Winter Blackout

It was Wednesday, February 13, 2002. It was yet another snow day. Therefore, the school was out yet again.

Steve and Kevin were sitting in the living room watching TV while Dexter was chewing on a bone on the floor. They were just sitting there and not saying anything. And just before the next program on TV was about to come on, the TV went out.

Then somebody finally said something. "I'm gonna go see what's wrong with the TV.", said Kevin. Then Kevin got up to see why the TV just suddenly went out on them.

He checked the back and front of the TV. And he still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Then afterward, Kevin just stood there scratching his head.

Then he tried turning it on with the remote, but it wouldn't start. "Maybe you should turn on the TV without the remote Kev.", said Steve. Then Kevin did exactly that, but it still wouldn't turn on.

"You think I should just unplug it and plug it back up?", said Kevin. "Yeah, let's see what happens.", said Steve. Then just before Kevin tried that, Anna came into the living room.

"There's nothing wrong with the TV guys. The power went out on us.", said Anna. "Of course! The power! Why didn't that come to mind before?", said Kevin. Then Steve got up to turn on one of the lamps in the living room, but it wouldn't turn on.

"Yep, it's out alright.", said Steve. "Well, when is it gonna come back on mom?", said Kevin. "I'm not sure honey. I don't know how many people are affected yet or why the power outage happened in the first place.", said Anna.

"Hey, I've got a battery-powered portable AM/FM radio we can listen to. We can tune to the local news station to find out what's going on if anything.", said Steve. "Great! You remember where it is.", said Kevin. "Yeah, it's in our closet. I'll go get it.", said Steve.

Then Steve got up to go get his radio. "And it looks like I can't cook tonight since we can't use our electric stove. You all are gonna have to settle for bologna sandwiches tonight.", said Anna. "What in the world are we gonna do with no power?", said Kevin.

Then before Anna answered Kevin, Steve came back with his radio. He tuned in to WWJ Newsradio 950. "This just in, severe cold and blustery snowstorm knock out power across southeastern Michigan. The total number of people without power is not estimated yet. And restoration times are also not fully estimated yet. Stay with WWJ for the latest breaking news on this developing story.", said the WWJ news anchor.

Then Steve turned off his radio. "Well, I guess there's your answer.", said Steve. "No wonder we got the snow day today.", said Kevin.

"Yeah, it is pretty rough weather out there.", said Anna. "So, what now?", said Kevin. "We keep listening to the radio. You didn't hear what the man on the radio said?", said Steve.

"So, that's what we'll have to do fellas. Let's keep it on that station and stay informed on what's going on.", said Anna. Then Steve turned his radio back on and it was automatically back on the same station as before. Then the station continued to play on in the background.

Moments later, the news anchor from the station gave the listening audience a new update. "This just in, restoration time could be anywhere from few to several days.", said the news anchor. "Well, this is officially some garbage.", said Kevin.

"Wait, is our school located in southeastern Michigan?", said Steve. "Of course it is.", said Anna. "Yes! The school has no power. So this is like bonus school days for us.", said Steve.

"Yeah, but no electricity. What are we supposed to do until the power is restored? Huh?", said Kevin. "There are a lot of things you can do in a power outage, Kevin. More than you think.", said Anna. "Like what?", said Steve.

"Um...", said Anna. "You could draw.", said Anna. "Yeah, I'm gonna draw the power coming back on.", said Kevin. "Hey, that's the same thing I was gonna draw.", said Steve.

"You could also color, exercise, go play in the snow, write, etc. There are endless possibilities. You don't need technology to kill some time.", said Anna. "Why don't we see what Jamal is up to?", said Steve. "Great idea Steve. Let's go.", said Kevin.

Then Steve and Kevin proceeded to get up and get ready to head over to my place. "You kids have fun at Jamal's house!", said Anna. "Okay mom, we will!", said Steve. "Bye mom!", said Kevin. Then Steve and Kevin left their own home to come to visit me at my place.

They were making their way to my place inside the apartment complex. "Man, I wonder how Jamal is taking this whole power outage thing.", said Kevin. "I'm not sure. I guess we'll soon find out today.", said Steve.

Then they both walked down the stairs and came up to my door. Kevin knocked on my door. My mom was the one to answer our door this time.

