I remember there was this one night, I was watching television when all of a sudden, everything went ridiculous dark. The power’s gone out. I jumped, not out of fear but because it happened suddenly. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest because first of all, I couldn’t see anything and there were stairs very nearby.

“What’s going on?” A voice from upstairs asked.

“Power’s out.” I was like duh. Did she think I turn off everything? For some reason, my mom rather sit in the dark to browse the internet than turn on the bedroom light.

I slowly made my way up the three steps from the living room to the kitchen-dining combination to search for the flashlight in the dark in our oh so messy drawer. I feel around the drawer and couldn’t find the flashlight. I began to panic and perhaps a teeny tiny bit of tears did squeeze from my eyes. A million thoughts ran through my mind at the same time.

Where’s the damn flashlight? Why can’t we be more prepared in these situations? Why can’t she just invest some money in some flashlights? We don’t use it often doesn’t mean we won’t need it.

“Did you find the flashlight?”

“NO!” I said, frustrated.

She clicked her tongue and came down the stairs. She pushed me aside and went on a rampage in the drawers to search for the flashlight. At last, after making a large mess, she found the flashlight. By then about 10 minutes has passed. “Is it just us?” She asked and shined her way to the basement to check the fuses while I went to the living room window.

The street outside was crazy dark and none of the houses had any lights. “It’s everyone.” I replied.

“Call the power company.”

I made my way up the stairs to my room and search for my cell which was easy guided by the bright light coming from the computer screen. I dialed the number to the power company but it informed me that the power can be out from an hour to 8 hours which is very bad for three reasons:

1. The night is warm and I cannot sleep without a fan
2. A refrigerator full of food and milk that can go bad
3. No light and hot water to shower

Just as I began to panic some more, I heard a beep and something lit up downstairs. The power had been restored and now I need to reset everything. Great, Excellent, Perfect.