When Ned wakes again, it’s to a darkness so
complete, so black, he has to blink to assure himself his eyes are
open. Even the numbers on the VCR’s clock have gone out,
extinguished like a candle in the wind. There is nothing to see and
nothing to hear except the distant storm. Ice strikes the windows
like sand. Common everyday sounds Ned normally never notices—the
whirr of the fridge, the heat when it clicks on, the almost
subconscious hum of electricity—they’ve all disappeared. When Ned
shifts on the couch, he feels cold air seep into the warm pockets
of body heat trapped beneath the blanket. No power, no heat…a
silent night.
A sudden, heavy knock at the kitchen door
kicks his heart into a rapid beat. Ned throws back the blanket,
trips over the coffee table when he stands, an
