.”
Beth Ann just nodded her head slowly, her eyes growing larger. She was starting to understand that the situation was a little more serious than she had thought.
Gary tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. We just plan for the worst-case scenario so we’re good no matter what, right? Let’s deal with tomorrow as it comes.”
She nodded again and mechanically repeated, “Fill containers and bathtub with water. Eat the fridge food. Keep the fridge and freezer doors shut as much as possible. Put the frozen stuff outside tonight.”
“Right. That’s good! Okay. Don’t forget the offer still stands for you to come on over with Linda and me, even to spend the night or to stay. You don’t have to be over here alone,” he reiterated.
Beth Ann realized she had been staring at the floor, and she lifted her eyes to his face. “You keep forgetting that I’m not alone,” she responded with forced bravado, bending down to hug Romeo, who was always nearby. “But, thank you. I’ll let you know if it comes to that.”
“I may try to walk into town after lunch to see if the mayor is in. We’ll see. It’s sunny today, and the wind has let up, so it’s probably a good day for a walk. I’ll let you know what I find out.” He smiled and turned to leave. She followed him to the front door. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned and said, “When you’re done there,” nodding his head toward the mess on the dining room table, “Linda has a boatload of Christmas presents you could wrap.”
Beth Ann laughed. She was grateful for this kind man, for someone to look after her. She didn’t realize how much she had relied on her parents...for pretty much everything. Locking the door behind him, she noticed other neighbors in the street, talking. She watched as Gary joined the small group and chatted casually, the bulk of the conversation involving mutual head nodding and shrugging.
Turning back to her wrapping, she finished quickly and cleaned up. She knew that she had to work on Gary’s recommended jobs, but she was hungry and wanted to eat first. Surely it was well after lunch by now. But then, she didn’t know what time it was when she woke up. She let out a moan of frustration; there had to be something in the house that could tell her the time.
She rummaged through her dad’s nightstand and a couple of drawers in the bathroom, but couldn’t find his watch. It was an awkward feeling to be going through her parents’ stuff, but they would understand. Her second thought was to check the hunting and camping bins in the garage. The 18-gallon plastic tub marked “camping” had a wind-up style alarm clock which would be useful...once she knew the current time. She also found a sleeping bag which she would add to her bed for warmth, a battery operated lantern, outdoor cooking pans and utensils, and some hand and feet warmers. Eureka! She opened one of the small orange packs and shook it, relishing the heat soaking into her palms.
Her stomach growled, indicating it was time to eat...right now. She had spent enough time looking through the camping bins; she would look through the hunting stuff later, if it was necessary. Turning on the water in the kitchen sink, she soaped her hands and began to lather. Just then, the water made a short spurting noise, like when there is air in the line, and returned to normal. Her eyebrows lifted and her chest heaved: ...must...turn...off...water.... In slow motion, she turned off the faucet and leaned against the sink, staring at the rivulets racing for the drain. A light dawned. I should have listened to Mr. Howard right away!
Plugging the tub and letting the faucet run, she raced through the house, gathering every pot and bucket she could find, including the hunting and camping bins which she simply emptied onto the garage floor. She filled them all with water from the tap, and covered each container so that Romeo didn’t drink out of them with his slobbery muzzle.
***
A couple hours later, Beth Ann was bored out of her mind. She was supposed to work the afternoon shift today, but just getting to the restaurant was out of the question. She had even lost interest in reading; all the books on her shelves she had read before...many more than once. She had to get out of the house.
Taking Romeo on his leash, Beth Ann paid a visit to the Howards out of pure desperation. Linda opened the door and welcomed Beth Ann in. Handing her the empty container, Beth Ann thanked Linda for the delicious soup and asked if they had the current time. She set the wind-up clock to 4:07 p.m.; it was later than she had estimated. What a relief it would be just to know the time!
Gary had not yet returned from town, so Linda invited her to stay and have some hot tea with her while she waited. Beth Ann forced herself not to roll her eyes...or worse yet, smirk. Tea time? She could think of a thousand things she would rather do...but most of them involved electronics. Coffee was what she craved, but right now anything hot to drink suddenly sounded like a good idea. And she didn’t want to be rude, so she accepted.
