It was a dark and eerie night and the wind was howling. Tall Cool One was at a conference and I was home alone. He had been gone for a little over an hour. The wind was really howling outside and there was a fire burning in the wood stove to keep it warm and toasty inside. Suddenly the power blinked. I thought, "Oh no, this is not going to be good." Immediately I went searching for the emergency candle we had stashed and I located the flashlight and my favorite book.
Two more blinks and the power was out. "No problem," I thought, "I have the candle, my book and the wood fire will keep it nice and warm in here." Two minutes later a big gust of wind moved the chimney, or so it seemed and smoke started filling the living room. I panicked. The living room was becoming filled with smoke and soon all of the smoke detectors were bleep, bleep, bleeping. I did not want to call Tall Cool One to come home. I had to get a grip and calm down. I was running through the house, opening all the doors, the windows and trying to remember what he had told me about taking care of the stove. I put on the welders gloves, opened the stove and grabbed the burning wood. I flung it out the front door onto the lawn. I stood there for a minute shaking and getting my emotions under control.
A few minutes later the smoke cleared from the house and the bleep, bleep, bleeping finally stopped. I closed the doors and accepted the fact that a blanket would be the way to keep warm for the evening. Then the darkness really set in. I noticed as vehicles went by, every shadow became three dimensional. The wind blew harder and the noisy creeks in the house grew louder. Every so often a fire truck siren or a police car could be heard in the distance and our blind dog would howl at the sound.
Ever notice how more intense everything seems in the dark? Me being the writer I think I am, should have taken advantage of the moment. It's dark and eerie and storms are about us. Use the experience and write. Instead, my mind goes back to every slasher scary movie I ever saw as a teenager. I think Jason Voorhees is going to come through the window on the porch with his machete. I'm scared to go to the bathroom because I know Michael Myers is standing behind the door and the second I get in there he's going to stab me with his knife. And if I go out in the kitchen for a glass of water, Thomas Hewitt is out there waiting for me with the chain saw. So I stay on the couch, curled up with a blanket tucked tightly under my chin. Pretty vivid imagination, huh?
As if the fictional characters aren't scaring me enough, I start visualizing the real ones. Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, David Berkowitz, Albert DeSalvo, Ed Gein and Ted Bundy are the faces I recognize in my head right away. Most likely because they are the most famous, the ones that the media had field days with. I'm having nightmares and I'm not even sleep.
Five hours of being alone in the dark without power, or phone or anything ... I didn't even have batteries for a radio. Not fun. I was frightened so I prayed. It wasn't long when I realized I was inside, I had my faithful doggy, I was not getting shot at, I was not being hunted, I was safe for the most part. Sometimes we forget that all we have to do is ask. He answered and I am thankful.