"Hi, we just came to stop by and hang out with Jamal.", said Kevin. "Alright. And here he comes right now.", said, my mom. Then she stepped away from the door and I walked up to the door.

"Hey, Steve. Hey Kevin.", I said. "Hey, so look, as you might already know, there's been a huge power outage due to inclement weather.", said Steve. "Yeah, and we were just wondering how you're handling it so far.", said Kevin.

"Well, the TV went out on me before it happened. So, I've been doing nothing but coloring ever since.", I said. "Well, I guess mom was right after all.", said Steve. "Well, can we still come and hang out for a little while even though there's no power at this point?", said Kevin.

"Sure. Come on in guys.", I said. "Awesome!", said Steve. Then Steve and Kevin both came to my place for us to hang out with no electricity.

***

It was now early in the evening that day. Steve and Kevin returned home from my place. They closed the door behind them and proceeded to sit down in the living room.

"Guys, it's time for dinner!", said Anna. "Mom, instead of plain old sandwiches, why not just walk to the nearest payphone and order a pizza?", said Steve. "Wait, a payphone would also require electricity.", said Kevin.

"I'm sorry guys, that's all we have at the moment now that there's no electricity.", said Anna. "At least Dexter still gets to eat his normal food.", said Kevin. Meanwhile, Dexter was devouring his dog food near the dining room table.

"Well, let's go eat Steve.", said Kevin. "I'm right with you Kev.", said Steve. And then everybody got together at the dinner table in the dark.

The light source Steve's family had was multiple candles. "Alright family, let's all say grace.", said Kevin Sr. And then grace was said, and everybody started eating.

Later that evening, Steve and Kevin were in their room with a flashlight on as their only light source. Then Anna came into their room. "I'm putting candles in everybody's room so we can save the battery on all of our flashlights.", said Anna as she put the candle in their room.

"Thanks, mom.", said Kevin. Then she took out a lighter and lit the candle. Then the candle was lit and provided light for Steve and Kevin's room. Then Anna blew out the lighter.

"Alright, guys. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite.", said Anna. Then she left the room and closed the door. 'Well, I'm off to bed. Goodnight Kev.", said Steve. "Yeah, goodnight Steve.", said Kevin.

Then they both stretched and yawned before getting into bed and calling it a night. They got into bed and fell asleep. It was only a matter of time before the electricity came on again.

***

It was the next morning. Steve and Kevin woke up and got out of bed. They did some more yawning and stretching afterward.

Then Kevin went to turn on the light switch in the daylight. Then he looked at the light bulb and saw that there was no light coming from it. "Still no power dude.", said Kevin.

"Let's go see what's for breakfast.", said Steve. Then Steve left the room to do just that. "Hold up Steve! Wait for me!", said Kevin as he ran out of the room to follow his brother.

Then Steve and Kevin entered the dining room and sat at the dining room table. "Good morning boys! Now as you already know, we can't use the electric stove. Therefore, I can't cook what I was originally gonna cook for breakfast.", said Anna. "So, what's for breakfast mom?", said Steve. "Oatmeal.", said Anna.

"And we have a few leftover pop tarts that only you two boys can have.", said Anna. Then Anna served both of them oatmeal and Pop-Tarts. Then they started eating.

Later on that day, Steve and Kevin were killing more time until the power came back. They were killing time in their room. And then I knocked on Steve's door.

"I'll go get it.", said Steve. Then Steve walked to the front door. He opened the door and saw that it was me.

"Hey, you. What are you doing here?", said Steve. "Well, I was wondering if you were interested in the whole gang playing flashlight tag together.", I said. "Flashlight tag huh?", said Steve.

"Yeah, it would be super fun. Now since the telephones don't work, I have no way of contacting our other friends. So, I was thinking maybe I, you, and Kevin walk over to our friend's homes in person if they're interested in playing some flashlight tag.", I said. "So, we'll be playing when it's completely dark?", said Steve. "Yeah, Steve. Now I was thinking about playing outside, but that might not be a real safe environment. Then I thought about playing inside, but it might not be big enough and any of us could trip over something while chasing people.", I said.

"So, if we can't play outside or inside, where is it a good place to play?", said Steve. "The practice and performance facility of Two Seconds To Detroit. The apartment complex basement would be a pretty safe place to play. It's nice, quiet, and has plenty of space to start chasing people around. So, what do you say Steve.", I said. "I say I'm in. I'll go let Kev know about this. Then we should both be good to go.", said Steve.