Beth Ann watched as Linda took a flat metal gadget, unfolded it and set a cube under it. With a match she lit the cube into a blazing flame, like a miniature stove! A small pan of water was boiling in no time.
Linda chuckled as she watched Beth Ann’s reaction. “We used to take this thing camping with us. But it’s been...I don’t know, ten or eleven years since we’ve been camping. Our son was still in high school. We didn’t know if the starters would even light, but they seem to be okay. Now I wish we had stocked up on them!”
It was strange, almost embarrassing and truly comical, to be having a neighborly chat with a woman her mom’s age. And to drink tea. It made her feel...older somehow. Yet, it was kind of nice, too. Linda did most of the talking and Beth Ann actually found herself halfway listening.
Gary arrived just as the light began to fade into the western sky. He reported that the town was mostly deserted and quiet, but he did talk with the sheriff and one of the town council members who happened to be in the municipal office at the time. All they knew was that the electrical plant on the outskirts of town was out of commission, as well as the water treatment plant. They cautioned him that the sewer was starting to back up into some of the lower lying homes in town and bubbling from some of the manholes. They were trying to find one of the water department employees to make rounds and manually close each house’s shut-off at the road, but as of yet, no one had been located. Only a handful of cars and trucks were running, one of which had been stolen, and another had been commandeered by the sheriff for his use. There were no communication lines open, so the sheriff planned to gather as many council members as he could find to discuss sending a small contingent of Tionestans to Oil City or Warren for assistance, probably tomorrow or the next day...if they still needed it.
Linda looked concerned. “So, you didn’t see the mayor?”
Gary shook his head. “No, he wasn’t there, and it doesn’t seem like anyone really knows how to handle the situation.”
“It’s very discouraging,” Linda said, and Gary agreed.
Beth Ann rose to leave. “Thanks for having me over. I’d like to get home before it’s completely dark.”
“Are you sure you won’t stay the night with us? We have plenty of room for you and Romeo,” Linda invited, reaching down to scratch the dog’s head.
Beth Ann politely declined. Deep down she held onto the hope that if she was home, things would eventually become normal again.
***
Beth Ann thought she heard voices...but they were small and far away. She strained to hear them. Who were they? Why were they distressed? Her legs wouldn't move; she struggled. She wanted to find them. Maybe they were cold, too. Wait–now they were shouting. Was it her parents? She had to help them! Why couldn't she move? Why was it so dark?
"Dad!" she shouted. Surrounded by the dreaded dark and cold, Beth Ann gradually realized that she was in her bed and had been dreaming. If only she could tell that to her heart, its deafening rhythm pounding in her eardrums. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm down. "Only a dream...only a dream," she repeated until she believed herself.
Ready to lie back down, she noticed that Romeo wasn't in bed with her. She called his name and was answered by a whine from what sounded like the other side of the small bedroom. "What's the matter, boy?" she crooned. "Come on up here. Up, up!" But Romeo whined more urgently and scratched at the door.
"Aah, really? You have to go out now?" Beth Ann moaned, crawled out of her dad’s sleeping bag beneath her bed covers, and stumbled out of bed. She pulled the covers up to the pillow in hopes that it would hold a little of her body heat to come back to. She opened the bedroom door and Romeo ran ahead. When she got to the kitchen door, he wasn't there, but she could still hear him whining and scratching.
"Romeo? Where are you?" she asked gruffly.
He barked urgently, as if she understood universal dog language. For some reason, he was in the living room, at the front door. She carefully made her way there, wishing she had thought to take one of her dad’s flashlights to bed with her. When she opened the door, Romeo bolted.
Instantly the panic from her dream came flooding back. Now she could hear the shouts clearly, and she saw dark shadows running down the snowy street. Frantically pulling on her boots and coat, she grabbed a flashlight and Romeo’s leash and ran out the door.
When she reached the sidewalk, she stopped, horrified. The glowing sky and the heavy smell of smoke cleared up the mystery. A neighbor’s house was fully engulfed in flames, while a small silhouetted crowd stood watching helplessly. She tried to call for Romeo, but a coughing fit overtook her. If anyone was still inside, there was no hope for them.