And The Windows Were All Black

She took the steps two at a time, her bare feet pounding against the polished mahogany. Light flew down around her in streaks from the hanging glass lamps. She could hear the movie soundtrack begin to play on the television downstairs. She flung herself to the top of the stairs and yelled over her shoulder, “Fuck, guys, pause it already! I don't wanna miss the first scene!”

Her friends' laughter was their only response. She darted through the green door that led to her room, snatched an orange pillow from her bed, and spun around. She could hear the deep voice of the actor as he began to narrate the story.

She paused long enough to glance in the full length mirror plastered to her pale wall, next to the window. She ran her fingers through her dark hair and pinched her pale cheeks till they looked a bit redder. The sleeveless turtle neck she wore was covered in cat hair from that stupid bundle of white fluff Marion had brought with her, the fur stood out in sharp contrast to the black cloth. She brushed viciously at it, but then remembered the movie and gave up.

She flew out of her room as a scream came from the television followed by a wellspring of violin music. Clutching the orange pillow, she snatched the banister and vaulted into the air, landing on the fourth stair down with a resounding bump. Just as she flung her foot toward the next stair, the lights above her flickered, fluttered, and went out. A chorus of annoyed voices greeted the sudden silence of the television.

She slunk the rest of the way down the stairs in darkness. By the time she had reached the bottom, Marion had found a flashlight and Daryn was clutching Marion's cat while he tried to dig through his backpack at the same time. The flashlight hit her face and Marion giggled. She covered her eyes with one hand and flung the pillow at her friend.

“Don't be so childish. What happened to the electricity? This sucks, I didn't even get to see part of the movie. Now what are we goanna do?” She said.

Marion ducked so that the pillow collided with Daryn who dropped the cat in surprise and cursed as the ball of fluff disappeared into the darkness. Marion shrugged, her purple pigtails bobbing just above her shoulders. “You're so grumpy, Lexia.”

Daryn pulled his cell phone out of his backpack. “I'll call the electric company and ask them what's going on. Maybe a tree hit a power line or something. When are your parents coming home, Lex?”

Lexia snatched the flashlight from Marion's hand and stumbled over to a set of floor length windows that framed the white front door. Gauzy curtains hung over their surface like mist. She pushed one aside and peered out. A sliver of moon hung low in the sky, scraping the gray roofs of the houses that lined her street. A thin tree bent over the neighbor's gate and its branches were so long that they fell into her yard and deposited pale flowers over her family's neatly trimmed lawn. A thin cement walk led from her doorway to join the main sidewalk. A styrofoam cup sat in the street gutter.

There was nothing unusual about the sight. There was no shadowy figure in the distance, no howling wind and pounding rain, nothing to alert her to the real reason for the sudden failure of the electricity. She let the curtain fall back into place.

“There aren't any tall trees around here and nothing to knock them down either.” Lexia mused. “But I suppose we aren't the only unlucky ones, every window on the block is black. After you call the electric people, we should call my parents and complain to them. Maybe they'll let us go to your house and finish the movie.” She said, flicking the flashlight at Daryn.

“Sounds good to me.” He replied. He flicked open his phone and held it up to his ear. His mouth twisted into a slight frown and wrinkles appeared on his forehead. After a moment, he clicked the phone shut and arched his eyebrows above his blue green eyes. “No dial tone, just static.”

Marion joined Lexia at the window and pressed her cheek against the glass, her plump lips pressed into a kind of half pout. “Weird.” She said. Then grinning she poked her friend and added, “But I bet the stars will be pretty! I'm sure the lights will come back on in a sec, why don't we enjoy this rare chance to see past the glare of street lamps?”

“I had wanted to see the movie.” Lexia muttered.

Daryn was still frowning and staring at his cell phone. At Marion's insistence he stuffed it into his pocket and walked to the door. Lex muttered but followed her friends outside.

Their breath billowed around them in small clouds of warm air. They stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the stars in a half hearted fashion. A car drove past, its headlights momentarily painting the three teenagers with color. They sketched in Daryn's red jacket and black t-shirt, his black jeans and black converse. The light trapped itself in his short black hair and revealed the threads of red in it. It jumped onto the skull earring that dangled from his ear. Then it left him and crashed against Marion's short purple dress and the amethyst choker around her neck. It played against the purple contacts that changed the color of her eyes to match her pigtails. Finally it washed over Lexia's bare feet, her blue jeans covered in colorful patches, her turtleneck and her pale face, her red lips and deep green eyes which were bordered by eyeliner of the same color.

When they again stood in shadows, Lexia shivered. “Yah, the stars look nice. Who wants to go back inside where it's warm?”

“And do what?” Marion asked. “Sit in the dark and stare at the dark TV for a few hours? No thanks.”

“Why don't we go get something to eat? It's...” Daryn looked at his watch. “Almost ten o'clock. I think there's an all night cafe a couple blocks that way. At least it will have light.”

“Fine with me.” Lexia said. “Why don't we go to the electronics store afterwards and watch the movies they're playing on their TVs? Or we could always pretend to be sick and watch the TV they have in the hospital waiting room.”

They followed Daryn along the sidewalk. Lexia kept expecting to see lights in the houses that they passed, but it seemed the electricity was down all along the street. The flashlight traced their route. When they reached the end of the street, where residential gave way to small businesses and grubby gas stations, they stopped in shock.

A wall of noise hit them.

A wall of light blinded them.

Cars sat in various positions, some upside down, others smashed into the bumpers of those before them or into the walls of buildings and the trunks of small trees. Glass was everywhere. Horns blared. People shouted. In the distance sirens howled but ambulances obviously could not get through without taking to back alleys and side streets. It took Lexia a moment to understand the cause of the crashes. Although there was a lot of light, it all came from the headlights of the stalled or broken cars.

Every window in every shop was dark save for the occasional dance of candle flame. Every neon sign was grey. Every street lamp was dead. Every stoplight was dead. She imagined what had happened, tracing the chain of events from the death of the stoplights to the crash of one car and then another and the swerve of one to miss the two that had crashed and the swerve of another and the panic of a driver at the screech of metal all around them...

“What's happened?” Marion was open mouthed.

“I think we need to find a radio, or something. A phone that works, a policeman. I don't know why, but this seems like more than just a black out.” Lexia said.

Daryn held out his phone. “There's no reason that this shouldn't work unless something happened to the cell phone tower as well as the electricity.”

“Maybe we should just go home.” Marion wrung her hands together. “This is dangerous to be out right now... And my poor cat is at your house in the dark, she's probably terrified.”

“We need to know what's happening.” Lexia said, shaking her head.

Next Installment to be posted Nov. 30th or sooner