"That's the blackout spirit, Steve! I'll be waiting right here while you go get your brother.", I said. "Alright, just wait right here.", said Steve. Then Steve left and I ended up waiting by Steve's front door.

***

It was now completely dark that evening. All of us were downstairs in the basement of the apartment complex. "Alright Jamal, what are the rules of this flashlight tag game?", said Brad.

"One person has to be it. This person will have the flashlight and will be responsible for 'tagging' people. If more than one person wants to be 'it,' you can draw straws, pick numbers out of a hat, or flip a coin.", I said. "Nah, let's just have one person be it.", said, Ariana. "Ok, Ariana. One person gets to be 'it' in this game.", I said.

"Since this was originally my idea, I'll go ahead and be 'it' first.", I said. "Now the person who is 'it' counts to 100, while everyone else hides. And I guess that'll be me.", I said. "The person who is 'it' should close their eyes during this time.", I said.

"After counting to the specified number, the person who is 'it' can then start to look for people. As with regular tag, once you are tagged, you are out. However, to tag someone in flashlight tag, the person who is 'it' must tag people with the beam of the flashlight and call their names.", I said. "In regular tag, if you can run faster than the 'it' person, you can evade them for a while. But with flashlight tag, the 'it' person can tag you with the light from a distance. Thus, while you are hiding, scope out your location, and look for other places you could dart behind. To avoid being tagged with the beam from the flashlight, you'll need to put something between yourself and the 'it' person.", I said. "Once someone is tagged, they become the new 'it' person, and the person who tagged them hands over the flashlight.", I said.

"With a rotating 'it' person, you will need to hide not only from the current 'it' person but from everyone playing the game. Be sure that none of your friends see where you hide!", I said. "Fantastic, can we play now?", said Nathan. "Just a few final warnings before we get started, Nathan.", I said.

"Because it's dark, make sure you don't lose anyone for too long or something might have happened to them.", I said. "Don't be upset if you lose! It's just a game!", I said. "Be careful not to shine a flashlight in someone's eyes!", I said.

"Alright, now we can get started!", I said. "And the game starts in 3...2...1...now!", I said. And as I started counting to 100, people began to hide as fast as they possibly could.

"98, 99, and 100.", I said. Then I began to slowly search around for everybody. Nobody made any kind of noise whatsoever.

"And what are we doing here behind the washing machine, Ariana!", I said as I pointed the flashlight at her. Then Ariana just sighed. "Alright, alright, you got me! I guess I'm 'it' now.", said, Ariana.

"Gimme that flashlight!", said, Ariana. Then I handed the flashlight over to her. Then once she got the flashlight, she started counting to 100 out loud while closing her eyes.

I ran and hid somewhere where she might not be able to find me. And everybody else shuffled up their hiding spots. That could be seen in the flashlight's ray, but it was happening in the darkness as well.

"97, 98, 99, 100.", said, Ariana. Then Ariana searched far and wide in the basement to tag any one of us. "Come out, come out wherever you are. None of you people can't hide forever.", said, Ariana.

Then all of us shuffled our hiding positions more and more. Ariana still couldn't find us. And then when the shuffling stopped for about fifteen seconds, Brad sneezed involuntarily.

Then Ariana immediately when to where the sneeze took place and spotted Brad. "I got you Brad!", said, Ariana. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gimme that freakin' flashlight.", said Brad.

Then Ariana handed Brad the flashlight. Then Brad closed his eyes and started counting to 100. While Brad was counting, we all shuffled our hiding spots once again.

We continued to play flashlight tag until it got boring and we got tired of it. "Alright, that was fun. What other cool games you think we should play in the dark?", I said. "I don't know man. I got nothing.", said Kevin.

"Yeah, me neither. There should be at least something fun we can do in the dark.", said Kevin. "I got it! How about we play Capture The Firefly?", said Amanda. "But there are no fireflies that I know of that hang out in the basement.", said Kevin.

"No, silly. In this game, Catch giant fireflies with the flashlight firefly game. These giant fireflies are kids. The rules are simple. One or more children designated as fireflies each get their flashlight. They flash the light on the flashlight once about every 30 seconds while the other children who aren't fireflies try to capture them.", said Amanda. "That sounds like a pretty cool flashlight game to me. Let's do it.", said Brad. "Alright, we'll go with Amanda's idea.", I said.

"Right on! Trust me, you're not gonna be disappointed.", said Amanda. Then we went ahead and played the flashlight game that Amanda recommended to us. We were all having fun and enjoying ourselves playing that game.

Then when we got done playing that game, it was time to decide what other activities suitable for a dark basement were ideal for us. "So, what else do you wanna do guys?", said Nathan. "I've got one! Flashlight Limbo. How low can you go with this flashlight game? Instead of limbo with a pole, play limbo with a flashlight. Lower the flashlight after each round, just like a limbo pole. If your body breaks the beam of the flashlight as you pass underneath, you're out.", said, Ariana.

Then we went with Ariana's idea. After we played some Flashlight Limbo, we were all trying to come up with the next fun thing to do in darkness. After we did eventually come up with something, we continually enjoyed the night along with the time we were spending together.

We let our childhood imaginations do the talking for us. And as a result, we came up with new, fun, and exciting things to do in the dark along with ways to cope with the power outage. Then it started getting late.

Then a man started coming down the stairs with a flashlight. "Hey guys, some dude is coming down the stairs.", said Brad. "Well, who do you think it could be?", said Steve.

"I don't know. Might be the apartment general manager or something.", I said. Then when the man got closer, it turned out to be Steve's dad. "Steve, Kevin, it's getting pretty late, but I and your mother have both decided to give you kids a little more time to play around in the dark.", said Kevin Sr.

"What?! Well, what can I say?! That's awesome!", said Kevin. "Thanks a lot, dad. And tell mom I said thanks as well.", said Steve. "Alright, I will son. But once that time is completely up, I want both of you guys to head off to bed, and all of your friends to go home. Got it?", said Kevin Sr.

"Got it dad.", both Steve and Kevin said. "Alright then. See you guys upstairs.", said Kevin Sr. Then Kevin Sr. walked back up the basement stairs. "Now let's finish this night off right guys!", said Steve. Then everybody nodded their heads in agreement, and that's exactly what all of us did before the little time we had was up.

***

It was now Friday, February 15, 2002. The blackout continued into that day. Steve and Kevin woke up that morning and got out of bed.

Then Kevin rushed to turn the light switch on. He turned it on and off multiple times, but the light would not turn on. "Are you freaking kidding me?! How long does it possibly take just to get some lights back on?!", said Kevin.

"I don't know Kev. Restoring power might be more complicated than it seems to be.", said Steve. "But how?! It doesn't take us nearly two days to turn on our TV or game console or radio.", said Kevin. "Relax you, big baby. The power should be back on for us by Sunday.", said Steve.

"I hope so because this guy over here is kinda missing his GameCube.", said Kevin while pointing to himself. Then the power outage continued. The whole gang along with probably everybody else in southeastern Michigan continued to kill even more time until power was fully restored. Waiting was just the best option at this point.

Later on that day, Steve was writing something in his room. Kevin was occupying himself with a good book in the same room. "Hey man, I don't mean to be nosy or anything, but what're you writing there?", said Kevin.

"Oh, I'm writing song lyrics to the new songs Two Seconds To Detroit are gonna perform anytime in the future.", said Steve. "Oh, you mean like new, new songs. And not any songs that have been sung before by different people making way more money than us?", said Kevin. "Precisely.", said Steve.

"Well, when do you think we'll able to perform them.", said Kevin. "I don't know yet. A lot of these still need plenty of work. You wanna read a few of them?", said Steve. "Well, I was getting into this book, but what the heck? I'll check them out.", said Kevin. Then Kevin put his book down and got up from his bed.

He went to read the song lyrics that Steve wrote. "It's for two seconds. Two seconds to the Motor City. It's for two seconds. Two seconds to the Motor City.", said Kevin. Then Kevin paused after he read those lyrics out loud.

"Go on Kev! Keep going!", said Steve. Then Kevin continued to read more of the song lyrics. "And I'm gonna read the rest of these to myself this time.", said Kevin. Then Kevin continued to read more and more of the song lyrics written by his younger brother.

Then Kevin finished reading those lyrics. "Well, what did you think? As soon as I have these lyrics all figured out, all I need to do now is come up with a catchy beat for them.", said Steve. "You want my opinion on this?", said Kevin. "I'm all ears.", said Steve.

"I think these lyrics are trash man!", said Kevin. "Hey, thanks, man! I'm glad they were-. Wait, what?!", said Steve. "Yeah, man. First off, some of these lyrics don't even rhyme.", said Kevin.

"That's probably because you've never read a poem in your entire life.", said Steve. "I've read many poems in my entire life thank you very much.", said Kevin. "And besides, people won't want to hear this mess if we become a famous rock band one day.", said Kevin.

"Dude, trust your older brother on this one.", said Kevin. "Alright, fine! I'll write some different lyrics.", said Steve. Then Steve grabbed his previous lyrics and balled them up into a huge paper ball. Then he tossed it away on the floor.

He then got a fresh sheet of paper and staring writing brand new lyrics for Two Seconds To Detroit to potentially sing in the future. Moments later, Steve asked Kevin for some more assistance. "What about these lyrics?", said Steve.

Then Kevin put down his book, got out of bed, and proceeded to read Steve's lyrics once again. Kevin read those lyrics to himself. "I've got an awesome brain. Don't you agree?", said Steve.

"Still stupid.", said Kevin. "What?!", said Steve. "Yeah Steve, they rhymed this time, but they're still pretty stupid lyrics.", said Kevin.

Then Steve took those lyrics and made it into another paper ball that he threw on the floor. Moments later, Steve asked for Kevin's help a third time. "Kevin, would you mind assisting me on these lyrics again?", said Steve.

"This is the last time Steve! And then that's it! Got it?!", said Kevin. "Got it.", said Steve. Then Kevin put down his book, got out of bed, and looked at Steve's lyrics for the third and final time.

After he looked at Steve's lyrics, he had something to say about them of course. "I've got two words for you. Dumb lyrics.", said Kevin. "Alright, you seem to be no help at all. I'm going to ask our other friends for their opinions on my lyrics that I wrote.", said Steve.

"You're a real party pooper! You know that?", said Steve. "Thank you, that's my job.", said Kevin. Then Kevin got back on the bed and resumed his book. And Steve continued to write more lyrics.

Moments later, Steve said something. "Hey, dude.", said Steve. "If it's anything regarding your garbage lyrics, I'm killing you. What is it now?", said Kevin.

"I need your opinion on this beat for one of the band's potential future songs.", said Steve. "This time I've got two letters for you. N and O.", said Kevin. "Never mind. I forgot who I was asking.", said Steve.

It was now the evening, and the lights finally came back on. It was already completely dark outside, but there was finally electricity again at the apartment complex. "Yes, they're finally back on!", said Steve.

"It's about time!", said Kevin. "Now there's something that can finally distract you from showing me your lame lyrics again.", said Kevin. "Hey, my lyrics are not lame.", said Steve.

"Let's see what all of our friends think.", said Kevin. Then moments later, after Kevin got off the phone with every one of us, he said something to Steve. "They all said your lyrics sucked too.", said Kevin.

"You're lying!", said Steve. "Whatever man, I'm gonna go ahead and enjoy this electricity again. Catch you later bro.", said Kevin. Then Kevin left the room. "My lyrics are not stupid.", Steve said to himself.

The next day, the whole band got together to practice. I was there recording once again since it was my job to do so. "Alright, guys. Today, I was thinking that we try out these new lyrics and come up with a catchy beat for them.", said Steve.

"No way man! We're not trying those words you refer to as lyrics Steve.", said, Ariana. "Yeah Steve, we all don't think songwriting is one of your strong suits.", said Brad. "See Steve! I wasn't lying.", said Kevin.

"I guess we all aren't ready to start making our songs yet.", said Nathan. "Yeah, but on the bright side, the power finally came on last night.", said Amanda. "Yep, and I had a lot of fun doing different things here in the dark with you all back when the power was still out.", I said.

"Yeah, but at least now, we can finally move on from that little power mishap. And get back to becoming the best rock band ever.", said Kevin. "You took the words right out of my mouth.", said Steve. "All of you guys ready to do this?", said Steve.

Then all of us held at least one thumbs up to signify that we were ready. "Alright then, let's do this.", said Steve. "And a one, and a two. And a one, two, three, four.", said Steve. And then Two Seconds To Detroit continued to improve and pursue the goal of becoming a successful rock and roll band one day.